After Adopted Ugandan Girl Learns English, She Reveals Her Harrowing Past

after adopted ugandan girl learns english she reveals her harrowing past [Music] but before we start please make sure to subscribe to m r tv and hit the bell so you never miss any upload from us also leave a like right now despite already having four children jessica and adam davis a young couple from ohio decided that they were ready to expand their family once again this time around however the davises decided they wanted to adopt as both of them had always wanted to help a child in need but for too long adam and jessica chose to adopt a little ugandan girl from the very moment they first laid eyes on little nemata the couple knew they had to adopt her in the blink of an eye namada was home with them in america however as time passed and namada learned how to speak english things started to take a turn for the worse eventually namada revealed her entire harrowing past for her adoptive parents jessica davis and her husband adam enjoy a happy life in saint clairesville ohio in 2013 a few years after having their fourth biological child the two of them decided that they would grow their family by just one more even though they were able to conceive a child naturally the couple decided that they wanted to adopt an orphaned child i've always hoped to make a difference in this world when it came to the decision to adopt it seemed like a no-brainer i thought this was one way to make a difference at least for one child my husband adam and i would open our home in our hearts to a child in need jessica said adam and jessica wanted to make sure that bringing in a fifth child was the moral thing to do we were already parents to our four biological children so this was not about having another child or simply growing our family jessica said instead they wanted to share their love and wealth with a child that might not otherwise experience prosperity what's more the child soon discovered that making a decision would be as easy as they thought we knew that there were american children as well as children all over the world in need of what we could offer jessica recalled as the davises moved forward with their adoption plan jessica began researching various adoption agencies i remember reading that there are almost 3 million orphans in uganda jessica said the statistics stuck with jessica and kept returning no matter what else she researched it kept her awake at night thinking of the helpless children so after some consideration the couple decided that they would adopt a ugandan child we eventually concluded that the greatest need was in many of the poorest countries jessica recalled while it seemed like everything was working out for adam and jessica davis they had no idea their problems were actually just beginning the loving couple felt confident that they could provide a ugandan orphan with a chance at a better life so in october 2013 jessica and adam contacted the ugandan adoption agency and began the process afterward everything seemed to happen in a blur the couple filled out dozens of forms and checks handing out thousands of dollars we did piles of paperwork got countless sets of fingerprints and spent tens of thousands of dollars it took a little over a year to get through all the formalities but i was driven to get the best part of this process meeting the needs of a child jessica said of the adoption process after a long year of paperwork and waiting jessica and adam finally received the green light to adopt at that point the selection process began however in no time at all a seemingly perfect candidate came along in 2015 the davises met a little six-year-old ugandan girl named namada almost immediately the family felt a strong connection to nemata still in spite of these feelings jessica felt she needed to do her homework as thoroughly as she could so she inquired with the adoption agency about namada's past nothing could have possibly prepared her for what the ugandan agency workers would tell her what the agency revealed about namada truly moved jessica and adam we were told her father was deceased that she was being severely neglected at home and her mother was leaving her open to abuse leaving her for days jessica revealed to cnn it was a pretty dramatic file little did the davis family know there was much more about her past that the agency file did not reveal still with what they found out from the agency adam and jessica felt more than happy to adopt this six-year-old ugandan girl they knew they could give her a better life and could not wait to call her their daughter in just a few short months the entire davis family showed up in court ready to welcome little nemata into their loving family of course the judge quickly approved namada's adoption and with that the ugandan girl was living in america with her new family while namada didn't speak english upon arrival her english vastly improved within just a few months of living in the country to jessica and adam's surprise namada loved talking about her birth mother what's more namado would share with her adoptive parents how close she used to be with her mom she would share stories of how they love spending time in the kitchen together and accompanying each other to church every sunday soon enough the davises started to realize that something wasn't right with what the adoption agency had told them of namata's past as the months continued to pass namada's english improved more and more like most six-year-old children namada was a quick learner before long the ugandan girl could even hold a long conversation with her new family however the more nemata learned to speak the worse things seemed to appear to jessica and adam you see according to the adoption agency namada didn't exactly have a happy childhood in uganda so the family thought it was incredibly odd that namada had nothing but positive things to say about her family her biological mother in particular little did jessica and adam know that they were in for the biggest surprise of their lives as more time passed the davises realized that namada's memories were at odds with the picture their agency european adoption consultants had painted unsurprisingly alarm bells started to ring for the family while the agency said her family neglected her namata's side of the story was completely different she flat out said she came from a loving family after months of these stories jessica and adam felt they had no choice but to launch an investigation into the truth of the agency's claims they started by reviewing everything that european