An Ohio couple thought they were giving a little girl from Uganda a better life. Then she learned enough English to tell them about her past, and what she said did not match the story their adoption agency had told them.
The girl’s name is Namata, but her family calls her Mata. Her story was first reported by CNN in 2017, when she was 7 years old.
What did the family believe?
Jessica and Adam Davis worked with an Ohio agency called European Adoption Consultants. The agency told them that Mata’s father had died and that her mother neglected her and could not afford to feed her. The paperwork also said Mata had never gone to school.
When the Davises met Mata, she was living in an orphanage in Uganda. Jessica told CNN the orphanage had “no toys” and “bars on the windows.” By the end, the couple had spent about $65,000 on the adoption, flights, fees and other costs.
What did Mata remember?
As Mata’s English got better, she started talking about her mother. She described how they cooked together and went to church together, and how her mother used to walk her to school.
Those memories did not sound like a child who had been neglected, and they made Jessica start to worry that something was wrong.
In August 2016, the family set up a Skype call between Mata and her birth mother, who were more than 7,400 miles apart. During the call, Mata got to see her new baby sister on the screen, but by the end she was in tears. “My mom was tricked,” she said.
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What really happened?
After Mata’s father died in a car accident in 2014, her grieving mother was told that Mata could get a good education if she was sent away, and she believed her daughter would come back one day.
Mata’s mother later told a Ugandan court, “I had not realized that I had gone through a process to take away my parental rights completely.” The court found that a key form used in the adoption had been forged.
Jessica Davis told CNN she had not taken part in an adoption at all. She felt she had unknowingly helped take a child from a loving family. “I want the truth for my child, because living a lie will never work,” she said.
Adam Davis put it this way: “We essentially placed an order for a child.”
Did Mata go home?
Yes. The Davises filed paperwork to have the adoption undone, and the Ugandan government gave Mata’s mother back her parental rights. Mata returned to her village, went back to school and got to know her new little sister. Her mother told CNN she was “very, very, very happy,” and the Davises still keep in touch with Mata by video call.
What happened to the adoption agency?
European Adoption Consultants had placed more than 2,000 children from other countries in US homes since the early 1990s, CNN reported. The US State Department barred the agency in late 2016. It said the agency failed to make sure its workers overseas were not involved in the sale or trafficking of children.
Later, the US Justice Department charged three people linked to the agency in a scheme that used bribes and fraud to arrange adoptions from Uganda and Poland. In 2020, the US also placed sanctions on two Ugandan judges and two lawyers tied to the scheme.
How were mothers misled?
Keren Riley runs Reunite, a group in Uganda that helps return children to their families. She told CNN that traffickers often target poor mothers, many of them widows, by promising their children a good education. According to Riley, there is no word for “adoption” in the language many villagers speak. That makes it easy for mothers to misunderstand what they are agreeing to.
Mata was one of seven children taken from her village this way. Another girl from the same village, Violah, was adopted by a different US family, who also found out the truth and brought her home to her mother.
Why are there so many orphanages in Uganda?
The number of children’s homes in Uganda grew fast over the past few decades. A VICE investigation found that the number of children in these homes went from fewer than 3,000 in 1992 to more than 50,000. It reported that, according to the Ugandan government, four out of five of those children have at least one living parent.
Researchers Kristen Cheney and Karen Smith Rotabi have called this an “orphan industrial complex.” In their view, money from abroad can create a reason to fill orphanages with children who still have families.
What can adoptive families do?
If you are thinking about adopting from another country, these steps may help protect you and the child:
- Find out whether the child’s home country has joined the Hague Adoption Convention, an international agreement from 1993 that sets rules to protect children in adoptions between countries.
- Check that your agency is accredited through the US State Department, not just licensed by your state.
- Ask if the child’s birth parents are alive.
- Ask for independent legal proof that the parents fully understood and agreed to the adoption.
- If you can, hire your own lawyer in the child’s home country who has no ties to the agency.
- Pay attention if the child’s memories don’t match the paperwork.
The Davises found out the truth about their daughter’s past, and they chose to help her birth mother get her back.
Editor’s note: Reports differ on Mata’s exact age when she was adopted. CNN reported that she was 7 years old in 2017.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and is for information only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions about your medical condition and/or current medication. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking advice or treatment because of something you have read here.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.