48 Hours - Perilous Journey

Episode Date: September 6, 2015

Perilous JourneySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. We got married in March of 1999. Ryan and Jeremy Lin. Ryan enlisted into the Army.

I've done tours in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I see the reality for children on the street in these different places. We're escorting a bunch of Iraqis. And I just wondered to myself, now, where is he? Where is she? What happened to them? I have three incredible little men, the three boys. Taylor, Cole and Riley.

I love beyond what I could ever say. It was actually Ryan who came to me. I was like, I think we should adopt. I just looked at him and I said, I think you're a little bit crazy. We found our daughter's unawaiting child list. When we saw our girls' pictures on that website, it said contact Sue at Celebrate Children International. Children need to be in families, not in institutions. What's your name? What is his name? Many of these children would die if it wasn't for adoption. She can get you the youngest

baby really fast, three to six months before she can go home. If you get a baby home in five months, I mean, you're going to love her. I had no way to find out that this was happening until it happened to me. I feel that I was taken advantage of. Her in-country representatives are being accused of heinous things. These things are not okay. We knew that international adoption is challenging. We were naive in how much real trouble there is. It's life or dead. I mean, I've literally seen children die. The line between adoption, which is a beautiful thing, and child trafficking, which is deplorable,

that line is all too fine. I mean, there needs to be a chasm between the two. I had to figure out how to get my girls home. I had to figure out how to get my girls home. If we want this to happen, we're just going to have to go do it ourselves. It's just unreal. I mean, is there anything else that a person can do to prove to the Congolese government I care about these kids? I love these kids enough to do whatever it takes to get them home. Whatever it takes.

I'm Maureen Maher. Tonight on 48 Hours. Perilous Journey. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of them. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking

story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+.

Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. wherever you get your podcasts.

Ryan. Hi. Where are we going? Africa. It's an international airport. Make it. This is real. After serving his country in war zones around the world, Army Chief Warrant Officer Ryan Owen is leaving on another risky mission.

This one with his wife, Jerry Lynn, and a video camera. You want the camera? Yeah. All right, here you go. They're trying to adopt two little girls from Africa and bring them home to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he's stationed with the 101st Airborne Division. Here we go. Adoption is like this gut-wrenching, mind-blowing journey.

Dear God. As evangelical Christians, it was a journey the Owens felt called to take. We felt like we had so much that we had more to give. So in early 2012, Jerry Lynn started scanning the internet for a child, never expecting to find two. When he brought up the idea of adoption, it was never two. Two is a lot. Well, five. Yeah, five is a lot. They were sisters, six and three, old by adoption standards and living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The girls were available for adoption through Celebrate Children International, or CCI,

a small Florida adoption agency run by this woman, Sue Hedberg. Hedberg is an evangelical Christian, too. Her website advertises about 1,400 successful adoptions from 11 countries since 2004. And she has a host of satisfied clients. We are blessed to have met Sue. She really does handle the adoptions herself. Brian and Sarah Grandstaff say Hedberg has an unquestionable work ethic and commitment to improving

children's lives. Tell me a little bit about your experience with her. Well, our experience is that we've done two adoptions with her, and I've said that if I ever do another adoption, it would be with her, because she is always looking out for the best interest of children. Ryan and Jerry Lynn Owen were impressed

by Sue Hedberg as well, and signed on with CCI in April 2012. I can have a family in one day. This is CCI video of the girls. What was the story she told you about where these girls came from? Well she told us that they're just abandoned. There's not a whole lot of information. Where were they found? In a marketplace, was what we were told. They decided to name the girls Ava and Zoe and started scraping together the $60,000 in total they would need to adopt them. What's the first sign of trouble? Not even three weeks after we started this whole process, I get all of these emails with pictures. Sifting through those pictures and papers from CCI, Jerry Lynn discovered a potential problem in a key document. This is the cornerstone of many international adoptions.

