August 8, 2024 • 28 mins
Matt and Laura’s dream of having a second child turned into a twisted, shocking, and unexpected deceit.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
She was screaming, saying, there's blood all over the car.
Oh my god, Oh my god, the baby's coming. I
was like trying to talk her through it.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Just breathe, just take deep breaths. Can you feel the
baby's head.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about
the people we trust the most and the deceptions that
change everything. Here at Betrayal, we've received hundreds of emails
messages from listeners telling us their own shocking stories of deception,
(00:46):
and we knew we had to find a way to
share them. So every Thursday, we'll be bringing you new
stories of resilience in the face of devastating betrayal. Some
stories will be contained to one episode and others will
be least in two parts. Besides hearing from listeners, our
team has been researching and reading about some of the
(01:06):
most unbelievable deceptions and betrayals from across the world, not
just romantic betrayals, but familial and financial ones, and in
this story, it's somewhere in between. In the process of
adopting a baby, Matt and Laura Trait were pulled into
a twilight zone of deception and fraud.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Something switched in US, and we immediately went into attack mode, like,
we can't let someone get away with this, and so
we started immediately making phone calls to the Sheriff's department
to I mean, anybody that would.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Listen, and I remember the sheriff saying, well, it's not
a crime to hurt someone's feelings.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
This is Laura Trait and her husband, Matt. Matt and
Laura met in two thousand and five when they were
both in graduate school to become teachers. He was standing
in line with his classmate when he first met Laura.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
She inserted herself into our conversation with my classmate and
was like, Oh, are you in the teaching program. I'm
in the teaching program too. We talked for a little
bit and went back to class. My other friend I
was with was like, Oh, she's really into you. I said, oh, no,
she's not. Like she's way out of my league. There's
no way she was into me.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Matt's friend was right.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I know it sounds so cliche, but when I saw
Matt around campus, I just kind of knew he had
just the kind of smile and kind eyes. So I
basically worked up the courage that night to say hello.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Laura invited him to her birthday dinner. He showed up
with flowers.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
That was kind of our first date.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, it worked out for me.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
We're pretty much stuck at the hips, like right from
the start.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It just kind of clicked.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
They dated for two years, and over that time, their
initial attraction grew into a deep connection. This is what
Matt says he loves about Laura.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
What drew me to Laura when I first met her
were her eyes and her smile. I could tell that
she was just a kind person. Little did I know
just how amazingly kind and generous that she is. She
is one of the most selfless human beings that I've
ever met.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Thanks Ma, love.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I mean, he's saying all the things that I wanted
to say about him.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
And this is what she loves about Matt.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
When I saw Matt around campus, I could just tell
from looking at him that he's just He has such
a kind face and eyes and smile, and I just
was drawn to that. It was true that he is
the kindest man I've literally ever met.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
So he gota taught me.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Now, Oh God, getting emotional already.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
After they graduated, the couple started talking about the future together,
everything from marriage to having kids.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I was raised in such a big family that I
just always wanted a family. I always wanted more than
one child. That was like my biggest dream in life.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Matt felt the same way. He loved kids and wanted
a family with Laura.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
It's just something we both agreed on. Right from the start.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
They knew they'd have to make sacrifices to have the
big family they dreamed of.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
We both were becoming teachers, and I mean the idea
was to just make a difference in people's lives. We
were never into material things. We were never into like
name brands or anything like that. We were just more
focused on having a family together and growing old together,
like in simple ways.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Laura and Matt got married at thirty one, and right
away they started trying to build their family.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
We started trying right away, and it's really disheartening when
you're trying and it's not working.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So it became like this huge project, which is sad
to say.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, even if we weren't in the mood or whatever,
we'd be like, okay, well I'm ovulating, so we need
to try.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
And it just wasn't working.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
You know, you get to a certain point in the process.
Also where you know it definitely affects you mentally, the struggle,
you know, something that comes so easy for some people.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
After a year with no luck, their doctors ordered a
series of tests. The trades learned they both have medical
conditions that make it difficult to conceive, so their doctors
recommended IVF, But the biggest obstacle was financial. One round
of IVF is expensive.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
The cost per cycle is just staggering.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
This was in two thousand and nine. It was probably
between twenty to thirty thousand dollars. But to us, there
is nothing more worth the money. Yeah, and I remember
like writing down notes and being ready, like to have
a meeting with Mad's parents to ask them for help.
We had to lay out the plan, lay out the prices.
(06:13):
They want to know all the details and why it
was costing this much. But we really had to go
to family and advocate for ourselves and be like, please help,
but we really want to have a family.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Their families agreed to help financially, and the couple started
their first IVF cycle.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
The first one wasn't successful at all, but we weren't
ready to give up, so we tried again. Within the
next couple of months of that one not working.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
On their second cycle, they got a positive pregnancy test.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
We were so excited and hopeful.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And then we went to our first ultrasound and my
body was creating all the pregnancy hormones, but there was
no baby.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
It was an emotional rollercoaster, but they weren't ready to
give up on their dream. After a few months, they
decided to give IVF one final.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Shot, our third try. We put in three embryos and
thought that this was going to be our last opportunity.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Finally they got the phone call they'd been waiting for.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
When they called and said that my levels were like
in the nine hundreds and that I was pregnant. I
was shocked and just elated after.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Years of disappointment. They were cautious, almost afraid to believe
that this pregnancy was real.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
We had done this before and believed we were pregnant,
and then we go in for the ultrasound and we weren't.
