Since 2002, the world has gradually learned more about the horrific stories behind fraudulent adoption agencies, tragic legal loopholes, and the countless victims who are left with no remedies for the injustices perpetrated on hopeful families and vulnerable children. Where are the countless children who have been kidnapped by adoption pyramid schemes?

This is not a story that is only important to families that hope to adopt children, if we want to help victims of adoption fraud and find children that were kidnapped by this fraud, we need the general public at large to be aware of the children who are missing and the tactics that contributed to their disappearance.

In researching information about a specific missing child near Florida, I stumbled on a name and an address that revealed a web of individuals who were allegedly involved in an adoption pyramid scheme that had offices in Ponte Vedra, Florida and areas of Georgia. Some individuals operated out of Miami and Jacksonville, Florida.

Ponte Vedra is located in St. Johns County, the wealthiest county in Florida. The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club is a hub for their social scene, golfing, and opportunities to mingle with individuals that have the means to throw around $10,000-$75,000.

The individuals we found to be at the center of this alleged fraud, none of them have the wealth or associations that would be expected in this atmosphere of Florida life. Since 2002, the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club has been designated a 5 Diamond Rating, indicating that they provide ultimate luxury in every detail of their establishment, from the foyer to the food. Everything is perfect. The club has also hosted PGA events and regularly hosts special events for their members. Merely having a waterfront address in Ponte Vedra could garner special treatment from wealthy locals.

As you get further away from the beachside resort, there are apartments and other real estate options that are less costly. This area outside of the resort also has a variety of popular stores and restaurants that are not available near the luxurious beachside atmosphere.

One of the individuals involved in this alleged fraud purchased a property in Ponte Vedra, near the water, but far away from the luxurious homes that Ponte Vedra is known for. Perhaps a certain level of social credit to get their foot in the door? Only the individual themself could confirm or deny that theory, and they are not talking. To the media, to their clients that they failed, or even to the countless children they adopted.

In 2002, an adoption agency, Tedi Bear Adoptions, began to be the focus of growing suspicion from their clients and the state of Florida. The business was opened by Tedi Hedstrom, now known as Tedi Brown. The 2002 allegations started pouring in after only being in business for a few short years. Their initial business license was applied for in 1997, but errors on their application caused delays in getting their license.

Fraud in the adoption industry is a well known problem in the United States. False promises, emotional manipulation and bold lies are among the weapons used to keep their clients from sounding the alarm bells. Afterall, many of their clients are eager to start or add to their family and some families are unable to do that independently, adoption or medical interventions are their only options if they want to extend their family. Some baby brokers avoid this altogether by partnering with clients who have horrific intentions for adopting a child.

After learning about multiple claims of fraud, the state of Florida began reaching out to Tedi Bear Adoptions asking them to cease and desist their business in Florida. Their response? A name change. Tedi Bear Adoptions then became known as Adoption Blessings Worldwide. This would be the first of multiple name changes, venue changes to avoid Florida laws, and partnerships with agencies involved in the same tactics, such as Little Pearls Adoption Agency.

Tedi Bear Adoptions has denied any and all wrongdoing, even in the face of horrific details and unredacted emails that show the level of manipulation and fraud that was taking place any time a client attempted to understand where their money had gone to, or if they would ever be able to adopt the child that they had been coerced to believe would be arriving at any time.

With a lot of money on the line and clients awaiting the promises made my multiple agencies, including Tedi Bear Adoptions and their multiple counterparts that they eventually placed the blame on, it seemed that a new strategy would be needed to resolve the complaints and keep the money flowing.

Children and families in Vietnam and other countries have become well aware of baby brokers and what tactics they use to obtain children. In the overall network of adoption agencies, there are multiple levels of the operation. There are adoption advocates, who tend to pinpoint families who are looking to adopt. Advocates can partner with several agencies.  There are facilitators who also work with multiple adoption agencies. The facilitators are the individuals who actually travel to other countries to build relationships and “facilitate” adoptions. However, the tactics of “facilitation” can become a very dark underworld within the international adoption community. And that is exactly what Tedi Bear Adoptions and Little Pearls were alleged to be doing.

Tedi Bear Adoptions claimed that the bad actions were perpetrated by the owner of Little Pearls, a facilitator for Vietnam. But private emails between Tedi Bear Adoptions and their unhappy clients appear to suggest otherwise.

Clients of Tedi Bear Adoptions began to sound the alarm bells when they learned that their children were being promised to other families, even after the adoption was finalized. Other clients alleged that the agency allowed them to hold and bond with babies they planned to adopt, only to later be told the baby died.

Tedi Bear Adoptions and Little Pearls teamed up to find a sick girl in Vietnam an adoptive family. They indeed found her a great family, and then told that family that the little girl was too sick to be adopted. The agencies worked together to set up a fund for the child who they claimed was being horrifically abused, the once hopeful adoptive mother donated to the fund. The truth was later revealed that the child was not sick, did not live in Vietnam, and was adopted by another family.

There are multiple children who are missing from their families due to a variety of nightmarish tactics and we are currently putting together a list of who is missing.

The owner of Tedi Bear Adoptions claims that she is meant to do this type of work, she claims it is her calling. I spoke to some of the children that Tedi personally adopted. None of them have a relationship with her except the two children that still live in her residence. It is difficult to count how many she adopted, if they did not behave well, she would just swap them out with another family. The total could be upwards of twenty children.

After multiple civil issues, including a RICO lawsuit against Little Pearls, and many behind the scenes debacles, Tedi moved on from Ponte Vedra after a domestic abuse claim by her husband eventually ended in a divorce. She still frequents the area and is in Florida quite often. There is a lot more to this story and many alleged victims that may use our platform to speak about the abuse they suffered. For now, we would like this article to a starting point for their story. I believe anyone who hears their story would better understand the tactics and horrific actions that are rampant in the adoption industry.

Some of Tedi’s adopted children were from Vietnam, others were from Russian territories, the children had a variety of different backgrounds. But once they arrived in the care of Tedi, they allege that they were emotionally and verbally abused, threatened, treated like slaves and told they would be assaulted if she sent them to live with another family. A very real threat to a child who has seen their adoptive mother move children around like rental cars. There is another victim of Tedi, I cannot speak about him in detail but I want this article to reflect that we hear you, we see you, and we care about every injury you faced.

Tedi denies the abuse, she denies the horrific practices in her agencies, and she denies that certain children were ever in her home. Meanwhile, she continues to care for adopted children while the previous, who knows how many in total, are voluntarily removed from Tedi’s life. No holiday phone calls, no pictures of the growing families. They want nothing to do with her.

In a heated exchange on social media, I watched the children begin to speak up for themselves. Tedi immediately mentioned lawyers and used manipulative tactics to shut down the conversation. She has no idea what she is missing, I would be very proud of the people they have become and the beautiful families they have created.