WEBVTT - Betrayal Weekly: EP 5 - Matt and Laura, Part 2 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.920 I have to go down there. I have to confront her. 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:08.200 I have to see her, and I remember yelling at 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.559 her like, how could you do this? How could you 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:12.600 do this to our family? 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.639 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:34.000 the people we trust the most and the deceptions that 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:40.080 change everything. This is part two of Matt and Laura's story. 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.239 If you haven't heard part one, you'll want to go 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.800 back and listen to that first. Matt and Laura Tread 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:51.760 went through years of infertility treatment IVF, miscarriages, and a 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.600 high risk pregnancy to have their son, Hudson. Soon after 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.880 they knew they wanted another child, they decided to pursue adoption. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.320 That's how they met Elizabeth Jones. Elizabeth thought the Traits 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.160 would be great adoptive parents to her unborn baby. After 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:12.119 talking daily and visiting Elizabeth in Virginia, they both agreed 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:14.679 that it was a perfect match for an open adoption. 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.280 The baby was due in December of twenty eighteen, and 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.959 the Trades had picked out a name for her. Noela 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.640 and Elizabeth, the birth mom, already felt like extended family. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.880 A month before the baby was due, Elizabeth went into 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:35.360 labor early it was an emergency. Something wasn't right. Matt 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.000 and Laura rushed to the hospital. The nurses weren't able 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:41.840 to find a patient by the name Elizabeth Jones in 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:46.520 the maternity ward, but there was one in the. 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.480 Er, so we went into the hospital room and I 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:53.520 remember the curtain was drawn. I can just picture in 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.840 my mind, like I was there seeing the nurse moved 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.960 the curtain and there's our Elizabeth sitting there and all 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:08.000 of her clothes. So I was so confused. I was like, Elizabeth, 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.960 Oh my god, are you okay? What's happening? Why are 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.800 you in your regular clothes? And she just tried to 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.480 explain it away, you know, like, oh, we brought a 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.400 change of clothes for me in the car. Everything was 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:21.680 all bloody, so I had to change and I was like, 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:23.600 where is the baby, Like what's happening. 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.320 Elizabeth explained that her husband was on his way up 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:29.840 to the maternity ward with the baby. 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:32.040 And I was like, I was just up there waiting. 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.000 We're all waiting. There's a whole team of doctors waiting, 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.760 and we didn't see the baby. Like I have to 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:41.240 go talk to the nurses and try to figure out 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.160 what's going on. So I was walking away and I 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.320 remember her calling my name, but I just kept walking. 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:52.240 A horrible truth was setting in for Laura, a truth 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.720 she couldn't process. She went to the nurses station in 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.680 a daze. 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:00.600 And I was like, I don't understand what going on. 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.560 She's supposed to be giving birth to our daughter. Her 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:06.320 case manager was like, let me go talk to her. 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.200 She came back. She was like, she's saying she doesn't 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.679 even know you. She's saying she has no idea who 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:12.000 you are. 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.760 Laura fumbled to find her phone to show the nurse 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.240 photos of them together, photos from as recent as yesterday. 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:22.880 There's even a picture of my son with his hand 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.320 on her stomach because she had told him, oh, you 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:26.560 want to feel your sissy kick. 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.280 That's when another nurse stepped in and told Laura the truth, 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.640 the truth. Elizabeth couldn't bring herself to say. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.640 I just remember the nurse telling me she's not pregnant. 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:46.360 There was no baby. There never had been. Laura walked 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:48.720 right back into the exam room to confront her. 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:50.960 I just looked at her and I was like, how 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.280 could you lie to us like this? How could you 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:55.240 do this? How could you do this? To our son. 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.200 She just looked at me with these blank, dead eyes, 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:06.440 no emotion, no remorse, just complete blank expression on her face. 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.200 At that point, she was silent, and I was like, 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:14.640 you know what, Elizabeth, what goes around comes around, and 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:16.440 this is going to come back to you, like you're 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.680 going to get what you give, and I just walked out. 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.839 I just didn't even want to face her anymore. I 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.760 didn't want to look into those dead eyes. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.920 All the while, Matt was still upstairs with Hudson and 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:38.680 an empty baby carrier, waiting for an update from Laura. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.080 We're sitting up there and the minutes are just crawling by, 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.039 and I have no idea what's going on, and I'm 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:50.200 texting Laura for information and not hearing anything because she's 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.000 in the thick of all of this, and just waiting 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:59.400 and waiting. I remember Laura coming back up and entering 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:04.320 the nicky wait room with no baby, and she just 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.000 had this look on her face. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.320 I remember saying, there is no baby and she was 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:19.360 never pregnant. I remember Matt tearing up at that point 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.160 and us all embracing as a family. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.640 Matt couldn't leave the hospital without seeing Elizabeth for himself. 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:32.839 I didn't get closure. You know, I wasn't the one 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.960 down in the er like Laura was, and so I said, 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.960 I have to go down there. I have to confront her. 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.400 I have to see her. And so the three of 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.120 us went down to the er, and it just so 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.600 happened the right when we got down to the waiting room, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:52.040 she started to come out the door because she was released, 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:57.600 and she saw us and looked at us and started 0:05:57.600 --> 0:05:59.719 to kind of turn the other way. And I remember 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:06.040 yelling at her, how could you do this? And how 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:11.200 could you do this to our family? And just wanted 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.520 to follow her, you know, but she knew going back 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.240 into that er. We weren't able to go back there 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.640 because we weren't patience, and you know, I think she 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:22.520 escaped out the back door. At that point. I wanted 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.120 to chase after her even more, but my family needed me. 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:31.000 His family did need him. Hudson, wearing his Big Brother 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:35.720 T shirt, seemed confused. Nothing hurt the Traits more than 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.000 watching their son lose a piece of his innocence in 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:39.600 that moment. 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.600 You know, it's hard to talk about that because that's 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.240 six years old. At that moment, you have to explain 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:47.800 to him that there are people out there in the 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.960 world that are not nice, not good people that would 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:56.640 hurt others like this. I just I'll never forget Petson 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.280 with his question like it was a trick. Why would 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.800 someone trick us just such an innocent question? 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.919 It was an innocent question. Won that on some level 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:09.840 Matt and Laura had too. 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.720 After the fact, she got interviewed by the News. She 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.840 told them that she wanted us to feel her pain. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.800 And I think by that she meant maybe from her 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.000 own childhood, things that happened to her. You know her 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:29.320 people hurt people, but I don't know. She wanted us 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:30.960 to feel her pain. That's what she said. 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:34.920 That's the closest the traits would ever come to an 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:39.240 answer about why Elizabeth deceived them. She wanted someone else 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.760 to feel the pain she felt inside. That was the 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.280 only explanation for why she took it so far. 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.840 At any point during this whole thing, she could have 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:54.600 ended it. Laura tried so many times to convince her 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.480 to keep the baby, the baby would be best with her, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:02.440 and she have not shown up to the hospital right. 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.760 But the fact that she chose to show up at 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:09.080 the hospital where she knew that we would be to 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.760 check herself in to tell us that she was in 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:16.000 the er for us to go down for that very 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:23.960 moment of seeing us in pain, to inflict emotional suffering 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.240 on us like that, That's the only thing that we 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.920 can think of was the end goal in that moment 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:32.840 for her, because obviously she knew at some point she 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:34.480 was going to get found out. 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.400 The extent to which she brought it was just cruel 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:43.480 and in my mind, just an evil thing to do. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.360 Almost immediately they started to think back on the last 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.360 few months and they saw it all in a new 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:56.000 horrible light. The woman they'd spent months building a relationship with, 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:01.240 expecting to have as a lifelong family member, was faking 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:03.080 her pregnancy. The whole time. 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.120 She physically looked pregnant. She just had that body type 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:10.480 where she looked like she could have been pregnant, and 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.000 I really thought she was pregnant. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.480 She sent us videos, you know, where she'd looked up 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.040 her shirt and video what you know, look at babykick. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:22.800 I actually remember her being like, yeah, feel your baby pick, like, 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.040 put your hand in my stomach. And I never did 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:26.640 feel a baby pick obviously. 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.840 But what about the ulder sound photos and the stuffed 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.720 unicorn with a recording of the baby's heartbeat. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.480 I think it was probably her other kids ultrasounds, and 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.679 or the heartbeat might have been from one of her 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:40.280 other kids. 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:45.120 As for Elizabeth's husband, they can only guess. 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.880 I think he honestly had no idea she was doing this. 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.360 She was not involving him at all. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.120 He traveled a lot for work, so when we were 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.719 there at their house, we never met him. I don't 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:57.920 think he knew that she had reached out to us. 0:09:57.960 --> 0:09:59.920 I don't think he knew what she was doing. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.120 Did she even have a husband at all. Some parts 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.400 of the elaborate deception are still a mystery. 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:10.440 I don't know where she got the pictures of the blood. 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:14.120 I have no idea where she got those pictures. 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.200 Matt and Laura Trait were in the waiting room of 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.080 the er with their six year old, reeling from the 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.040 news that the daughter they were expecting to adopt never 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.959 existed at all. All morning, their phones were blowing up 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.280 messages from family and friends wanting updates about Noela. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.199 I remember sending a message, you know, there is no baby, 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.599 and having to sort of explain that, but at the 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.480 same time not really wanting to talk to anybody about it, 0:10:56.160 --> 0:11:03.839 and just other shock from everybody. We all just kind 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:07.640 of had this moment together. Obviously, there are situations and 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.319 adoption where you expect, you know, possibly the birth mother 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:14.040 to change your mind and you decide to keep the baby. 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:19.360 But this was so different. We worked so hard to 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.320 reach this moment, to finally be able to adopt, and 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.160 thought the dream was finally coming true. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.000 Leaving the hospital that day, they got into a fender 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.640 bender in their rental car. It was one of those 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.640 absurd moments in life. I can't imagine what Matt and 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.880 Laura were thinking on hold with the insurance company while 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:46.520 staring in disbelief at the empty car seat. After what 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.120 felt like an eternity, they finally got back to their airbnb. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:55.280 At that point, something switched in us and we immediately 0:11:55.360 --> 0:12:00.680 went into attack mode. We can't let someone get away 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:04.280 with this. You can't let someone emotionally abuse you like 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.240 that and just lay down and take it. And so 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:12.240 back at theirbnb, we started immediately making phone calls to 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:17.080 the sheriff's department to I mean, anybody that would listen. 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:21.120 And I remember the sheriff saying, well, it's not a 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:22.600 crime to hurt someone's feeling. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.240 That comment sent them over the edge, spurred them into 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:31.199 a level of action they didn't even know they were 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.800 capable of. This was more than a case of hurt feelings, 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:36.760 and they were going to prove it. 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:43.080 I think as a lesson to Hudson, He's obviously watching 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.080 how we're reacting to all of this, and it was 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:50.600 so important for us to have him know that we 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.400 were going to do something about this, that it's important 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.440 in life to stand up for what's right and to 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.520 stand up for what you believe in rather than just 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.280 cowering in a corner and just letting it defeat you. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.360 And in a way, I think that was cathartic because 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:06.280 it was a. 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.680 Way for us to take our power back because it 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:10.480 felt like a really powerless situation. 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.040 So they just kept making phone calls. 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:16.120 I remember calling Child Protective Services to let them know 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.600 what was happening. I just felt like she was not 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.320 mentally stable and I was really concerned about her kids, 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.520 and we were calling like the district Attorney's office, just 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:27.560 anybody that would listen. 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.600 Really, I want to credit Laura because she was the 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:33.600 one who was at home. Hudson went back to school, 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.839 I went back to work, and you know, she's at 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:41.720 home on the phone every single day. Reaching out to police, 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.320 reaching out to the Commonwealth Attorney is kind of like 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:46.960 trying to see what could happen. 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:52.480 And finally they found someone who would listen, someone who 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.200 had more information about Elizabeth Jones. 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.320 It was discovered through one of the detectives that she 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.640 was on probation for a credit card fraud and she 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:08.520 actually had an ankle bracelet. The problem was every time 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:10.880 that we saw her, well at the time Laura visited, 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.080 in the time that we were all out there, she 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.000 was wearing big ugg boots and so it wasn't possible 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:20.920 to see the ankle bracelet on her. And so from 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.760 that point, I think charges kind of gained steam because 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.440 once it was determined that she was on probation, the 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.600 detective was able to finally do some work. 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:34.080 It was only because Elizabeth was on probation that the 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.920 trades had a chance to pursue criminal charges against. 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.040 Her, and it's like, Okay, we have some traction, we 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:44.000 have something happening here. We might have an opportunity to 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:46.200 be able to hold her accountable for her crimes. 