And so the real true moment for us was going
in for that first ultrasound appointment and being able to
see that there actually was a baby in there. It
was one of the most joyous, amazing experiences of our life.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Laura had an image in her head of what pregnancy
would be like.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I was always so excited to be pregnant because I
thought I would be one of those cute pregnant ladies
that wear all the cute pregnancy clothes and waddle about
and just be happy all the time.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Instead, Laura started having pre term contractions at twenty weeks.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I was having a lot of them, and they were
monitoring me, so they put me on strict bed rest
for the rest of the pregnancy.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
We just kind of pushed through, like, Hey, this is
all going to be worth it. It's going to be
worth the wait.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
She spent the last few weeks of her pregnancy in
the hospital under constant monitoring, until finally.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
They woke us up one morning and they're like, we're
going to do a sea section this morning. And I
remember during the sea section, just waiting to hear that
little cry, you know, just waiting to hear that sound
is and then you hear it and it's like, Oh,
it feels so good to have your dream come true.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
He was a miracle for us. Out of nine or
ten embryos that we had put in through the courses
of all the cycles. One was successful and it just
felt like everything finally was in place and it was
just overjoyed with happiness.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
They named their son Hudson, which was the name of
both of their hometowns, hers in New Hampshire and his
in Ohio. Hudson was happy and healthy. Despite how difficult
it was to have him, the joy of being his
parents outweighed it all and they wanted to do it again.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
We had still had some of those frozen embryos, and
we decided to try more rounds of IVF.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
They went in with high hopes for another miracle like Hudson,
but after their fifth IVF cycle ended in a miscarriage.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
We kind of did more soul searching.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
We were like, let's look into adoption, so we started
raising money again.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Just like IVF, adoption has upfront costs, big ones.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
We have an adoption yard sale and went back to family,
you know, to borrow money.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
There were adoption facilitators whose job basically is to connect
you with a birth mother, and they want to charge
you fifteen to twenty thousand dollars just to talk to
a birth mother. You know, it's like, hey, we've got
a birth mother on hand. They really need somebody. If
you send us fifteen thousand dollars, you can talk to them.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Because they'd already invested so much money in building their family,
the Traits needed to be resourceful.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I have my graphic design degree, so I was like,
I'll create a website for us, and we'll try and
reach out to see if we can find birth moms
who are looking for a nice family on our own
instead of going through one of these agencies. So that's
when I started creating this website called the Sibling for
Hudson dot Com.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
A Sibling for Hudson dot com. The name said it
all and it worked. Three different women were interested in
having the Traits adopt their baby. They talked to them all,
screening for the best match, somebody they could see being
in their lives long term. That's how they settled on.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
This birth mom, Elizabeth Jones, Matt.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
And Laura Trade were dedicated to growing their family. It
was their biggest dream. They made a website where they
told their story, shared family photos, and made a heartfelt
plead they wanted to adopt a baby. That's how they
met Elizabeth Jones, a birth mother who was five months pregnant.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
You said that The reason they were adopting out their
child was because she wanted to focus on her career
and her husband did too, and they had two children already,
so they couldn't afford to raise another child, and they
felt like the best thing to do was to find
another good family for that baby.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Elizabeth lived in Virginia, across the country from the Traits
in California. At first, the couple took it slow, made
no assumptions, and took time to get to know each
other over the phone. But after those initial calls, Laura
started talking to Elizabeth every day.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
We were like growing this amazing bond, talking every day
and really building a strong relationship. We had video calls.
Matt and Hudson got to meet her through a video call.
She kind of felt like a sister to me.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Elizabeth was stoic, thoughtful, she'd been in the military, and
she took things seriously. After a few weeks of talking
every day, Elizabeth told the Traits that she'd made her decision.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
She told us, I really would love it if you
guys would adopt my baby, and we found out at
that time as a girl.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
They were overjoyed with the news. Laura and Elizabeth they'd
become really close over the past month. Elizabeth felt like
the right person, someone who could be a positive addition
to their family, part of the baby's story.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We wanted the baby to know where she came from.
We were always going to be honest about that, and
hopefully we could all have a really great relationship.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
So the Traits began the legal process, finding adoption attorneys
and starting the paperwork. All the while they stayed cautiously optimistic.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
You never know if the birth mother is going to
change their mind at the last minute, so we're remaining hopeful,
but we're trying to kind of guard ourselves a little
bit in the process because the baby has a right
to stay with the birth mother if that's what they choose.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
But Elizabeth was all in.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
She kept telling us this baby girl is yours, and
I have no plans whatsoever backing out, Like I really
want you guys to be her family, and this is
a great match. And we were like, this is a
great match, and we love you guys, and we're so
looking forward to doing this together as a unit.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
So the Traits started preparing a nursery for their baby.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
She sent us ultrasound photos.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
She even mailed us a stuffed unicorn with the baby's
heartbeat in it, like recorded in it.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So we were like elated setting up the baby's.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Room here at our house and we put the little
unicorn in there on the ultrasound photo.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
When Elizabeth was seven months pregnant, Laura decided to fly
out to Virginia to meet her. Even though it was
their first time meeting in person, it felt like a reunion.
