15-year-old
Karla Zepeda thought she was receiving a break when a woman approached her
front door looking for babies to photograph for an anti-abortion campaign. For a two-week photo shoot, the woman
would offer $755. This was a small
fortune for Zepeda who only made $180 dollars a month. Little did she know, her baby wasn’t
just there for the photos.
The baby was
said to be a part of an illegal adoption ring targeting young Mexican women who
were struggling to provide for their children and Irish couples desperate to be
parents. 10 children have been
collected and turned over to state officials who were suspected to have been a part
of the illegal adoptions.
Suspected ring members have been detained but no charges have occurred.
15 Irish citizens have been questions but none detained.
Karla was
just one of many young women who handed off or “rented” their baby for the
purpose of these ads. Now further
actions are being taken to question the legal aspect of the situation and reach
the attorneys said to have been handling the paperwork of the adoptions.
Of course
this directly affects the children who are a part of this system. They get handed off and passed around
and could know less about what is going on. On a larger scale, it affects young society practically
trapping these young Mexican mothers after the first release of their child. The ‘nannies’ often purchased the
babies’ new clothes and supplies and as the mothers got hesitant of situation
and started to retract, they were informed that they could do so as long as
they paid them back for the goods.
Of course, they let their child continue on because they were not in a
position to fund all the new items.
This relates to the issues discussed in chapter one of the book. Many are placed in situations where
they believe their best bet is to work or act on the expense of the richer
population. Although they believe
they are helping themselves, they’ve actually placed themselves in a position
to fall into a deep pit that’s almost impossible to get out of; debt. These girls were trapped by what
many like to call “the system”.
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