Despite already having four children, Jessica and Adam Davis, a young couple from Ohio, decided that they were ready to expand their family once again. This time around, however, the Davises decided they wanted to adopt, as both of them had always wanted to help a child in need. Before too long, Adam and Jessica chose to adopt a little Ugandan girl.
From the very moment they first laid eye on little Namata, the couple knew they had to adopt her. In the blink of an eye, Namata was home with them in America. However, as time passed, and Namata learned how to speak English, things started to take a turn for the worse. Eventually, Namata revealed her entire, harrowing past to her adoptive parents…
1. Growing The Family
Jessica Davis and her husband, Adam, enjoy a happy life in St. Clairsville, Ohio. In 2013, a few years after having their fourth biological child, the two of them decided that they would grow their family by just one more.
Even though they were able to conceive a child naturally, the couple decided that they wanted to adopt an orphan child. “I’ve always hoped to make a difference in this world. When it came to the decision to adopt, it seemed like a no-brainer. I thought this was one way to make a difference, at least for one child. My husband, Adam, and I would open our home and our hearts to a child in need,” Jessica said.
2. The Moral Choice
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Adam and Jessica Davis wanted to make sure that bringing in a fifth child was the moral thing to do. “We were already parents to four biological children, so this was not about ‘having another child’ or simply ‘growing our family,’ ” Jessica said.
Instead, they wanted to share their love and wealth with a child that might not otherwise experience prosperity. What’s more, the couple soon discovered that making a decision would be as easy as they thought. “We knew that there were American children, as well as children all over the world, in need of what we could offer,” Jessica recalled.
3. An Astonishing Discovery
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As the Davises moved forward with their adoption plan, Jessica began researching various adoption agencies. “I remember reading that there are almost 3 million orphans in Uganda,” Jessica said. The statistic stuck with Jessica and kept returning, no matter what else she researched. It kept her awake at night, thinking of the helpless children.
So, after some consideration, the couple decided that they would adopt a Ugandan child. “We eventually concluded that the greatest need was in many of the poorest countries,” Jessica recalled. While it seemed like everything was working out for Adam and Jessica Davis, they had no idea their problems were actually just beginning…
4. Getting Ready
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The loving couple felt confident that they could provide a Ugandan orphan with a chance at a better life. So, in October 2013, Jessica and Adam contacted the Ugandan adoption agency and began the process. Afterward, everything seemed to happen in a blur: the couple filled out dozens of forms and checks, handing out thousands of dollars.
“We did piles of paperwork, got countless sets of fingerprints, and spent tens of thousands of dollars. It took a little over a year to get through all the formalities, but I was driven to get to the best part of this process, meeting the needs of a child,” Jessica said of the adoption process.
5. Meet Namata
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After a long year of paperwork and waiting, Jessica and Adam finally received the green light to adopt. At that point, the selection process began. However, in no time at all, a seemingly perfect candidate came along. In 2015, the Davises met a little 6-year-old Ugandan girl named Namata.
Almost immediately, the family felt a strong connection to Namata. Still, in spite of these feelings, Jessica felt she needed to do her homework as thoroughly as she could. So, she inquired with the adoption agency about Namata’s past. Nothing could have possibly prepared her for what the Ugandan agency workers would tell her…
6. Namata’s Story
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What the agency revealed about Namata truly moved Jessica and Adam. “We were told her father was deceased, that she was being severely neglected at home, and her mother was leaving her open to abuse, leaving her for days,” Jessica revealed to CNN. “It was a pretty dramatic file.” Little did the Davis family know, there was much more about her past that the agency file did not reveal…
Still, with what they found out from the agency, Adam and Jessica felt more than happy to adopt this six-year-old Ugandan girl. They knew they could give her a better life, and could not wait to call her their daughter. In just a few short months, the entire Davis family showed up in court, ready to welcome little Namata into their loving family.
7. Welcoming Her Into Their Family
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Of course, the judge quickly approved Namata’s adoption. And with that, the Ugandan girl was living in America with her new family! While Namata didn’t speak English upon arrival, her English vastly improved within just a few months of living in the country. To Jessica and Adam’s surprise, Namata loved talking about her birth mother.