Laura greeted her with teary eyes and a long hug.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
We spent like every waking hour together, Like we went
shopping for baby clothes together. We picked up a like
a going home outfit, and we toured the hospital where
she was going to give birth. We did a professional
photo shoot, and I had made us shirts. Our shirts
said birth mom Strong and my shirt said adoptive mom Strong.
(15:21):
So I brought those out there with me and we
had our professional photo shoot.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
In the photos, Laura and Elizabeth are standing in a
wooded area, arm in arm. They're each making half of
a heart with one hand holding the heart shape up
to the camera. They're beaming, and they're matching shirts. The
Treats sent this photo out as their holiday card.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
That weekend We also went to meet with the adoption
attorney and she signed a power of attorney giving us
rights to make medical decisions for the baby girl.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Before she flew back home. Laura wanted to join Elizabeth
at her doctor's appointment, and Elizabeth agreed.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
We were waiting in the waiting room and she had said, Oh,
I forgot my water in the car, can run out
and get my bottle of water. I'm really thirsty. I
was like, sure, I'll be right back, but then when
I came back into the waiting room, she was gone.
So I had told the nurses at the front desk
you know who I was, and thought I'd like to
(16:22):
go back with her, and they were kind of giving
me the run around, so I started texting her.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Elizabeth texted back that they brought her into the exam
room and while she was there looking at the baby
on the ultrasound monitor, Elizabeth was overwhelmed with emotion. She
asked Laura to wait outside.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I was feeling for her because I'm here to see
an ultrasound with her, and this must be hard for
the birth mom to have this person in the room
with her, and she's going to give up her baby
to me.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Matt hadn't come on this trip, so Laura called him
to get his opinion.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
You don't want to push of birth mother, right because
this is a huge decision you're making. And so you know,
I've said before how empathetic Laura is and how she
puts herself in other people's shoes, and you know, she
was doing that, like feeling what this woman must have
felt having to make this decision. So it made it
(17:19):
understandable that there were some emotions going around.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
After the appointment, Laura knew she had to have a
hard conversation with Elizabeth.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Elizabeth and I had a heart to heart.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I remember being like, Elizabeth, it's okay if you want
to keep baby girl, Like the best place for her
is with her family. If you want to keep the baby,
it's okay, and maybe you should keep the baby, you know.
But we really did bond during that conversation, and she
just ended up reassuring me that it is what she wanted,
(17:56):
and so I just kind of hung in there and
tried to just kind of ignore my gut feelings and
just try to see it from her point of view.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Laura flew home feeling a bit nervous. She had expected
to go into the exam room and talk to the doctor,
but she empathized with Elizabeth's pain and she respected her.
After all, Elizabeth was giving their family the biggest gift,
and she never asked for a penny in return.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
At no time did she ever ask us to give
her money, you know which some birth mothers do. I
pay for my rent or pay for my bills. I
need help.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I remember her telling me, no, I don't want any money.
I want you to put that money towards baby girl.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
The baby's do date was in late December, and the
couple decided on a name for her.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
When we found out that the baby was due right
around the holidays, we decided to name her Noela. We
thought it was a fitting name for the time that
she was due.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Laura and Elizabeth kept talking every day and the conversations
were intense, especially when in late November, Elizabeth started having
pre term contractions, just like Laura had in her pregnancy
with Hudson.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
She was in lots of pain. She had gone to
the er several times, to the point where they put
in something called a circlage.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Its stitches in the cervix to prevent the baby from
being born too early. Elizabeth kept the trades updated on
what her doctors were saying.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
The doctor around this time also didn't amno and she
said that the doctor said everything looked good, but she
had to be on bedrest, and the doctor was okay
with taking the circlause out and that it was better
to take the baby out now to not do damage
to her cervix. The baby girl's LUNs were fully developed
at that time, so she was begging us to come
(19:54):
back out for the delivery of the baby.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Things were happening quickly. It was scary. Elizabeth said her
doctors were recommending they removed the stitches and prepare for
an early delivery. So the couple jumped into action.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
We were in Arizona visiting my family for Thanksgiving, so
we're scrambling around trying to change light reservations and reaching
out to the lawyer, and it was just like, Okay,
it's time to get into action, to get out there
and finally meet our daughter.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
The Traits and their son rushed to Virginia the day
after Thanksgiving and rented an airbnb. They had packed everything
they needed to bring home their daughter, Noela, and things
with Elizabeth were progressing quickly.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Right after she got her sirklage out, she came to
the airbnb. They had said that she was three and
a half centimeters dilated at that time. She spent a
lot of time with us after that, and we were
just trying to take care of our best we could.
