MANSFIELD, Texas - A woman accused of deceiving an adoptive couple with a fake pregnancy was arrested Thursday, reports CBS DFW.
On Wednesday night, Jason and Byron Miller told the station how their hopes
of adopting twin boys had been dashed when Wenona McClellan, the birth mother
they'd met, disappeared Monday, shortly after the couple realized the sonograms
she'd given them had been ripped right off the internet.
An employee of Adoption Choices of Texas saw the story and recognized
McClellan as the same woman who had approached her agency within the last
couple days.
"We had not been on this situation for very long," said Devin
Vison, with the agency.
"The very first thing we do is to make sure that any birth parent or
couple is safe and stable. That means making sure they've got a safe place to
stay, healthy food to eat. Sometimes, we get taken advantage of."
The agency had reportedly helped McClellan find a hotel room and scheduled
her to meet with a set of prospective parents Thursday.
Instead, the agency notified police, who arrested her at her hotel, for
violating probation on a prior drug conviction.
"I was glad that in what we set out to do, letting everyone know that
it happened, that we prevented her from taking someone else for a ride,"
said Jason Martinez-Miller.
CBS DFW reports that the Millers already had already named the boys and
prepared a nursery for the twins, who they expected to be delivered by
C-section Thursday.
"What she put us through was a lot - an awful lot," said Byron
Miller.
As their story has spread, though, they've seen a flood of support.
Friends have started a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of any future
adoption attempts and three women have come forward offering to act as
surrogates.
McClellan, meanwhile, remains in custody, while police in Mansfield, where
the couple lives, consider additional charges.
