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Adoptive Duo Says Birth Mom Wasn’t Pregnant

BATON ROUGE (CN) - A Louisiana adoption agency matched prospective parents with a birth mother who was never pregnant, Kevin and Kate Anderson claim in East Baton Rouge Parish Court. The young professionals say they spent a significant amount of time and money preparing for the child, and underwent extensive screening, while St. Elizabeth Foundation performed no basic background check on the alleged birth mother, who turned out to be a drug abuser with a criminal past.

"Had St. Elizabeth's sent Tara Garcia for an independent pregnancy verification, and otherwise acted as a reasonable adoption agency in its handling of Tara Garcia and her 'pregnancy' and the 'match' between Tara Garcia and the Andersons," the lawsuit claims, "the Andersons would not have suffered the damages they have sustained."

In the aftermath of the Garcia debacle, Kate Anderson was diagnosed with cancer. Though the couple was able to show, with medical records from an independent source, that she had a normal life expectancy, the adoption agency took them off the rotation for prospective parents, the lawsuit claims.

The Andersons are represented by Edward Walters with Moore Walters.

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