adoption consultants had told them what they would discover would shock them to the core returning to their previous conversations on the file on namada the adoption agency had described her mother as helpless not only that but the document also claimed that the ugandan woman couldn't provide basic needs of the child for better growth however the davises were quickly discovering that was not the case it took a little over a year and a half to realize things our child was telling us we're not adding up to the stories told within the paperwork and provided to us by our adoption agency european adoption consultants inc jessica said but that wasn't the worst part after talking to nemata jessica and adam started to uncover the murky circumstances behind namada's adoption at first i wondered if the conflicting information namata was sharing with us reflected her efforts to cope with the trauma of being relinquished and abused but i came to realize that she was telling me something vastly different and vastly more important jessica recalled the child we had struggled for years to adopt was not an orphan at all and almost everything that was written in her paperwork and told to us about her background was not an accurate description of her life in uganda it seemed as though someone had tricked namada's mother into giving her up as they started to uncover the truth about their adoptive daughter jessica and adam knew they had to do something right away what's more they couldn't stand there with their arms folded knowing that a little girl had been separated from her loving family at that point they decided to try to find a way to talk to namada's birth mother so the davises reached out to karen riley who runs an organization named reunited uganda fortunately riley was able to help the family locate namada's biological mother even better riley managed to set up a facetime call so that the four of them could talk now finally the truth about namada's adoption would finally come to light with the help of reunited uganda jessica and adam managed to track down namata's mother we eventually uncovered that she had a very loving family from which she had been unlawfully taken jessica revealed incredibly namada's mother knew nothing of the adoption she believed her daughter had gone to america temporarily to study and would return home but that wasn't the case namada's mother was told only that adam and i were going to care for her child we would provide her with an education jessica said the davises could not believe what the ugandan woman was telling them that day they all listened to namado's mother tell the entire story the whole ordeal started when an unknown man visited namada's local church with his lies about taking the children to america to study the man managed to convince at least seven families to give up children including namada afterward he transported the ugandan girl and her friends to an orphanage run by god's mercy an organization that works with the european adoption consultants it was there that the davises met little nemata for the first time as fate would have it jessica and adam fell in love with namada and decided to take her home unfortunately they had no idea what was really going on jessica said they felt devastated once they found out the truth furthermore they couldn't believe what had transpired to bring nemata into their family when namada's mom agreed to send her away she had recently lost her husband that's when the predatory con men pounced when this supposed chance to be sponsored by a wealthy american couple was presented to her she felt as if she and her daughter had been blessed jessica said unfortunately it was also too good to be the truth furthermore namada's mom later said in court that she never knowingly relinquished her parental rights however that didn't stop them from putting namata up for adoption before long jessica and adam adopted the ugandan girl and headed back to the united states now able to compare notes and sides of the story with namada's mother jessica and adam learned just how insidious the agency was apparently after the davises gave verbal confirmation that they would indeed adopt namada those on the ground in uganda quickly tried to separate her from her mother it was at this time that the ugandan woman realized that something did not seem right however it was too late by the time namada's mother realized what was happening that she was never going to see her child again she was powerless to stop the wheels that were turning jessica said fortunately nemata learned how to speak english and set the record straight after learning the truth of namada's background jessica and adam felt utterly horrified they simply could not understand how a person could do something like that as parents themselves the couple could not imagine how horrified and heartbroken they would feel had someone taken their child from them in an instant the davises knew that they needed to reunite nemata and her loving mother fortunately namada who was only seven at the time was smart enough to understand that both her mother and her adoptive parents had been tricked in this situation now jessica and adam needed to figure out the best and safest way to return namata to her mother's arms after witnessing namada and her mother's anguish jessica and adam felt determined to reunite the two so the two immediately went to the u.s government for help however believe it or not even with all the evidence establishing that namata's mom had never relinquished her daughter the government officials said that it was still up to the couple whether or not they wanted to reunite nemato with her mother of course jessica and adam had namada's adoption voided after all namata was never an orphan child in the first place even though they loved namada very much they knew she didn't belong with them in america so they decided to do everything in their power to get namada back to uganda with her mom over the next few days jessica and adam completed all the relevant documentation to hand back parental rights to nemata's mom before she returned home the davis family threw the ugandan girl a farewell celebration after all they had loved namada as their own child for almost two years while they were brokenhearted to say goodbye to their little girl they were excited to see her reunited with her mom while the davises thought they were doing the right thing not everybody agreed with them throughout the journey to reunite namado with her family i have been met with so much resistance jessica said more than once i have been asked