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:51.440 Accountability was important to them. After all, Elizabeth took more 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.480 than just a few thousand dollars. She took one of 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.000 their last chances at growing their family. 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.640 I had always thought that there was another baby out 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:01.880 there is meant to be a part of our family. 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:06.160 After everything they'd been through in their fertility journey. Elizabeth's 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:08.920 betrayal fundamentally changed Matt and Laura. 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.920 I never knew that people like that were even out there, 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.320 that could go to those means to hurt someone else. 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:22.640 So the impact that the adoption fraud had on me 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.479 personally was a just really scared me away from pursuing 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:31.720 any future opportunities. I was just really afraid to get 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:32.240 hurt again. 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.520 The trades still believe in adoption. They've heard many success stories, 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:43.720 but they were exhausted. They couldn't keep trying. It's still 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:45.400 the thing that stings the most. 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:49.240 Maybe we weren't meant to have another child, but maybe 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:50.520 we were meant to help others. 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:53.400 And one way they're planning to help others is through 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:57.920 building an online community. It's called infertility noow dot com, 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.240 where they want to host resources, meeting groups, and online 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.720 courses for people going through infertility. 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.400 We're hoping to create a community of people who are 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:13.360 going through infertility, and we hope to offer classes to 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.880 them and kind of give guidance and teach people all 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.920 the different options there are out there for building a family, 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.120 and also just to be a support to people who 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:23.680 are going through it, because we know what it's like. 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.040 Infertility is really a lonely place to. 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:32.080 Be against all odds. And despite what the police had 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:36.080 initially told them, the Trades were finally able to pursue 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.000 charges against Elizabeth and find justice. 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.160 March third of the following year, twenty nineteen. After months 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.080 of working, we were able to get nine felony charges 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:52.080 of obtaining money on false pretenses. As she was on probation, 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:54.280 so all of the times we took her out for 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:58.160 dinner or meals, buying her gifts things like that, they 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:02.960 were able to make those charge because of her probation. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.040 And remember those professional photos where Laura and Elizabeth are 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:11.440 wearing matching shirts. Those photos cost a few hundred dollars 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.400 and that expense was added to Elizabeth's felony charge. 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.280 At first, she had put not guilty. 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.800 But before the hearing, Elizabeth changed her plate she was 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.359 going to plead guilty. 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.119 We were going to fly out there for the trial, 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.399 and we got a call from her lawyer saying, you know, 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:32.280 she's going to plead guilty. You don't have to come 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:33.960 out now. It's okay, you don't need to come out, 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.040 and we were like, we're coming, because at the last 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.760 minute she could change her mind, and we're still in California. 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:44.439 We're not there to speak for ourselves. So we're going 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:45.880 to make the trip and we're going to be there 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:50.480 for the trial. So we flew out there again. We 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:51.720 faced her in court. 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.160 At the beginning of the hearing. She ended up pleading 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.840 guilty rather than going to trial. She agreed to a 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:05.400 sentence of ten years, eight of which were suspended, so 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:10.080 she served two years in state prison, with the remaining 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.760 eight years to be added if she commits another crime 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:18.480 on top of that, and so we really felt like 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:24.920 it was a victory. I just remember standing out front 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.359 of the courthouse, speaking in front of the news conference 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:33.000 and just how amazingly empowering it was that we didn't 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.040 give up. We were able to hold her accountable and 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.640 show people out there that it's not okay to do 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:40.879 things like this to people. 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.440 Felt like we had closure to that part of our life. 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:48.240 We had gotten our power back, and so we felt 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.119 like we could take on the future and we could 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:50.879 move on. 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:13.240 After seeing Elizabeth sentenced to two years for the fraud 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.919 she committed, the traits still weren't done. They knew that 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:20.760 they only got justice because their perpetrator happened to be 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:25.159 on probation. So they worked with Virginia's Deputy Attorney General 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:26.520 to write a new law. 