It's called the abandonment decree, and typically it is all that is known about the abandoned child, when and where they were found, and who's been taking care of them since then. If any of the details in here are proven inaccurate, it can put a halt to the entire process, because it will call into question whether or not the child is even eligible for adoption. The abandonment decrees for Ava and Zoe said they were brought to this orphanage in Congo called OHE. But Jerry Lynn noticed some of the photos showed them at another orphanage called Eve Eden. Some of them, but a different orphanage. How did you know they were at a different on the wall? Concerned about what else in the girl's background story might be inaccurate

jerry lynn called sue hedberg the owens say hedberg never really answered their questions you bring this up to this person who's supposed to be representing you as you're met with stop you're ignorant hedberg told them the information in an abandonment decree is often difficult to confirm. You have a red flag. Yeah, I mean, it's a red flag, but I was like, okay, well, maybe that's really how it's done. Another area of concern was about the girls' health. The Owens assumed once they began working with Sue Hedberg, CCI would be responsible for their care. But Ava and Zoe's feet were badly infected

with a flea that burrows into the skin and can cause death if untreated. Hedberg did, however, raise money for Ava, Zoe, and several other children to have surgery. I had asked her some questions and got some answers that were kind of weird. Like, we had a kind of weird little conversation. Jerry Lynn says Hedberg later threatened to stop helping with the adoptions altogether.

Six months into the process, there was some good news from Congo. We got the actual document that said we are Ava and Zoe's parents legally in the eyes of the Congolese government. You're identifying them as being your children. These are the dresses I had made for them. You're setting up a room for them. There's conversation around our dinner table about Ava and Zoe and what life is going to be like. But in the following weeks, she says the adoptions inexplicably stalled. For months, the Owens' relationship with Sue Hedberg had been deteriorating,

and they began to worry they would never get their girls. So in January 2013, with her husband in Afghanistan, Jerry Lynn set off on the first of two trips to Congo alone. I'm their mother and it's time I start acting like it. Jerry Lynn says that on that first trip, the U.S. Embassy warned her that the discrepancies in the abandonment decrees might prevent the adoptions. But as long as the girls were adoptable, the Owens were determined to push ahead without Hedberg's help and hired their own attorney.

These are my daughters, but if they're going to ever come home, it's not going to be without a fight. I just sensed that. Now, Jerry Lynn is leaving for her third trip to Congo, and Ryan is joining the battle to bring home the daughters they already love. It's worth the fight. With their children's future at stake, it's become a fight for the truth, a fight other CCI clients know all too well.

We've got a problem here. Some of Hedberg's foreign facilitators have been accused of crossing the line. You don't remove children from their parents and then offer them for thousands of dollars. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America

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Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. It has taken the Owens 28 hours and every last penny of the money they raised to get to Congo. The government here has approved the girls' adoptions, but Ryan and Jerry Lynn are no longer working with CCI and know they have a long road ahead. We made the turn down the orphanage road. Had a lot of time to kind of see it coming, the door. And on the other side of that gate are our daughters. Hello!

Lee Owen's camera is rolling as Ryan meets his daughters for the very first time. Why are you being shy? She's like, I don't know what to think about that. I wouldn't either. I'm a strange looking guy. What's the matter? It was very awkward. So has it been a little harder than you anticipated? Yes. Particularly when the orphanage releases the girls into the custody of parents they hardly know.

And we are driving away with our daughters, Ava and Zoe. But Ava and Zoe still can't leave the country. They need an official exit letter from Congolese immigration. Halfway around the world near Nashville, Tennessee, Betsy Emanmanuel and her husband Leslie know how challenging adoption can be. With three children of their own and a deep religious conviction, they too felt called to adopt. Jack and Hannah are from Korea.

Bo is from China. Matthew is from Alabama, and he thinks that's his country. But Betsy says it is the memory of a child she could not adopt that haunts her every day. It was 2006. She was a client of Celebrate Children International when Sue Hedberg offered her the child in this video. She is to die for. She's beautiful. A toddler in Guatemala named Maria Fernanda.

When I saw Maria, my life changed. And there is no other way to describe it. Hola, Fernanda. ¿Cómo estás? Most adoptive parents, or mothers specifically, say they look at the picture and they just know. It was absolutely, I just knew. And when I looked at Maria Fernanda, it was, I just knew on steroids. Betsy says she'd already begun preparing a room

for little Maria Fernanda when Sue Hedberg suddenly upped the ante. Maria had a sister that had been born, the little baby Ana Cristina. Betsy could not afford to take both girls, so she pressed on with adopting Maria Fernanda. We bought a toddler bed, and so I started looking for little clothes, and I got very excited. More and more excited, until three months later, when Betsy says an employee of Sue Hedberg's delivered devastating news. She said, I have to tell you something. A Maria cannot be adopted.

