Women who were once part of a secretive Christian sect in the United States have revealed to the BBC that they were pressured by the church to give up their children for adoption. Former members suggest that hundreds of adoptions occurred between the 1950s and 1990s.
Numerous individuals adopted within the church have disclosed that they endured abuse and neglect in their adoptive families. The story contains distressing details for some readers.
Four unmarried women recounted being compelled to surrender their babies, fearing expulsion from the church and damnation if they resisted. One woman shared that she was coerced to give her baby to a married couple in the church after being raped at the age of 17 in 1988.
Reflecting on her experience, she expressed, "My fear of going to hell was so great that it forced me to make up my mind to give up the baby to this couple in the church."
Another woman expressed how she was not allowed to see her baby daughter before she was permanently taken away.
Additionally, individuals who were adopted shared harrowing experiences of abuse within their adoptive church families. These adoptions were facilitated by Wally Baldwin, a doctor associated with the sect, who oversaw the process until his passing in 2004.
Despite challenges in verifying the exact number of adoptions, former members' accounts shed light on the distressing realities faced by both birth mothers and adopted individuals within this closed sect.