Daughter Lost

When I found out I was pregnant with my now 12 year old daughter Hannah I was overjoyed. Her father and I didn't have a lot of money and were concerned about how we would care for her. I also already had another child from a previous relationship.

My boyfriend Lee had a friend named Duane who was having trouble conceiving a child with his wife. Duane and his wife Dawn inappropriately joked about giving them my baby. It made me very uncomfortable. The whole duration of my pregnancy they nagged, called, and harassed me trying to convince me to give them my baby. They would not let up though. They would tell me stuff like they could give her a way better life because they had money etc. I told them that there was no way they were getting my baby.

To my horror my boyfriend Lee concocted a plan behind my back with Duane and Dawn. Duane was a sex offender and could not go thru the proper channels for a regular adoption. Learning this information gave me yet another reason not to allow them to have my child. Lee's friend Duane wound up signing my daughter's birth certificate at the hospital and they discharged my baby to Duane and Dawn! They even put down all of Duane’s information as mine so that I would not receive a copy of the birth certificate. They didn't want me to see what they had done. When I first learned that Duane and Dawn had taken my baby home with them I had a panic attack. I was so frantic and distraught that they couldn't understand me. I called the police to report her kidnapping. They just thought that I was some insane mother who lost custody of her child. Reporting my baby being kidnapped landed me in jail. I dialed emergency services too many times. The reason Lee allowed this to happen was so that his name would not be on the birth certificate and he would not have to pay child support. I was also informed that Lee received a large sum of money from Duane and Dawn in exchange for my daughter. He also was planning on leaving me. When I received copies of my daughter's medical report, it shows signs of abuse and neglect. Duane and Dawn were not taking proper care of her.

Sometimes I wake up in cold sweats having had yet another nightmare about not having my daughter. I really wish that someone would have exposed them for the neglectful kidnappers that they are. They took full blown advantage of the fact that I was anemic and had to stay longer in the hospital than my daughter. They had me sign a blank affidavit on my way to surgery and told me that they would fill in the rest. They filled out her birth certificate with all sorts of false information. Including the state I was born in. All of this took place while I got a blood transfusion! I would not have signed the birth certificate with all of this incorrect information on it.

All of these years later I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that a hospital could allow this to happen. I am very distraught without my little girl and I am very worried about her. It took me the first four years of her life to even find this deranged couple. They had been running around hiding from state to state so that I could not locate her.

Every time I try to get in contact with my daughter, I just wind up getting in trouble. It's like everyone involved in this situation is in cahoots with each other. My daughter heard my voice and only my voice during the whole pregnancy and then all of a sudden she was not hearing my voice after her birth. So many people asked how they got away with that and their guess is as good as mine. She must be so mentally stressed. With her now being twelve she's got to know by now they're not her parents.

I have not seen nor heard from Lee in years. He split town with the money provided by Duane and Dawn. Today I am happily married to a great guy and we have a beautiful little boy together. Hannah has a baby brother as well as an older sister she does not even know about. I don't even know what she looks like.

Duane and Dawn couldn't possibly care about my daughter keeping her away from her whole maternal family her entire life. I hope that maybe she will find out the truth and contact me. Unfortunately, the only thing I can do is continue living this nightmare.