Every time she had a contraction, she was moaning and groaning,
complaining about how much pain she was in. So we
were just trying to be there for her to support
(21:23):
her through it, just trying to love on her and
just take care of her.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
They also took care of Elizabeth's two young kids.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
We were taking the kids out her kids out while
she rested, and one of the kids noticed the car
seat in her rental car and asked us, oh, is
that for the baby.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
At that point we were like, oh, they know about
the baby, okay.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
It was a relief that Elizabeth had talked to her
kids about the adoption.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Our son and her kids got along really well and
spent a lot of time playing and going to various
activities together. Just reassured us like, Hey, this is going
to be great. You know, our families are going to
know each other and they're going to grow up knowing
each other, and that's going to be a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It was also important to the Traits to be honest
with Hudson throughout the adoption process.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
He was excited about having a brother's sister. It was
something that he really wanted to so we were telling
him that we were there to meet his baby's sister.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
After a week, the baby hadn't come.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
I mean, that's a good thing. We want her to
be healthy, and so we had told her we were
going to go home the next day. I have school
to get back to and Hudson had school to get
back to, and it was just time for us to
go back. And you know, look, we'll fly back out
when baby comes, don't worry.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Late that night, Laura received an alarming text from Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
She sent pictures of bloody sheets on the bed as
she said that they were rushing at the hospit.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
The doctors examined Elizabeth at the hospital. They determined that
she was in early labor and told her to come
back in the morning when her labor had progressed further.
The baby was premature, but otherwise healthy. Laura and Matt
were elated that they would meet their baby the next day,
but The next morning, Elizabeth's labor had progressed rapidly. She
(23:21):
sent Laura and Matt even more photos of blood. That's
when the urgency set in. She needed to go to
the hospital right away, so the Traits jumped in their
rental car, speeding to the hospital to meet her and
the baby.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
She actually called me on our drive and she was
screaming saying, there's blood everywhere, and oh my god, oh
my god, the baby's coming. You know, there's blood all
over the car and her husband was driving, and I
was like trying to talk.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Her through it. Just breathe, just take deep breaths.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
If you put your hand on there, can you feel
the baby's head? Like, do you have anything to wrap
the baby in?
Speaker 2 (23:58):
She was like, I have a towel?
Speaker 4 (23:59):
All you that.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Then Elizabeth told Laura that her husband flagged down a
passing ambulance. They were going to take the ambulance to the.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Hospital, so we were like, okay, we'll meet you there.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
On her first visit, Laura toured the hospital and Nicki
with Elizabeth. They'd met the nurses who'd be there for
the delivery, met and Laura made it to the maternity
ward before Elizabeth and the ambulance.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I saw some of the nurses we had met during
our tour, and I was like, you know, Elizabeth's giving
birth and the ambulance and she's on her way.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
And so they jumped into action.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
They got a team together, They got a little incubator,
the whole team of doctors and nurses and everyone. They
were all waiting near the elevators for the baby to
come up.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Even in the rush, the trades had still remembered all
their necessary paperwork.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Matt was turning in our power of attorney, giving them
our insurance information, getting all set with that.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
The chaos slowed down as the Trades waited by the
elevator doors with an incubator.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And we were just waiting and waiting.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
The more time that went by, the more uneasy we
started to feel. Obviously, there was a sense of urgency
because the baby needed the nick you and here we
are at the NIKI waiting and baby's not coming, and
baby's not coming.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
It felt like time was standing still. They looked down
at their son, Hudson, who was six.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
We worked so hard to reach this moment. The dream
was finally coming true. Our son had a big brother shirt.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
On as the minutes dragged on, a nurse pulled Laura away,
suggesting that they go down to the er to be
closer to the ambulance arrivals.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
We went, and those elevators only doctors are allowed to use.
When we went down to the er, and all of
the nurses were looking for this lady. They were telling
us nobody got delivered here by the ambulance that gave birth,
and so everybody was trying to figure it out. They're
calling other hospitals to see if maybe they had gone
to a different hospital with a nick you and Elizabeth
(26:21):
just didn't realize which hospital they are taking her to.
And then I remember one of the nurses coming up saying,
there is someone here by the name of Elizabeth Jones,
but she checked herself in for lower back pain and
she's not even pregnant. Okay, Well, Elizabeth Jones is a
common name, so maybe it's somebody else.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
On the next episode of Betrayal, the day the Trades
had been dreaming of turns into a nightmare.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
She's saying she doesn't even know you. She's saying she
has no idea of who you are.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team,
or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us
at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal Pod at
gmail dot com. Also, please be sure to follow us
at Glass Podcasts on Instagram for all betrayal content, news
and updates. We're grateful for your support. One way to
(27:32):
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all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts,
a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason,
(27:55):
hosted and produced by me Andrea Gunning, written and produced
by Monique Leborge, also produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers
on this episode are Kristen Melcurie, Caitlin Golden, and Grace Bollinger.
Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crincheck. Audio
editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio and Nico Ruka. Betrayal's
(28:17):
theme composed by Oliver Bains. Music library provided by my Music.