What’s more, Namata would share with her adoptive parents how close she used to be with her mom. She would share stories of how they loved spending time in the kitchen together and accompanying each other to church every Sunday. Soon enough, the Davises started to realize that something wasn’t right with what the adoption agency had told them of Namata’s past…
8. Learning The Language
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As the months continued to pass, Namata’s English improved more and more. Like most six-year-old children, Namata was a quick learner. Before long, the Ugandan girl could even hold a long conversation with her new family! However, the more Namata learned how to speak, the worse things seemed to appear to Jessica and Adam.
You see, according to the adoption agency, Namata didn’t exactly have a happy childhood in Uganda. So the family thought it was incredibly odd that Namata had nothing but positive things to say about her family, her biological mother in particular. Little did Jessica and Adam know that they were in for the biggest surprise of their lives…
9. Alarms Bells Start Ringing
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As more time passed, the Davises realized that Namata’s memories were at odds with the picture their agency, European Adoption Consultants, had painted. Unsurprisingly, alarm bells started to ring for the family. While the agency said her family neglected her, Namata’s side of the story was completely different. She flat out said she came from a loving family!
After months of these stories, Jessica and Adam felt they had no choice but to launch an investigation into the truth of the agency’s claims. They started by reviewing everything that European Adoption Consultants told them. What they would discover would shock them to their core…
10. Her Background
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Returning to their previous conversations and the file on Namata, the adoption agency had described her mother as “helpless.” Not only that, but the document also claimed that the Ugandan woman couldn’t “provide basic needs of the child for better growth.” However, the Davises were quickly discovering this was not the case.
“It took a little over a year and a half to realize the things “our” child was telling us were not adding up to the stories told within the paperwork and provided to us by our adoption agency, European Adoption Consultants, Inc,” Jessica said. But that wasn’t the worst part…
11. It Was All a Lie
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After talking to Namata, Jessica and Adam started to uncover the murky circumstances behind Namata’s adoption. “At first, I wondered if the conflicting information Namata was sharing with us reflected her efforts to cope with the trauma of being relinquished and abused. But I came to realize that she was telling me something vastly different — and vastly more important,” Jessica recalled.
“The child we had struggled for years to adopt was not an orphan at all, and almost everything that was written in her paperwork and told to us about her background was not an accurate description of her life in Uganda.” It seemed as though someone had tricked Namata’s mother into giving her up!
12. Reaching Out To Her Mother
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As they started to uncover the truth about their adoptive daughter, Jessica and Adam knew they had to do something right away. What’s more, they couldn’t stand there with their arms folded, knowing that a little girl had been separated from her loving family. At that point, they decided to try to find a way to talk to Namata’s birth mother.
So, the Davises reached out to Keren Riley, who runs an organization named Reunited Uganda. Fortunately, Riley was able to help the family locate Namata’s biological mother. Even better, Riley managed to set up a FaceTime call so that the four of them could talk. Now, finally, the truth about Namata’s adoption would finally come to light!
13. The Truth Behind Her Adoption
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With the help of Reunited Uganda, Jessica and Adam managed to track down Namata’s mother. “We eventually uncovered that she had a very loving family from which she had been unlawfully taken,” Jessica revealed. Incredibly, Namata’s mother knew nothing of the adoption – she believed her daughter had gone to American temporarily, to study, and would return home. But that wasn’t the case.
“Namata’s mother was told only that Adam and I were going to care for her child. We would provide her with an education,” Jessica said. The Davises could not believe what the Ugandan woman was telling them. That day, they all listened to Namata’s mother tell the entire story…
14. How It All Started
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The whole ordeal started when an unknown man visited Namata’s local church. With his lies about taking the children to America to study, the man managed to convince at least seven families to give up children, including Namata. Afterward, he transported the Ugandan girl and her friends to an orphanage run by God’s Mercy, an organization that works with the European Adoption Consultants. It was there that the Davises met little Namata for the first time.
As fate would have it, Jessica and Adam fell in love with Namata and decided to take her home. Unfortunately, they had no idea what was really going on. Jessica said they felt “devastated” once they found out the truth. Furthermore, they couldn’t believe what had transpired to bring Namata into their family.
