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My comment on this article will appear tomorrow.

The Globe and Mail, Thursday, January 18, 2001

Desperateforababy.com

By Jan Wong

Today, I decided to buy a baby on the Internet. I already have two boys, age 7 and 10, but a girl or even another boy would be nice. After all, two couples made headlines this week buying twins in cyberspace. Actually, the couples purchased the same twin girls. The birth mother, a 28-year-old hotel receptionist from St. Louis, Mo., sold the six-month-olds to a California couple for $6,000 (U.S), "borrowed" the twins back, then resold them to a Welsh couple for $12,000. Both parents are claiming, um, ownership.

I'd heard you can buy fashion-model eggs and human kidneys on the Internet. But until now I've personally only bought groceries on-line. Globeandmail.com columnist Mathew Ingram helped me surf the Net. Using Google, his favourite search engine, Mr. Ingram typed in key words like "adopt," "birth mother" and "money."

It turns out that demand far exceeds supply. We found vast directories of couples desperately seeking to adopt. Apparently aimed at Internet-savvy pregnant teenagers, Adopting.org charges $149 for couples to post photos of themselves and their Dear Birthmother letters. Many women promised to be stay-at-home moms.

A woman named Mary even pledged to breast feed the new baby. (She didn't explain how she would manage that.) A California couple named Vince and Melinda described themselves as being "happily married for 12 years" and said they owned a "large house and pool." Another couple said they were Christian and had already decorated their nursery with a Noah's Ark theme.

My colleague and I checked out Caring Heart Adoption, the California-based agency that arranged the twins' double adoption. The Web site has disappeared without a trace, as has the baby broker, Tina Johnson, who ran Caring Heart Adoption from her San Diego home.

Adoption.com, another Web site in shades of mauve and rose, listed a toll-free number for help with unplanned pregnancies. It is not in service. AdoptableKids.com also offered a toll-free number, also not in service.

One agency, International Adoption Resource Inc. (http://www.iaradopt.com), posted gauzy baby pictures and talked about love: "To hold, to kiss, to cuddle, to love a child, and to be loved back unconditionally."

Other Web sites discussed currency rates in Guatemala and weather conditions in Vietnam. They noted the need for a home study, an investigation by a social worker of the home and the prospective parents. But almost none talked money.

I called a California phone number posted on AdoptWithLove.com. The Web site was advertising a special child of the month named Iseev Arman. He's 5, was abandoned by his parents and lives in Kazakhstan in the former Soviet Union.

Yes, Arman was still available, a woman who identified herself as Louisa said. "You can sign a contract right now."

I told her I didn't have a home study. No problem, she said. She said I could have the home study done while I adopt Arman. Unlike the Web site, she talked frankly about money. I would have to pay $5,000 on signing the contract, $4,000 on receiving a package of application forms and $6,000 at the orphanage in Kazakhstan. Plus, she said, I should budget another $7,000 for air tickets and hotels, a home study and other expenses, for a total of $22,000. And the orphanage in Kazakhstan, she added, won't take cheques. Cash only.

No wonder those two couples bought the twins on the Internet. They saved a bundle -- except one of them is out $6,000.

But where are the other mothers selling their babies? We found nothing. We did find one site that posted pictures and videos of available children. Texas Adoption Resource Exchange offered hard-to-place local children.

We clicked on Rudy, a thin, dark-haired boy. His brief bio said he was being medicated for attention-deficit disorder and depression. We watched his video.

"My name is Rudy and I'm nine years old," he said, looking nervously into the camera. He took a deep breath and hesitated before his next line. "I'm in third grade. I'll show you some of my karate moves." He didn't, though. The video lasted only 10 seconds.

It was creepy and sad and voyeuristic. Rudy's video reminded me of the prostitutes behind glass windows in Amsterdam, trying to attract customers. Rudy was trying to attract a customer, too.

We clicked on Aktahmar, age 5, who is black and has a speech disability. We watched his video. Eyes cast sideways, he sang a mangled version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He never smiled.

This was just like on-line grocery shopping. We clicked on "siblings," and checked out Geovanna, 11, and her sister, Silvia, 10. Geovanna "has not had a seizure for some time," her bio said. Silvia's bio said she has attention deficit disorder.

We watched the sisters' video. Only Geovanna appeared. "My name is Geovanna and I'm in fifth grade. My favourite colour is blue." And that was it.

I'm planning to go home now and hug my boys.