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She was screaming, saying, there's blood all over the car.
Oh my god, Oh my god, the baby's coming. I
was like trying to talk her through it.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Just breathe, just take deep breaths. Can you feel the
baby's head.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about
the people we trust the most and the deceptions that
change everything. Here at Betrayal, we've received hundreds of emails
messages from listeners telling us their own shocking stories of deception,
(00:46):
and we knew we had to find a way to
share them. So every Thursday, we'll be bringing you new
stories of resilience in the face of devastating betrayal. Some
stories will be contained to one episode and others will
be least in two parts. Besides hearing from listeners, our
team has been researching and reading about some of the
(01:06):
most unbelievable deceptions and betrayals from across the world, not
just romantic betrayals, but familial and financial ones, and in
this story, it's somewhere in between. In the process of
adopting a baby, Matt and Laura Trait were pulled into
a twilight zone of deception and fraud.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Something switched in US, and we immediately went into attack mode, like,
we can't let someone get away with this, and so
we started immediately making phone calls to the Sheriff's department
to I mean, anybody that would.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Listen, and I remember the sheriff saying, well, it's not
a crime to hurt someone's feelings.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
This is Laura Trait and her husband, Matt. Matt and
Laura met in two thousand and five when they were
both in graduate school to become teachers. He was standing
in line with his classmate when he first met Laura.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
She inserted herself into our conversation with my classmate and
was like, Oh, are you in the teaching program. I'm
in the teaching program too. We talked for a little
bit and went back to class. My other friend I
was with was like, Oh, she's really into you. I said, oh, no,
she's not. Like she's way out of my league. There's
no way she was into me.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Matt's friend was right.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I know it sounds so cliche, but when I saw
Matt around campus, I just kind of knew he had
just the kind of smile and kind eyes. So I
basically worked up the courage that night to say hello.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Laura invited him to her birthday dinner. He showed up
with flowers.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
That was kind of our first date.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, it worked out for me.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
We're pretty much stuck at the hips, like right from
the start.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It just kind of clicked.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
They dated for two years, and over that time, their
initial attraction grew into a deep connection. This is what
Matt says he loves about Laura.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
What drew me to Laura when I first met her
were her eyes and her smile. I could tell that
she was just a kind person. Little did I know
just how amazingly kind and generous that she is. She
is one of the most selfless human beings that I've
ever met.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Thanks Ma, love.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I mean, he's saying all the things that I wanted
to say about him.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
And this is what she loves about Matt.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
When I saw Matt around campus, I could just tell
from looking at him that he's just He has such
a kind face and eyes and smile, and I just
was drawn to that. It was true that he is
the kindest man I've literally ever met.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
So he gota taught me.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Now, Oh God, getting emotional already.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
After they graduated, the couple started talking about the future together,
everything from marriage to having kids.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I was raised in such a big family that I
just always wanted a family. I always wanted more than
one child. That was like my biggest dream in life.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Matt felt the same way. He loved kids and wanted
a family with Laura.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
It's just something we both agreed on. Right from the start.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
They knew they'd have to make sacrifices to have the
big family they dreamed of.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
We both were becoming teachers, and I mean the idea
was to just make a difference in people's lives. We
were never into material things. We were never into like
name brands or anything like that. We were just more
focused on having a family together and growing old together,
like in simple ways.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Laura and Matt got married at thirty one, and right
away they started trying to build their family.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
We started trying right away, and it's really disheartening when
you're trying and it's not working.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So it became like this huge project, which is sad
to say.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, even if we weren't in the mood or whatever,
we'd be like, okay, well I'm ovulating, so we need
to try.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
And it just wasn't working.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
You know, you get to a certain point in the process.
Also where you know it definitely affects you mentally, the struggle,
you know, something that comes so easy for some people.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
After a year with no luck, their doctors ordered a
series of tests. The trades learned they both have medical
conditions that make it difficult to conceive, so their doctors
recommended IVF, But the biggest obstacle was financial. One round
of IVF is expensive.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
The cost per cycle is just staggering.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
This was in two thousand and nine. It was probably
between twenty to thirty thousand dollars. But to us, there
is nothing more worth the money. Yeah, and I remember
like writing down notes and being ready, like to have
a meeting with Mad's parents to ask them for help.
We had to lay out the plan, lay out the prices.
(06:13):
They want to know all the details and why it
was costing this much. But we really had to go
to family and advocate for ourselves and be like, please help,
but we really want to have a family.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Their families agreed to help financially, and the couple started
their first IVF cycle.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
The first one wasn't successful at all, but we weren't
ready to give up, so we tried again. Within the
next couple of months of that one not working.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
On their second cycle, they got a positive pregnancy test.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
We were so excited and hopeful.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And then we went to our first ultrasound and my
body was creating all the pregnancy hormones, but there was
no baby.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
It was an emotional rollercoaster, but they weren't ready to
give up on their dream. After a few months, they
decided to give IVF one final.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Shot, our third try. We put in three embryos and
thought that this was going to be our last opportunity.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Finally they got the phone call they'd been waiting for.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
When they called and said that my levels were like
in the nine hundreds and that I was pregnant. I
was shocked and just elated after.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Years of disappointment. They were cautious, almost afraid to believe
that this pregnancy was real.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
We had done this before and believed we were pregnant,
and then we go in for the ultrasound and we weren't.
