Couple heartbroken by adoption agency bankruptcy

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Couples waiting to adopt a child got some disappointing news after their adoption agency went out of business.

Families working with the Independent Adoption Agency in Tampa said they had no idea this was coming.

Riverview's Heather Davis and her husband were planning to adopt a child to grow their family.

"My husband and I had been going thru infertility, thru the past four years. They've been unsuccessful so we looked at adoption," she said.

The couple began working with the Tampa branch of the national adoption center. But on January 31, the agency abruptly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

That caught hundreds of families completely off guard.  In fact, IAC says, due to an internal mistake, 800 weren't even notified.

In a news-release, the agency blamed societal changes for the closure, noting they'd come to the end of their financial rope.

"We got no warning. I'm frustrated. I'm angry. Every word you imagine. I trusted this agency," Davis said.

But the dream of having a child of their own is not the only thing the couple is missing. They're out the $12,000 they paid to begin the adoption process. 

"I'd say numb is how I felt. I've had my moments of frustration, and where I've cried. And my husband and I; what do we do next?" she asked.

Heather says they'll start looking at other agencies, but they're essentially back at square-one.

"I have to find that hope again," she said.