CCI claimed the girl's birth mother had resurfaced, accompanied by armed men, and demanded her children be returned. Did you believe what Sue Hedberg was telling you? No. I knew something was wrong. That's because Betsy says it wasn't the first time she'd heard this story from CCI. Three months earlier, Hedberg had told Betsy that she'd lost the adoption of this little girl for almost exactly the same reason, a returning birth mother and a man with a gun. You are the mother at this point of several foreign adoptions. Had you ever experienced anything like this?

Never. When Betsy pressed her, she says Hedberg used God against her. She questioned my faith several times, and you know that disturbed me so badly. Don't you trust God? Don't you believe that God is sending this child to you or that child to you? Each time she questioned my faith, I did not like that. Betsy Emanuel says by this point, she was financially committed to CCI. Eventually, Hedberg did get her a child, Emily Bell,

whom Betsy brought home from Guatemala in November 2007. But around the very same time, Betsy got more shocking news. Maria Fernanda and her infant sister had somehow reappeared. They were now being offered for adoption again, though this time not by CCI. My heart totally dropped. I just wanted to know something about her. Though she was home in Tennessee with Emily Bell, Betsy could not stop thinking about Maria Fernanda. And I just began typing in and Googling Maria's name. That's when she found this article in a Guatemala newspaper.

It would change Betsy's life and Maria Fernandez forever. It was just clear as a bell at that moment. I instantly knew. I knew she had been stolen at that point. When Betsy Emanuel found this article in a Guatemala newspaper entitled, Where Are Our Children?, she couldn't believe her eyes. And I just said, my God, they were taken from her. The story was about Guatemalan children who had been abducted for adoption, including a little girl named Maria Fernanda and her infant sister. And it was just at that moment, it was just like, oh, thank God, because I know where she is, and now I'm going to tell her mother where she is,

and I'm going to do it as fast as I can. Betsy got in touch with the Guatemalan Human Rights Group forwarding all the information she had. Within weeks a local court reunited both girls with their mother. It was the most relief I've ever felt in my life. She's got a mother. This is Maria Fernanda today, and this is her mother Mildred Alvarado. Mildred now ekes out a living by recycling garbage, feeding Maria Fernanda and her four other children at about $20 a week. While I was looking for my daughters, I never gave up hope. Back in 2006, Mildred was pregnant. Her husband had left her. She had no food, no money, no job. When she says a woman

named Sabrina offered her work as a live-in maid in her house, as well as room and board for her children. Nobody else was giving me any kind of support when I really needed it. But along with support, Mildred says Sabrina soon began pressuring her to let someone else care for little Maria Fernanda so she could focus more on her work. She said she will take care of her and will be in contact until I finish with the pregnancy. Mildred says she reluctantly handed Maria Fernanda to a friend of Sabrina's in the shopping mall parking lot, believing it was only temporary. And instead the woman kept Fernanda.

And do we believe that woman was a baby broker? She was. She was. Erin Siegel is an investigative reporter who published a book about Guatemalan adoptions and a CBS News consultant. Mildred says Sabrina pressured her again, this time to have her baby early. And she was brought to a private medical clinic. She says she received a couple injections. She blacked out. When she woke up, she had undergone a C-section.

I could not move because my feet and wrist were taped to the bed. And her baby was gone. She had never even seen its face. Then, just three days later... Betsy Emanuel in Tennessee was emailed photos of Ana Cristina, that baby, as available for adoption. That email reads, Just want you to know that M. Fernanda had a baby sister born, who is also available for adoption. But it would be a total fee again. I'm looking for a home for her. Signed, Sue. What part of the equation do you hold Sue Hedberg responsible for?

Sue Hedberg is responsible for knowing the origins of the children she offers as orphans. While ethically that may be true, legally in Florida, adoption agents were not required to know that information until federal law changed that in July 2014. In Guatemala, Mildred's one-time employer, Sabrina, was charged with aggravated kidnapping and human trafficking. So was this woman, Connie Brand, who ran a private nursery where Mildred says Maria Fernanda was kept. It's this one. Neither Sabrina nor Connie Brand was ever employed by CCI.