And so the real true moment for us was going
in for that first ultrasound appointment and being able to
see that there actually was a baby in there. It
was one of the most joyous, amazing experiences of our life.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Laura had an image in her head of what pregnancy
would be like.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I was always so excited to be pregnant because I
thought I would be one of those cute pregnant ladies
that wear all the cute pregnancy clothes and waddle about
and just be happy all the time.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Instead, Laura started having pre term contractions at twenty weeks.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I was having a lot of them, and they were
monitoring me, so they put me on strict bed rest
for the rest of the pregnancy.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
We just kind of pushed through, like, Hey, this is
all going to be worth it. It's going to be
worth the wait.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
She spent the last few weeks of her pregnancy in
the hospital under constant monitoring, until finally.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
They woke us up one morning and they're like, we're
going to do a sea section this morning. And I
remember during the sea section, just waiting to hear that
little cry, you know, just waiting to hear that sound
is and then you hear it and it's like, Oh,
it feels so good to have your dream come true.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
He was a miracle for us. Out of nine or
ten embryos that we had put in through the courses
of all the cycles. One was successful and it just
felt like everything finally was in place and it was
just overjoyed with happiness.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
They named their son Hudson, which was the name of
both of their hometowns, hers in New Hampshire and his
in Ohio. Hudson was happy and healthy. Despite how difficult
it was to have him, the joy of being his
parents outweighed it all and they wanted to do it again.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
We had still had some of those frozen embryos, and
we decided to try more rounds of IVF.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
They went in with high hopes for another miracle like Hudson,
but after their fifth IVF cycle ended in a miscarriage.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
We kind of did more soul searching.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
We were like, let's look into adoption, so we started
raising money again.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Just like IVF, adoption has upfront costs, big ones.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
We have an adoption yard sale and went back to family,
you know, to borrow money.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
There were adoption facilitators whose job basically is to connect
you with a birth mother, and they want to charge
you fifteen to twenty thousand dollars just to talk to
a birth mother. You know, it's like, hey, we've got
a birth mother on hand. They really need somebody. If
you send us fifteen thousand dollars, you can talk to them.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Because they'd already invested so much money in building their family,
the Traits needed to be resourceful.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I have my graphic design degree, so I was like,
I'll create a website for us, and we'll try and
reach out to see if we can find birth moms
who are looking for a nice family on our own
instead of going through one of these agencies. So that's
when I started creating this website called the Sibling for
Hudson dot Com.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
A Sibling for Hudson dot com. The name said it
all and it worked. Three different women were interested in
having the Traits adopt their baby. They talked to them all,
screening for the best match, somebody they could see being
in their lives long term. That's how they settled on.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
This birth mom, Elizabeth Jones, Matt.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
And Laura Trade were dedicated to growing their family. It
was their biggest dream. They made a website where they
told their story, shared family photos, and made a heartfelt
plead they wanted to adopt a baby. That's how they
met Elizabeth Jones, a birth mother who was five months pregnant.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
You said that The reason they were adopting out their
child was because she wanted to focus on her career
and her husband did too, and they had two children already,
so they couldn't afford to raise another child, and they
felt like the best thing to do was to find
another good family for that baby.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Elizabeth lived in Virginia, across the country from the Traits
in California. At first, the couple took it slow, made
no assumptions, and took time to get to know each
other over the phone. But after those initial calls, Laura
started talking to Elizabeth every day.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
We were like growing this amazing bond, talking every day
and really building a strong relationship. We had video calls.
Matt and Hudson got to meet her through a video call.
She kind of felt like a sister to me.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Elizabeth was stoic, thoughtful, she'd been in the military, and
she took things seriously. After a few weeks of talking
every day, Elizabeth told the Traits that she'd made her decision.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
She told us, I really would love it if you
guys would adopt my baby, and we found out at
that time as a girl.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
They were overjoyed with the news. Laura and Elizabeth they'd
become really close over the past month. Elizabeth felt like
the right person, someone who could be a positive addition
to their family, part of the baby's story.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We wanted the baby to know where she came from.
We were always going to be honest about that, and
hopefully we could all have a really great relationship.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
So the Traits began the legal process, finding adoption attorneys
and starting the paperwork. All the while they stayed cautiously optimistic.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
You never know if the birth mother is going to
change their mind at the last minute, so we're remaining hopeful,
but we're trying to kind of guard ourselves a little
bit in the process because the baby has a right
to stay with the birth mother if that's what they choose.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
But Elizabeth was all in.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
She kept telling us this baby girl is yours, and
I have no plans whatsoever backing out, Like I really
want you guys to be her family, and this is
a great match. And we were like, this is a
great match, and we love you guys, and we're so
looking forward to doing this together as a unit.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
So the Traits started preparing a nursery for their baby.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
She sent us ultrasound photos.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
She even mailed us a stuffed unicorn with the baby's
heartbeat in it, like recorded in it.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So we were like elated setting up the baby's.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Room here at our house and we put the little
unicorn in there on the ultrasound photo.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
When Elizabeth was seven months pregnant, Laura decided to fly
out to Virginia to meet her. Even though it was
their first time meeting in person, it felt like a reunion.