why don't you just keep her i was even told that it was my christian duty to keep her and raise her in the proper faith while jessica and adam had only tried to adopt an orphan child in need they now found themselves fighting to return her home my family's journey to adopt has become a journey to fight for families jessica said not only that but the davises decided they would do everything they could to help other families who had been hurt by other similar kidnapping schemes families that are being torn apart because of ignorance and a lack of empathy for those who have no voice to speak out against the injustices they face every day i cannot look the other way while the family didn't get to raise nemata as their own they still want to fight to make sure this doesn't happen again eventually the time came for adam and namada to take the long journey back to uganda while adam was traveling to nemata's remote village in uganda jessica stayed home with their biological children additionally adam also felt very concerned about namada's safety after everything that had happened so he wanted to stay by her side until she reunited with her mother at the airport jessica and the davis children heartbreakingly said their goodbyes to nemata in the u.s all of them crying now all they had to do was wait for adam to tell them namada had reunited with her mother while the davis family felt overwhelmed with heartache as adam and namada left for uganda they did their best to smile through it after all she couldn't wait to lay eyes on her mother once again and jessica adam and their children wanted to be careful not to steal namata's joy after a full day of traveling namada and adam finally arrived at her village instantly namada and her mother embraced in a hug and began crying after all they both thought they might never see each other ever again jessica and the davis children all witnessed the reunion through cell phone videos and pictures afterwards jessica called the moment beautiful painfully beautiful in september 2016 after nearly three years of separation namada's biological mother embraced her child once again ever since then the mother and daughter have not spent a day apart from each other namada has flourished since being home and i am thankful for that jessica revealed i can also say that i have seen the beauty of a family restored and there is nothing quite like it the former adoptive mother said indeed the couple says that they know they made the right choice to reunite nemato with her birth mom for them the most important thing is for namada to be happy with or without them as you might imagine after going through such a dramatic situation jessica and adam felt emotionally drained furthermore they had spent so much time and energy to find a child they could adopt that they couldn't believe namada had already left their lives to make matters worse the couple had no way to reclaim the 65 000 they had spent during the process despite all the losses they experienced throughout this long and painful journey the davises felt happy that namada returned to the place where she belonged moreover adam could not help but feel slightly responsible the only trauma this poor kid ever experienced was because we essentially placed an order for a child he told cnn as jessica and adam were investigating nemata's background they discovered that sadly this happens more often than anyone could imagine i have also come to realize namada's mother's experience is not uncommon with international adoption jessica said there are villages in uganda and across the world where mothers fathers siblings and grandparents are desperate to be united with the children who were unlawfully separated from them through international adoption she continued unsurprisingly jessica and her husband felt heartbroken to learn that this is actually not that uncommon fortunately namada found a loving family who was willing to give her up for her to be happy but that is not the end of this incredible story after nemata's relocation the u.s department of state has stopped european adoption consultants from offering adoptions in the u.s for three years what's more the december decision was upheld a year later despite an appeal meanwhile the ugandan government also responded to namada's story you see they closed down the gods mercy orphanage where the davises had first met the ugandan girl jessica and adam hope their story will stop this from happening to any other parent while they wouldn't wish this experience on anybody they are still glad that they met nemata and became part of her life while jessica and adam are happy with the outcome having their one-time daughter grow up without them is difficult i tend to get teary-eyed because of how much i miss her i would love to wrap my arms around her but then i remind myself of all that she almost lost jessica told cnn one of my favorite pictures thus far is this one of namada sitting on the ground facing her mother and her mother the woman who gave birth to her looks like her smiles like her and loves her more deeply than anyone else on the face of the earth is looking back at the daughter she nearly lost the former adoptive mother said with their ordeal behind them the davises and nemata have tried very hard to get their lives on track even though they are no longer her adoptive parents they share regular calls from ohio and uganda so they can keep each other updated i get updates on our once adopted child namata often with pictures and sometimes video jessica said sometimes there are pictures of her at her grandmother's home skipping about smiling from ear to ear other times she's holding her baby sister or walking home from school with her other sister as you might imagine the ugandan girl's mother told cnn that she was very very very happy to have namada back in her life throughout this roller coaster experience jessica and adam have learned an incredibly valuable lesson that they would like to share with the world during this journey i have also come to a revelation of what it means to truly aid and love the orphan a phrase often used when discussing adoption that love goes far beyond anything i could have fathomed before jessica stated even though their adoption experience wasn't what the couple expected they are not against it so i say yes to adoption as long as families have a clear understanding of the weight they will bear the weight of doing right by this child in ways you maybe never realized before fighting for his or her best interests without ill intentions selfishness or greed she continued [Music]