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The Christian American sect made women to give up infants for adoption ncvrs.com

BBC Homy composite image with home photos, decades ago. Wally Baldwin's photo is located in the center and is on both sides of Melanie Williams and Deb Adadjo. BBC

(LR) Melanie Williams, Dr. Wally Baldwin and Deb Adadjo – showed in the picture several decades ago

Women who were once members of a secret Christian sect in the United States told the BBC that the Church had forced their children to give up to adopt.

According to former members, hundreds of adoptions were made between the 1950s and 1990s.

Some of the children adopted in the congregation told us that they were subjected to abuse and neglect in their adoptive family.

The statements followed BBC test last year The allegations of children’s sexual harassment, which have been going on for decades within the Church, which is believed to have up to 100,000 members worldwide and is often called twins as truth or the two. The FBI has since launched an investigationOr

WARNING: This story contains details that some may be disturbing.

Four women – who were not married at the time – told us that they did not get a chance as to give up their babies. Three were afraid to get out of the temple and sent it to hell if they were denied.

One says he put pressure on giving his child to a couple in the temple after being raped in 1988 at the age of 17.

“There was a great fear of going to hell to force me to put up my thought to give up the baby in the temple to the couple,” he told the BBC.

Another says he did not allow him to see his little girl before the child was brought forever.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, the BBC spoke to six people who were handed over as infants. One woman says she was physically and emotionally abused in her first adoptive family in the temple and was sexually abused in the second.

An old photo is the late Dr. Wally Baldwin and his wife, Wilma. They smile and there are trees in the background.

Dr. Wally Baldwin – in the picture with his wife – supervised the adoptions of truth

Adopted children – born in the United States – are called “Baldwin infants” within the church, as adoptions were supervised by Wally Baldwin, a doctor in 2004.

Some women were in Oregon during pregnancy, according to a minister who worked with Dr. Baldwin.

The exact number of Baldwin infants is unclear. The BBC spoke to the late doctor’s adopted son Gary Baldwin, who said the original records were no longer available, but thought the number was “less than 200”.

He said his father’s control system had made “inevitably” errors, but his intentions were good. Others we talked to were also said that they would love to remember Dr. Baldwin.

As the truth has no official leader, the BBC has contacted the most important current officials – the so -called “supervisors”. We received one answer. The supervisor told us that all the adoption he knew was “through legal channels” and “heard some beautiful stories”.

One of the women who were adopted remembered that he had seen hundreds of photos of Dr. Baldwin’s album of children whose adoptions were organized in truth.

Another adopted man told us that he personally contacted more than 100 Baldwin babies and mother.

The church, founded by a Scottish evangelist in 1897, is built around ministers – so -called workers – the New Testament spreads the teachings of the New Testament by mouth.

The majority of mothers with which the BBC spoke to think that workers – and truth as an institution – must bear most of their responsibility for trauma caused by adoption.

“If I keep this baby I go to hell”

“Somewhere the temple started off the track and became a fear-based cult and I was forced to choose,” says Melanie Williams, 62, who gave up her child in January 1981 to adopt.

At the age of 18, Melanie became pregnant after “fell in love” into a boy from school.

Not only the couple was not married, but the father was not a member of the truth and refused to become one. This meant that Melanie had committed a “terrible crime” in the eyes of local workers.

Employees and his family decided to only continue church meetings if he gave his child to another family in the section.

“If I keep this baby, I’ll go to hell. If I keep the baby I can’t go home,” Melanie recalls.

He was born in an Oklahoma Catholic hospital where he was discreetly placed in a room.

He remembers that a doctor shouted when he started crying during giving birth.

Melanie’s baby was spoiled before he made a voice and says he didn’t know he had a daughter or boy.

The new mother was left to wonder if her child died.

When he finally realized that the baby was alive, he told a nurse fluctuating about going through the adoption and wanting to keep his baby.

“You can never keep your baby,” the answer came.

Years later, Melanie managed to track her daughter – but she didn’t want to meet.

Three complex images with Melanie, Deb and Sherlene separately. They all smile.

Melanie, Deb and Sherlene all talked to the BBC about putting pressure to give up their babies for adoption

The 54 -year -old Deb Adadjo was also not sure to give up his baby, but at that time he felt too much pressure to deny workers who threatened to ban him from church meetings – which meant in truth that he was not only thrown away from the temple . , but he also got to hell.

He became pregnant after being raped in 1988.

Reminding that he kept his newborn baby, he says, “Now I can still feel her against my chest.”

“In the last moments, I remember just hugging him and telling him I love it and that I am sorry again and again,” he added.

“I had to let go, I didn’t have the opportunity.”

Deb met his daughter later, but they are no longer in regular contact.

Deb Adadjo Deb Adadjo in the 1980s, hair fixed and wears a white blouse. Adadjo

Deb Adadjo seen here in the 1980s during pregnancy

The 63 -year -old Sherlene Eicher from Iowa says she never stopped her daughter who felt her parents put pressure on her in 1982.

He had to briefly preserve and feed his newborn before being separated.

Sherlene holds a private birthday celebration every year.

“When he comes around his birthday, I would get a birthday card for him and make a cake a few times,” he says.

“I would like to log a lot – thinking about where he was, what it was, what he was going through in his age.”

Then, in 2004, Sherlene’s daughter contacted E -Mail and met. They are close to today.

“When we finally met, we just hugged, hugged and hugged it,” Sherlene says.

“We talk for two or three hours on the phone – a very incredible woman.”

Adopted infants left abuse open

According to the respondents, the adoption system was very few controls, and this is the possibility of abusive situations. They said when a baby was on the road, Dr. Baldwin contacts the workers for the gear and suggests that the sect family should place the child.

Two of the six Baldwin babies talked to the BBC in their adoptive family with sexual, physical and emotional abuse, while one said his adoptive father had undergone emotional abuse.

One woman said she was removed from her first adoptive home due to social services due to social services and placed in the home of a “Elder” church – an elderly person who holds meetings at home – and his wife. He said he had sexually abused him within a few weeks at the age of 15.

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Another woman said her adoptive parents were beaten daily and was sexually abused by her uncle at the age of five.

As reports on widespread children’s sexual harassment were widespread in the temple two years ago, earlier and current members began contact with Facebook groups, including Baldwin mothers and infants.

“Moms – I know they feel and I am so empathy for them. I cry for their stories when they write them. But I cried all the tears I can cry,” says Deb.

“It was like finding my tribe,” says Melanie. “I’m not alone anymore.”

“Our moms were afraid to hug us, our fathers were ashamed of us, and the temple only accepted us if we made the final sacrifice.”

“And all these years later we will all be fine.”

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