But prosecutors tell 48 Hours they also plan to bring human trafficking charges against Brand's son, Marvin, who was CCI's facilitator in the Maria Fernanda case. She's going to Tennessee. Hedberg says by the time she learned of irregularities in that case, she had already stopped accepting referrals from Marvin Brand. But 48 hours has learned for at least a month before that, Hedberg had known of problems in a different adoption that she and Marvin Brand had begun together.

Marvin Brand has been a fugitive since 2011. Guatemalan authorities have never charged Hedberg in any case. U.S. officials had concerns about child stealing in Guatemala as far back as 1995. 48 Hours has obtained this cable to the Secretary of State from the American Embassy in Guatemala City, which reads, We can now state unequivocally, but sadly, that there are instances of child stealing in Guatemala. It would certainly be expedient of us to ignore such facts and issue orphan visas without hesitation. It would also be dead wrong. dead wrong. Still, for the next 12 years, American officials continued to allow thousands of adopted Guatemalan children into the United States. Those cables started coming from the early 90s, and they didn't stop adoptions until 2007. Susan Jacobs has been the State Department's

special representative for children's issues since 2010. Do you agree that that was a long time to not have a reaction? I would argue that we did have a reaction, and the reaction was to continue to investigate and try to work with the Guatemalan government so that they could fix their own house. Guatemala officially shut down international adoptions in 2008, Guatemala officially shut down international adoptions in 2008, but planning one day to reopen, it joined 75 other countries regulated under a widely accepted set of adoption standards called the Hague Convention. I think that most of the problems that we see are in countries that are not parties to the convention.

Families may not know what they're getting themselves into. Duni Zanai is a consultant who helps parents research their adoptions. Zanai says the issue was that agencies like CCI that don't meet the Hague standards. She's healthy. Can she cook? Were able to set up shop in countries that haven't signed the treaty. When a country did finally clamp down, many of those agencies simply moved on. An agency that is questionable in a country that is most vulnerable because they don't have enough regulations, that definitely is the worst combination. But it could be a good way to make money. Tax records show that from 2004 through 2007, Sue Hedberg received a total salary of nearly a million dollars.

And I know she's done hundreds of adoptions, but from the bad cases I've seen, adoption is better off without her. 100%. I can have a family. Really? Absolutely. Are you from a Christian or a Muslim family? Since 2004, Sue Hedberg has racked up a long list of formal complaints about questionable adoption practices. At least six with the State Department and 21 with the state of Florida. Florida authorities found that many of the allegations were unsubstantiated. While a complaint filed by the Emanuels stated they make no claim

as to what CCI staffers or Sue Hedberg knew or did not know about Mildred Alvarado, the Emanuels also stated the adoption business of Sue Hedberg needs to be investigated on every possible level. After investigating, the state of Florida ordered that Mrs. Hedberg shall take responsibility for knowing who she works with, facilitators and lawyers, and where the children come from. What do you think Sue Hedberg is guilty of? Turning a blind eye. She literally goes to countries where she knows it is very vulnerable. It's formula, yes.

But that is not a crime. In fact, Hedberg has never been charged in any adoption case. And all of the adoptions she has completed Were approved by U.S. embassies Hedberg strongly believes more regulation Usually hinders adoption Leaving children stranded in orphanages What concerns me is all the regulations

That are being put in force That's going to affect agencies like myself And we will not be able to serve these children. Hedberg has twice failed to get Hague accreditation for CCI. According to these notes from Florida authorities, the State Department's review board cited ethical concerns, lack of honesty, and a willingness to work with unscrupulous facilitators. Say bacon. Bacon. In April 2013, before we met Brian and Jerry Lenoen, Sue Hedberg took 48 hours along on a

trip to Ethiopia and Congo, where CCI did most of its work after Guatemala shut down. where CCI did most of its work after Guatemala shut down. It is such a reward to hold each one of those children and to kiss them and to see what they need. At CCI's transition house in Ethiopia, the children seem to have what they need. But in Congo, conditions were more challenging, and meeting a child's needs was a constant struggle. We want children who were meant to be adopted. We want those children to go home. By this evening, we will be uploading photos of the children that we see today.

Two days after 48 Hours landed in Kinshasa, Sue brought us to this orphanage. She told us that she had organized something called Operation Elizabeth. Lover or hater, we were about to find out just how far Sue Hedberg was willing to go to bring children back to the United States. We have seven children right now stuck in an orphanage, and we cannot get them released. The plan is to go with five police officers and take them. Hopefully peacefully. Hopefully.