Laura greeted her with teary eyes and a long hug.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
We spent like every waking hour together, Like we went
shopping for baby clothes together. We picked up a like
a going home outfit, and we toured the hospital where
she was going to give birth. We did a professional
photo shoot, and I had made us shirts. Our shirts
said birth mom Strong and my shirt said adoptive mom Strong.
(15:21):
So I brought those out there with me and we
had our professional photo shoot.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
In the photos, Laura and Elizabeth are standing in a
wooded area, arm in arm. They're each making half of
a heart with one hand holding the heart shape up
to the camera. They're beaming, and they're matching shirts. The
Treats sent this photo out as their holiday card.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
That weekend We also went to meet with the adoption
attorney and she signed a power of attorney giving us
rights to make medical decisions for the baby girl.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Before she flew back home. Laura wanted to join Elizabeth
at her doctor's appointment, and Elizabeth agreed.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
We were waiting in the waiting room and she had said, Oh,
I forgot my water in the car, can run out
and get my bottle of water. I'm really thirsty. I
was like, sure, I'll be right back, but then when
I came back into the waiting room, she was gone.
So I had told the nurses at the front desk
you know who I was, and thought I'd like to
(16:22):
go back with her, and they were kind of giving
me the run around, so I started texting her.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Elizabeth texted back that they brought her into the exam
room and while she was there looking at the baby
on the ultrasound monitor, Elizabeth was overwhelmed with emotion. She
asked Laura to wait outside.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I was feeling for her because I'm here to see
an ultrasound with her, and this must be hard for
the birth mom to have this person in the room
with her, and she's going to give up her baby
to me.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Matt hadn't come on this trip, so Laura called him
to get his opinion.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
You don't want to push of birth mother, right because
this is a huge decision you're making. And so you know,
I've said before how empathetic Laura is and how she
puts herself in other people's shoes, and you know, she
was doing that, like feeling what this woman must have
felt having to make this decision. So it made it
(17:19):
understandable that there were some emotions going around.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
After the appointment, Laura knew she had to have a
hard conversation with Elizabeth.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Elizabeth and I had a heart to heart.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I remember being like, Elizabeth, it's okay if you want
to keep baby girl, Like the best place for her
is with her family. If you want to keep the baby,
it's okay, and maybe you should keep the baby, you know.
But we really did bond during that conversation, and she
just ended up reassuring me that it is what she wanted,
(17:56):
and so I just kind of hung in there and
tried to just kind of ignore my gut feelings and
just try to see it from her point of view.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Laura flew home feeling a bit nervous. She had expected
to go into the exam room and talk to the doctor,
but she empathized with Elizabeth's pain and she respected her.
After all, Elizabeth was giving their family the biggest gift,
and she never asked for a penny in return.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
At no time did she ever ask us to give
her money, you know which some birth mothers do. I
pay for my rent or pay for my bills. I
need help.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I remember her telling me, no, I don't want any money.
I want you to put that money towards baby girl.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
The baby's do date was in late December, and the
couple decided on a name for her.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
When we found out that the baby was due right
around the holidays, we decided to name her Noela. We
thought it was a fitting name for the time that
she was due.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Laura and Elizabeth kept talking every day and the conversations
were intense, especially when in late November, Elizabeth started having
pre term contractions, just like Laura had in her pregnancy
with Hudson.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
She was in lots of pain. She had gone to
the er several times, to the point where they put
in something called a circlage.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Its stitches in the cervix to prevent the baby from
being born too early. Elizabeth kept the trades updated on
what her doctors were saying.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
The doctor around this time also didn't amno and she
said that the doctor said everything looked good, but she
had to be on bedrest, and the doctor was okay
with taking the circlause out and that it was better
to take the baby out now to not do damage
to her cervix. The baby girl's LUNs were fully developed
at that time, so she was begging us to come
(19:54):
back out for the delivery of the baby.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Things were happening quickly. It was scary. Elizabeth said her
doctors were recommending they removed the stitches and prepare for
an early delivery. So the couple jumped into action.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
We were in Arizona visiting my family for Thanksgiving, so
we're scrambling around trying to change light reservations and reaching
out to the lawyer, and it was just like, Okay,
it's time to get into action, to get out there
and finally meet our daughter.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
The Traits and their son rushed to Virginia the day
after Thanksgiving and rented an airbnb. They had packed everything
they needed to bring home their daughter, Noela, and things
with Elizabeth were progressing quickly.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Right after she got her sirklage out, she came to
the airbnb. They had said that she was three and
a half centimeters dilated at that time. She spent a
lot of time with us after that, and we were
just trying to take care of our best we could.