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:31.119 It officially became Senate Bill one zero zero three that 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:34.960 made it a crime to lie in electronic communications during 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.080 a business transaction. So the crime is actually punishable by 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.040 up to a year in jail and a twenty five 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:44.520 hundred dollars fine. So it went into effect in Virginia 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:48.240 on July first in twenty twenty, and it was named 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:52.960 after US trades law. That sense of pride and accomplishment, 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.679 you know, like a sense of legacy. Were making a 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.600 difference in the world and helping people, and so we 0:19:58.600 --> 0:19:59.560 were really proud of that. 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:04.080 They say that trades Law in Virginia is just the beginning, 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:09.000 one small step towards very necessary adoption reform and regulation 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:10.840 in the United States. 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.360 You know, it's like the wild West out there. It's 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:19.720 a multi billion dollar industry. There are so many desperate 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.680 families as well as desperate birth mothers, and I think 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.680 the adoption industry as a whole praise on these desperate 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:31.040 people who don't know where else to turn to. Costs 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.160 are through the roof and there needs to be more oversight. 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:37.840 One of the reasons the Traits initially decided to go 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.760 public with their story was to help educate other adoptive 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:45.560 families about their rights. At the time they tried to 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:51.920 get pregnancy verification, something signed and dated by a doctor, we. 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:55.439 Were told that there was nothing that could be done 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.800 on our end until after the baby was born, which 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:03.280 we found kind of strange and very frustrating. That led 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:05.560 us to reaching out to try to get a hold 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:10.600 of someone to get pregnancy verification, and either people wouldn't 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:14.199 return our calls or they told us we didn't have 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:17.040 the authority to get that information from them. 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:21.879 Since this happened, they've learned adoptive parents do have legal 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:24.159 rights to pregnancy verification. 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:27.520 So we want to let families know you have a 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.760 right to that as an adoptive parent, and that's one 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.320 of the first things that you should do is try 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:35.960 to get a pregnancy verification. 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:39.520 They don't want anyone else to have to learn these 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:41.359 lessons the way they did. 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:44.679 And I'd say one of the most important things is 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:47.840 to listen to your gut, because if I had listened 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:49.840 to my gut instead of giving her the butt, I'm 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:52.439 a doubt and just trying to see it from her side, 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.560 you know, empathetic if you feel like something is off, 0:21:57.320 --> 0:21:58.680 just trust your intuition. 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.960 It's been a few years since the adoption fraud, and 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:05.920 since then they've spent the time healing as a family. 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.040 Matt says that instead of letting this betrayal break them, 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:13.159 it's brought their family unit closer together. 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.640 One of my biggest takeaways for this is just how 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:20.800 strong we are as a family and as a couple. 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.280 I mean, rates in this country are sky high, especially 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:30.720 divorces within the infertility community, because of the emotional toll 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:34.560 that it takes on couples. And I just look back 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:38.000 at how much Laura and I have been through together 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.960 and how much we support each other, and just how 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:44.200 strong we still are in coming through all of this together. 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:48.480 I couldn't have made it through without her. I'm very 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:50.520 grateful for her and for Hudson. 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:56.520 Hudson was meant to be our son and our one 0:22:56.520 --> 0:23:00.240 and only child, and that dream of having so going 0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:02.879 for him is something that I try to filled in 0:23:02.920 --> 0:23:06.640 other ways. We're always meeting up with friends. He has 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:10.160 tons of cousins, so he spends a lot of time 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:14.600 with them. He's also very empathetic. He really is aware 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:17.919 of other people's feelings and how his words affect other people, 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:20.760 and I'm really proud of that part of him. He 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:22.199 is a really good person. 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:25.480 On our video call with Laura and Matt, Laura had 0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:27.800 one of Hudson's drawings up on the wall next to 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:30.760 her bed. Our producer Mo asked her about it. 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:37.959 Thank you. It says counting the ways I Love you, 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:41.560 and it has like his little handprint on it in 0:23:41.680 --> 0:23:44.960 blue crayon, and each finger has something, so it says 0:23:45.520 --> 0:23:50.560 you love me, playing games, going to school with me, family, 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:53.879 hugs and snuggling, and then in the center of the 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:56.399 little handprint is a little red heart. That's a thank you. 0:23:57.480 --> 0:24:00.320 I think that helps me too, because I right not 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:04.520 to take for granted how lucky I am. That's a 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:07.479 good reminder just to like really cherish the things that 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:08.040 you do have. 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:12.320 We end all of our weekly episodes with the same question, 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:16.040 why did you want to tell your story? This is 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:16.840 what Matt says. 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:23.640