The plan is to pick up some paperwork from the government ordering their release and to go with five police officers and take them. In April 2013, Sue Hedberg obtained a court order authorizing a raid on this Congolese orphanage. She claimed seven CCI children were being held hostage, delaying their adoptions. Two of them were Ava and Zoe Owen. We're calling it Operation Elizabeth. Elizabeth is this woman, a Congolese American named Elizabeth Foshive, who runs the orphanage. Your orphanage is immaculate. This is not the image people have of a Congolese orphanage.

In September 2012, CCI begged Foshive to take in the seven kids while they healed from that foot surgery after being neglected at another orphanage. What did the kids tell you? They are always beating us up. We are not treated well. Do not take us back there. But Foshive says that is exactly what Hedberg wanted to do. And Elizabeth says after speaking with the children,

she also became concerned that some of them might not even be eligible for adoption. I need to check what Sue is saying if it's true. Why? Why did she refuse to return the children when they got better? Where is the local police? Do you know where they are? I don't know. But it might be along the road here.

As the orphanage raid began, we were advised against entering. They say it's not good to take pictures. But our hidden camera was rolling as Hedberg's team went in. When I came out of the house and I see a bunch of people in here, I knew something was not right. I had this feeling. Where are the Sisiya children? Though Hedberg denies it, the Yohans say as Eva and Zoe's legal parents, they had told her not to take their girls from Elizabeth.

At this point, they believed Elizabeth was the only one working to complete the girls' adoptions. Do not move our children. In the end, Elizabeth Oshive stood her ground. Authorities did not remove any of the CCI children. We came in with the police and we still walked out without the children. It's hard to understand. As long as you don't break a law and you're very good at that, you can get away with anything. It's almost about just not getting caught.

Duni Zanai has worked with nine dissatisfied CCI clients adopting from Africa. She knows what could really get her into trouble, and she knows how far she can push. In Congo, one major problem became this man, attorney Jean-Baptiste Kombo, known as J.B. J.B. confirmed to 48 Hours that Hedberg wired $434,000 to him to process adoptions and pay for the care of CCI children. JB, he gave me a lump sum of 500, then another one, 300 dollars. OK. In all, Elizabeth says she received only 1,200 dollars of the estimated 12,000 she was owed for the seven CCI children.

When we caught up with JB Combo in Kinshasa, he made no apologies. To feed children is not my work. To follow after children is not my work. I'm a lawyer. I'm a lawyer. As this CCI email shows, Hedberg was dissatisfied with her own lawyer's work. You have been paid a lot of money to care for these children, and look what you have done, she wrote him in August 2012.

Fix this immediately before the families come and see the horrible treatment of these children. Hedberg also held Kombo responsible for the disappearance of this little girl from a different Congolese orphanage. Hedberg was unable to locate the girl, who later reportedly died of malnutrition. In 2013, CCI reached a financial settlement with her adoptive parents. Both sides agreed not to discuss the case. Despite Hedberg's concerns about Jean-Baptiste Combeau, she continued working with him on adoptions in progress. Do you think that Sue Hedberg has been negligent? Yes. Absolutely. Negligent in whom she hired? Yes. Negligent with your money? Absolutely. Negligent with the care of your daughters? Absolutely. The Owens became convinced

that they needed to be on the ground in Kinshasa to keep their girls safe and get them out. We're hoping to get an exit letter. Yes, that's what we're hoping for. That's what we're hoping for. Yes. Here we go. Here we go.

Are you prepared for the fact that the paperwork might not come through? It wouldn't surprise me. It would totally suck. We're 48 hours out from needing to be at the airport with that letter. They could make me completely redo every single document. Does this bring back memories of some of the places that you've been to in your travels with the military? Absolutely. After two weeks in Congo,

Jerry Lynn and Ryan Owen are still waiting for an exit letter for their girls. Despite Elizabeth Foshive's help, time is running out. Today's Tuesday. I'm really hoping to get a letter today. As they wait, the anxiety grows. Betsy Emanuel can relate. Here you are. I know, I can't believe it. I have to just keep looking and making sure this is Guatemala City, and it is.

For five long years, she has dreamt of meeting Mildred Alvarado and her girls, Maria Fernanda and Ana Cristina. and her girls, Maria Fernanda and Ana Cristina. Mildred has dreamt of this moment too. I recognize you. I'm so happy to see you. Hello. Hello, sweetie. Oh, sweet girl.