Every time she had a contraction, she was moaning and groaning,
complaining about how much pain she was in. So we
were just trying to be there for her to support
(21:23):
her through it, just trying to love on her and
just take care of her.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
They also took care of Elizabeth's two young kids.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
We were taking the kids out her kids out while
she rested, and one of the kids noticed the car
seat in her rental car and asked us, oh, is
that for the baby.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
At that point we were like, oh, they know about
the baby, okay.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
It was a relief that Elizabeth had talked to her
kids about the adoption.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Our son and her kids got along really well and
spent a lot of time playing and going to various
activities together. Just reassured us like, Hey, this is going
to be great. You know, our families are going to
know each other and they're going to grow up knowing
each other, and that's going to be a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It was also important to the Traits to be honest
with Hudson throughout the adoption process.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
He was excited about having a brother's sister. It was
something that he really wanted to so we were telling
him that we were there to meet his baby's sister.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
After a week, the baby hadn't come.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
I mean, that's a good thing. We want her to
be healthy, and so we had told her we were
going to go home the next day. I have school
to get back to and Hudson had school to get
back to, and it was just time for us to
go back. And you know, look, we'll fly back out
when baby comes, don't worry.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Late that night, Laura received an alarming text from Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
She sent pictures of bloody sheets on the bed as
she said that they were rushing at the hospit.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
The doctors examined Elizabeth at the hospital. They determined that
she was in early labor and told her to come
back in the morning when her labor had progressed further.
The baby was premature, but otherwise healthy. Laura and Matt
were elated that they would meet their baby the next day,
but The next morning, Elizabeth's labor had progressed rapidly. She
(23:21):
sent Laura and Matt even more photos of blood. That's
when the urgency set in. She needed to go to
the hospital right away, so the Traits jumped in their
rental car, speeding to the hospital to meet her and
the baby.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
She actually called me on our drive and she was
screaming saying, there's blood everywhere, and oh my god, oh
my god, the baby's coming. You know, there's blood all
over the car and her husband was driving, and I
was like trying to talk.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Her through it. Just breathe, just take deep breaths.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
If you put your hand on there, can you feel
the baby's head? Like, do you have anything to wrap
the baby in?
Speaker 2 (23:58):
She was like, I have a towel?
Speaker 4 (23:59):
All you that.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Then Elizabeth told Laura that her husband flagged down a
passing ambulance. They were going to take the ambulance to the.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Hospital, so we were like, okay, we'll meet you there.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
On her first visit, Laura toured the hospital and Nicki
with Elizabeth. They'd met the nurses who'd be there for
the delivery, met and Laura made it to the maternity
ward before Elizabeth and the ambulance.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I saw some of the nurses we had met during
our tour, and I was like, you know, Elizabeth's giving
birth and the ambulance and she's on her way.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
And so they jumped into action.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
They got a team together, They got a little incubator,
the whole team of doctors and nurses and everyone. They
were all waiting near the elevators for the baby to
come up.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Even in the rush, the trades had still remembered all
their necessary paperwork.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Matt was turning in our power of attorney, giving them
our insurance information, getting all set with that.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
The chaos slowed down as the Trades waited by the
elevator doors with an incubator.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And we were just waiting and waiting.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
The more time that went by, the more uneasy we
started to feel. Obviously, there was a sense of urgency
because the baby needed the nick you and here we
are at the NIKI waiting and baby's not coming, and
baby's not coming.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
It felt like time was standing still. They looked down
at their son, Hudson, who was six.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
We worked so hard to reach this moment. The dream
was finally coming true. Our son had a big brother shirt.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
On as the minutes dragged on, a nurse pulled Laura away,
suggesting that they go down to the er to be
closer to the ambulance arrivals.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
We went, and those elevators only doctors are allowed to use.
When we went down to the er, and all of
the nurses were looking for this lady. They were telling
us nobody got delivered here by the ambulance that gave birth,
and so everybody was trying to figure it out. They're
calling other hospitals to see if maybe they had gone
to a different hospital with a nick you and Elizabeth
(26:21):
just didn't realize which hospital they are taking her to.
And then I remember one of the nurses coming up saying,
there is someone here by the name of Elizabeth Jones,
but she checked herself in for lower back pain and
she's not even pregnant. Okay, Well, Elizabeth Jones is a
common name, so maybe it's somebody else.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
On the next episode of Betrayal, the day the Trades
had been dreaming of turns into a nightmare.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
She's saying she doesn't even know you. She's saying she
has no idea of who you are.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team,
or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us
at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal Pod at
gmail dot com. Also, please be sure to follow us
at Glass Podcasts on Instagram for all betrayal content, news
and updates. We're grateful for your support. One way to
(27:32):
show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts,
and don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five star
reviews go a long way. A big thank you to
all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts,
a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason,
(27:55):
hosted and produced by me Andrea Gunning, written and produced
by Monique Leborge, also produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers
on this episode are Kristen Melcurie, Caitlin Golden, and Grace Bollinger.
Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crincheck. Audio
editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio and Nico Ruka. Betrayal's
(28:17):
theme composed by Oliver Bains. Music library provided by my Music.
And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Andrea Gunning
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