Baby Broker | 1. You Cannot Tell Anyone

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Binge Cases: Baby Broker

Title: Baby Broker | Episode 1: "You Cannot Tell Anyone"
Host/Author: Sony Music Entertainment
Release Date: February 3, 2025
Series: The Binge Cases
Description:
"Baby Broker" delves into the harrowing true crime story of Tara Lee, the operator of an adoption agency named Always Hope. Tara orchestrated a manipulative scheme that exploited hopeful adoptive parents by swiftly matching them with babies under false pretenses. This episode follows the journey of Teresa and Mike Matheny, a couple who fell victim to Tara's deceit and their subsequent quest for justice.

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Introduction

The narrator sets the stage by highlighting the emotional gravity of adoption. For many, becoming a parent is life-changing, but Tara Lee disrupted this dream through manipulation and fraud. The episode aims to uncover the depths of Tara's scheme and the resilience of the parents she deceived.

Notable Quote:

"For many people, having a baby is the most profound and transformative event in their life. But imagine if right as that dream of becoming a parent was about to come true, someone ripped it away from you, and there was nothing you could do about it."
— Peter McDonnell [05:58]

---

Meet Teresa and Mike Matheny

Teresa and Mike Matheny's journey began with a shared desire to adopt after struggling with infertility. Their initial attempts with standard adoption agencies yielded no success, reflecting the broader issue of supply and demand in the adoption process.

Key Points:

• Initial Struggles:
  Teresa and Mike faced an empty nursery despite 18 months of efforts with their first adoption agency.
  — Teresa [04:12]

• Introduction to Tara Lee:
  Frustrated by the lack of progress, they switched agencies and were introduced to Tara Lee, a seemingly passionate and unconventional adoption worker.

Notable Quote:

"Tara Lee knew that no one would expect it or even imagine it. And that's part of what made it possible."
— Peter McDonnell [06:15]

---

The Sudden Match and Red Flags

Within two weeks of collaborating with Tara Lee, Teresa and Mike were matched with an expectant mother, Stephanie, who was pregnant with a boy referred to as "baby sir." The speed and ease of this match were highly unusual.

Key Developments:

• Unexpected Match:
  Tara presented their profile to Stephanie, leading to a swift agreement.
  — Peter McDonnell [06:23]

• Financial Demands:
  Tara requested $8,000 for birth mother expenses and an additional $5,000 for doula and counseling services.
  — Teresa & Mike [07:53]

Notable Quote:

"So Tara Lee created the text chain. Mike sent Tara Lee $13,000. And Teresa and Mike flew home to Atlanta with a mission."
— Peter McDonnell [17:14]

---

Rising Suspicion and Unveiling the Fraud

As the due date approached, inconsistencies began to surface. Tara Lee's communication became erratic, and critical information about Stephanie's pregnancy was withheld or fabricated.

Key Events:

• Unexpected Contact:
  Teresa received an email from a former adoption contact inquiring about Tara Lee, raising immediate suspicions.
  — Teresa [07:11]

• FBI Investigation:
  Teresa and Mike learned that Tara Lee was under FBI investigation, shattering their trust and hopes.
  — Teresa [10:37]

• Lack of Proof:
  The couple realized they had no verifiable evidence of Stephanie's pregnancy, such as photos or medical records.
  — Teresa [29:37], [31:11]

Notable Quotes:

"We started trying after, right after we got married to have a baby, and it didn't happen."
— Teresa [04:04]

"I screamed like I could hear it in my ears."
— Evan [10:14]

---

Confronting the Deception

Determined to uncover the truth, Teresa and Mike took proactive steps to investigate Tara Lee's operations. They discovered that multiple families were deceived similarly, indicating a widespread fraudulent network.

Investigation Highlights:

• Group Awareness:
  The Mathenys connected with other families who had been similarly misled, forming a collective to expose Tara's scheme.
  — Peter McDonnell [32:58]

• Legal Pursuits:
  An investigative reporter's exposé led federal prosecutors to seek Tara Lee's arrest, showcasing the power of collective action and media in combating fraud.
  — Investigative Reporter [33:14]

Notable Quote:

"Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tara Lee after seeing one of our recent stories."
— Investigative Reporter [33:14]

---

Impact and Conclusion

The revelation of Tara Lee's deception had profound effects on the affected families, disrupting their lives and trust in the adoption system. However, their determination to seek justice highlighted the strength of community and resilience in the face of manipulation.

