Baby Broker is a new podcast uncovering the story behind one woman’s fraudulent adoption scheme that impacted more than 100 couples across the US.
Tara Lee was once seen as an angel granting families their wish to come true, but it soon turned into their worst nightmares.
Hosted by journalist Peter McDonnell, Baby Broker hears from many couples who were introduced to Lee and her adoption agency, Always Hope Pregnancy and Education Center, in Detroit, with the hopeful promise of completing their families.
While Lee’s company claimed it could help prospective parents, it soon became a place of empty promises. Payments were made and questions were left unanswered, and over time with the help of social media many families began to realise that they were victims of a complex adoption scheme.
The series gives first time access to interviews with couples who were directly impacted by Tara Lee’s shocking scheme.
Her fraud sent one family on a cross-country road trip to find out if their adoption was real, and another family into an emotional and financial predicament as they were matched with three birth mothers all due at the same time.
Lee’s fraud turned lives upside down, shattered dreams, and traumatised families across the country. But could her victims join forces and deliver her comeuppance?
Peter McDonnell said: “When I began researching the adoption process, I learned that most people who adopt for the first time don’t know how it works, and that made them vulnerable to fraud.
“No one expected to find a criminal doing adoptions, manipulating and robbing people who were in the process of trying to start a family. This is way more than a financial crime. For the families who thought their dream had come true, it’s like a death.”
Baby Broker is produced by Perfect Cadence in association with Sony Music Entertainment. It’s available on The Binge to listen to all episodes, all at once, and also available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.