15. Providing the Best She Could
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When Namata’s mom agreed to send her away, she had recently lost her husband. That’s when the predatory con-men pounced. “When this supposed chance to be sponsored by a “wealthy” American couple was presented to her, she felt as if she and her daughter had been blessed,” Jessica said. Unfortunately, it was also too good to be the truth.
Furthermore, Namata’s mom later said in court that she never knowingly relinquished her parental rights. However, that didn’t stop them from putting Namata up for adoption. Before long, Jessica and Adam adopted the Ugandan girl and headed back to the United States.
16. Namata’s Mother Was Powerless
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Now able to compare notes and sides of the story with Namata’s mother, Jessica and Adam learned just how insidious the agency was. Apparently, after the Davises gave verbal confirmation that they would indeed adopt Namata, those on the ground in Uganda quickly tried to separate her from her mother.
It was at this time that the Ugandan woman realized that something did not seem right. However, it was too late. “By the time Namata’s mother realized what was happening, that she was never going to see her child again, she was powerless to stop the wheels that were turning,” Jessica said. Fortunately, Namata learned how to speak in English and set the record straight!
17. Feeling Horrified
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After learning the truth of Namata’s background, Jessica and Adam felt utterly horrified. They simply could not understand how a person could do something like that! As parents themselves, the couple could not imagine how horrified and heartbroken they would feel had someone taken their child from them.
In an instant, the Davises knew that they needed to reunite Namata and her loving mother. Fortunately, Namata, who was only seven at the time, was smart enough to understand that both her mother and her adoptive parents had been tricked in this situation. Now, Jessica and Adam needed to figure out the best, and safest, way to return Namata to her mother’s arms…
18. Doing The Right Thing
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After witnessing Namata and her mother’s anguish, Jessica and Adam felt determined to reunite the two. So, the two immediately went to the US government for help. However, believe it or not, even with all the evidence establishing that Namata’s mom had never relinquished her daughter, the government officials said that it was still up to the couple whether or not they wanted to reunite Namata with her mother.
Of course, Jessica and Adam had Namata’s adoption voided. After all, Namata was never an orphan child in the first place! Even though they loved Namata very much, they knew she didn’t belong with them in America. So they decided to do everything in their power to get Namata back to Uganda with her mom.
19. Handing Back Parental Rights
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Over the next few days, Jessica and Adam completed all the relevant documentation to hand back parental rights to Namata’s mom. Before she returned home, the Davis family threw the Ugandan girl a farewell celebration. After all, they had loved Namata as their own child for almost two years! While they were brokenhearted to say goodbye to their little girl, they were excited to see her reunited with her mom.
While the Davises thought they were doing the right thing, not everybody agreed with them. “Throughout the journey to reunite Namata with her family, I have been met with so much resistance,” Jessica said. “More than once I have been asked, why don’t you just “keep her”? I was even told that it was my Christian duty to keep her and ‘raise her in the proper faith.'”
20. A New Journey
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While Jessica and Adam had only tried to adopt an orphan child in need, they now found themselves fighting to return her home. “My family’s journey to adopt has become a journey to fight for families,” Jessica said. Not only that, but the Davises decided that they would do everything they could to help other families who had been hurt by other, similar kidnapping schemes.
“Families that are being torn apart because of ignorance and a lack of empathy for those who have no voice to speak out against the injustices they face every day. I cannot look the other way.” While the family didn’t get to raise Namata as their own, they still want to fight to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
21. A Long Trip
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Eventually, the time came for Adam and Namata to take the long journey back to Uganda. While Adam was traveling to Namata’s remote village in Uganda, Jessica stayed home with their biological children. Additionally, Adam also felt very concerned about Namata’s safety after everything that had happened. So, he wanted to stay by her side until she reunited with her mother.
At the airport, Jessica and the Davis children heartbreakingly said their goodbyes to Namata in the US, all of them crying. Now, all they had to do was to wait for Adam to tell them Namata had reunited with her mother…
22. A Happy Day
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While the Davis family felt overwhelmed with heartache as Adam and Namata left for Uganda, they did their best to smile through it. After all, she couldn’t wait to lay eyes on her mother once again! And Jessica, Adam, and their children wanted to be careful not to steal Namata’s joy.