Oh, I'm overwhelmed. For two bittersweet days, time passes much too quickly. Sightseeing, swimming and a simple meal bring Betsy face toface with what might have been. Oh, sweet girl. Why is this so hard for you now? I just... I can just imagine she would be happy with our family, but it wouldn't be right. Sue Hedberg once said to me, you will never see that child. And not only did I see her, but I saw her through to back where she should have been all along. Sue Hedberg has refused to give 48 Hours an in-depth on-camera interview.

Instead, we received a written statement from her public relations representative. we received a written statement from her public relations representative. Part of it denounces the actions of unscrupulous individuals in the Maria Fernanda case. Hedberg's statement also says Celebrate Children International never offered two children birthed by Mildred Alvarado for adoption by the Emanuel family. But remember, Hedberg sent Betsy this video about Maria Fernanda. She is to die for. She's beautiful. She is absolutely gorgeous.

She's going to Tennessee. And this email with over 30 pictures of Ana Cristina, which says M. Fernanda had a baby sister born, who is also available for adoption. Florida investigators never went to Guatemala, but they did question Sue Hedberg, who claimed Mildred Alvarado was lying. Investigators concluded there is no evidence to suggest that Mrs. Hedberg was involved and had knowledge of the situation. How difficult is it to hold an agent accountable for what their people have done on the ground

in another country? It's very hard. But Ambassador Susan Jacobs says that is changing. As of July 2014, a new law requires all American adoption agents working overseas to submit to the same international standards. I think that it will make a huge difference. Having one standard, and it's a pretty high standard, I think will be very beneficial. But before the law went into effect, Hedberg continued to work for satisfied clients like the Grandstaffs, who adopted another child from Ethiopia in 2013. We are supposed to be getting on a plane tomorrow,

and it is like six o'clock on Wednesday night, and we still have no exit letter. I have to fly out tomorrow. Due back on base in just 48 hours, Ryan makes one final push for that exit letter. Any luck? No. I can't, I can't even get my passport back tonight. Sorry. Is there anything else that a person can do to prove to the Congolese government that I care about these kids? It is the very last day they are scheduled to be in Congo, and the Owens wake up to incredible news. We're going home! We're going home!

Can you believe it? The Congolese government has decided to issue their exit letter at 3 p.m. Oh, my gosh. We're in the van.m. Oh my gosh. We're in the van. We're in the van. We're in the van. Yes. But when they get to the Congo's DGM immigration office, the Owens discover the letter isn't actually ready. Well, we're sitting outside DGM right now.

It is like 10 after 5. We need to be on the road by 6, or we're not going to make it on the airplane. Ta-da! I'm getting a little bit nervous. Then, with just 45 minutes left on the clock, the letter finally arrives. The process of getting the letter, it went right down to the last several minutes.

We're getting on the plane. Going home. All the details of Ava and Zoe's background may never be known, but authorities in both countries deemed the girls adoptable. We're on the plane. countries deemed the girls adoptable. After more than a year, three trips to the Congo, and almost $60,000, the wait is over. The weight of responsibility is not. I won't have answers, and I won't be able to put a Band-Aid on those wounds. But I know that if they've made it to four and eight in a place like the Congo as orphans, that they are strong and they need to be validated as strong women and they need to be

allowed to be kids. I just really want to be able to introduce my sons to my daughters. That's the main thing that's on my mind right now. Kind of a new concept for us. I mean, we never really had girls in the house. This journey has not been easy, but we know that we're doing the right thing. As they settle in for the first of many nights together, all of the Owens seem to understand their journey of faith and family is only just beginning. What does five plus two equals one mean? Because five plus two equals one me. Ryan and me and Taylor and Cole and Riley.

And Ava and Zoe becoming one family. Ava and Zoe celebrated their first Christmas with the Owen boys, as if they'd been together as family forever. But Jerry Lynn says the girls had a lot of loss to overcome. They remember Congo as a place of hurt and do not want to go back. Here in the U.S., for two years now, they have been thriving. Three months after the Owens left Congo, local officials suspended all adoptions. CCI, denied accreditation, is no longer allowed to initiate international adoptions.

They're permitted to finalize adoptions already in progress. Florida authorities say they do not plan to relicense CCI after June 2016. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.