After a full day of traveling, Namata and Adam finally arrived at her village. Instantly, Namata and her mother embraced in a hug and began crying. After all, they both thought they might never see the other, ever again. Jessica and the Davis children all witnessed the reunion through cell phone videos and pictures. Afterward, Jessica called the moment “beautiful: painfully beautiful.”
23. Reunited With Her Mom
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In September 2016, after nearly three years of separation, Namata’s biological mother embraced her child once again. Ever since then, the mother and daughter have not spent a day apart from each other. “Namata has flourished since being home, and I am thankful for that,” Jessica revealed.
“I can also say that I have seen the beauty of a family restored, and there is nothing quite like it,” the former adoptive mother said. Indeed, the couple says that they know they made the right choice to reunite Namata with her birth mom. For them, the most important is for Namata to be happy, with or without them!
24. Emotionally Drained
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As you might imagine, after going through such a dramatic situation, Jessica and Adam felt emotionally drained. Furthermore, they had spent so much time and energy to find a child they could adopt that they couldn’t believe Namata had already left their lives. To make matters worse, the couple had no way to reclaim the $65,000 they had spent during the process.
Despite all the losses they experienced throughout this long and painful journey, the Davises felt happy that Namata returned to the place where she belonged. Moreover, Adam could not help but feel slightly responsible. “The only trauma this poor kid ever experienced was because we essentially placed an order for a child,” he told CNN.
25. Not The Only Victim
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As Jessica and Adam were investigating Namata’s background, they discovered that sadly, this happens more often than anyone would imagine. “I have also come to realize Namata’s mother’s experience is not uncommon within international adoption,” Jessica said.
“There are villages in Uganda and across the world where mothers, fathers, siblings, and grandparents are desperate to be reunited with the children who were unlawfully separated from them through international adoption,” she continued. Unsurprisingly, Jessica and her husband felt heartbroken to learn that this is actually not that uncommon. Fortunately, Namata found a loving family who was willing to give her up for her to be happy. But that is not the end of this incredible story…
26. Closing Down The Agency
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After Namata’s relocation, the U.S. Department of State has stopped European Adoption Consultants from offering adoption in the U.S. for three years. What’s more, the December decision was upheld a year later, despite an appeal.
Meanwhile, the Ugandan Government also responded to Namata’s story. You see, they closed down the God’s Mercy Orphanage, where the Davises had first met the Ugandan girl. Jessica and Adam hope that their story will stop this from happening to any other parent. While they wouldn’t wish this experience on anybody, they are still glad that they met Namata and became part of her life.
27. Missing Her
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While Jessica and Adam are happy with the outcome, having their one-time daughter grow up without them is difficult. “I tend to get teary-eyed because of how much I miss her. I would love to wrap my arms around her, but then I remind myself of all that she almost lost,” Jessica told CNN.
“One of my favorite pictures thus far is this one of Namata sitting on the ground, facing her mother. And her mother — the woman who gave birth to her, looks like her, smiles like her and loves her more deeply than anyone else on the face of the earth — is looking back at the daughter she nearly lost,” the former adoptive mother said.
28. Getting Their Lives On Track
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With their ordeal behind them, the Davises and Namata have tried very hard to get their lives on track. Even though they are no longer her adoptive parents, they share regular calls from Ohio and Uganda, so they can keep each other updated.
“I get updates on our once-adopted child, Namata, often with pictures and sometimes video,” Jessica said. “Sometimes there are pictures of her at her grandmother’s home, skipping about, smiling from ear to ear. Other times she’s holding her baby sister, or walking home from school with her other sister.” As you might imagine, the Ugandan girl’s mother told CNN that she was “very, very, very happy” to have Namata back in her life.
29. Learning A Valuable Lesson
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Throughout this roller-coaster experience, Jessica and Adam have learned an incredibly valuable lesson that they would like to share with the world: “During this journey, I have also come to a revelation of what it means to truly aid and love the orphan (a phrase often used when discussing adoption). That love goes far beyond anything I could’ve fathomed before,” Jessica stated.
Even though their adoption experience wasn’t what the couple expected, they are not against it. “So I say yes to adoption, as long as families have a clear understanding of the weight they will bear. The weight of doing right by this child in ways you maybe never realized before: fighting for his or her best interests, without ill intentions, selfishness or greed,” she continued.
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