Final Thoughts:

• Emotional Toll:
  Teresa and Mike experienced significant emotional distress, likening the loss to that of losing a parent.
  — Teresa [30:17]

• Community Action:
  The formation of a collective of deceived families became a formidable force against Tara Lee's fraudulent activities.
  — Peter McDonnell [33:03]

Notable Quote:

"She knew that they would do anything for the hope of having a child."
— Investigative Reporter [13:34]

---

Conclusion

"Baby Broker" serves as a compelling exploration of trust, manipulation, and the quest for parenthood. Through Teresa and Mike's story, the podcast sheds light on the vulnerabilities within the adoption system and the extraordinary measures individuals take to protect their dreams and families.

Final Quote:

"This is episode one. You cannot tell anyone."
— Peter McDonnell [10:55]

---

Recommendation:
For listeners intrigued by intricate true crime stories that unravel hidden manipulations within everyday systems, "Baby Broker" is a must-listen. The detailed narrative combined with firsthand accounts offers a gripping insight into the dark underbelly of adoption fraud.

---

Note:
This summary excludes advertisements, promotional content, and non-relevant sections from the transcript to focus solely on the core narrative of the "Baby Broker" episode.

Transcript

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[Peter McDonnell]

Listen to all episodes of Baby Broker ad free right now by subscribing to the binge, Visit the Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page or visit getthebinge.com to get access. Wherever you listen the binge feed your true crime obsession the Bench. For many people, having a baby is the most profound and transformative event in their life. But imagine if right as that dream of becoming a parent was about to come true, someone ripped it away from you, and there was nothing you could do about it. There are places we expect to find criminals at seedy bus stations, in dark alleys, and in neighborhoods with gangs. But we're outraged when they infiltrate places that are supposed to be safe, like schools, hospitals, and places of worship. I've written about a lot of major crime cases, but this vile scheme really surprised me. And I believe the criminal at the cold heart of it knew that no one would expect it or even imagine it. And that's part of what made it possible. In this story. There's no gun, no knife, no zip ties. But there's a large and dangerous web where you wouldn't expect to find one. I'll show you who spun it and how and find out why so many couples got caught in it. Because this crime couldn't have happened to nicer people. Last October, I flew to Atlanta to meet one of the couples who got caught in this web of lies, Teresa And Mike Matheny. It was a warm and sunny Saturday morning, but the remnants of Hurricane Helene were still visible on the streets. Downed trees, standing water, caution signs. We met at a loading dock behind a warehouse that was converted into a recording studio. Teresa has brown hair, a generous smile, and gave me a big hug. She apologized for being nervous and chalked it up to being type A. Mike, on the other hand, is laid back and unflappable. Type B, I guess. I apologized for mispronouncing their last name. And it's Matheny. Okay, got it.

[Mike]

Anything's better than Matheny. Yeah, that's how we identify telemarketers. Or people asking if we want to sell our house.

[Peter McDonnell]

Teresa and Mike, where does this story begin for you?

[Teresa]

God, I'm choking up. Like, I don't know why I'm so emotional about this.

[Peter McDonnell]

Shoot.

[Teresa]

Sorry. Give me a minute. This just brings up a lot. I'm sorry.

[Peter McDonnell]

Teresa reached for a tissue.

[Teresa]

We started trying after, right after we got married to have a baby, and it didn't happen. And so I went to the fertility doctor, and we went through two rounds, and I emotionally could not do it. The second one was brutal.

[Peter McDonnell]

When IVF didn't work, they changed course.

[Teresa]

So we started the adoption journey.

[Mike]

The way that this process works, with the adoption. So we created a book on Shutterfly with just very basic information about us. You know, pictures of the house that we live in and our dogs. And Teresa works for a university. At the time, I was a recruiter. Mike helps people find jobs, you know, et cetera, et cetera.

[Teresa]

But we were with them for 18 months, and we never got, you know, a match or even our profile presented. Why is it taking so long? Why will nobody choose us? Like, what's wrong with us?

[Peter McDonnell]

The reason was supply and demand. There are no precise figures, but it's estimated that over a million US Couples are waiting to adopt a baby each year, all vying for fewer than 20,000 babies. That lopsided ratio means most couples will never realize their dream. Their nursery will sit empty. No goodnight moon. No first steps. No spontaneous hugs. Desperate for a match, the Mathenys switched agencies. Then the new one told them about a social worker named Tara Lee. Tara Lee ran an adoption company in Detroit called Always Hope.

[Teresa]

Listen, like, she's rough around the edges. She cusses like a sailor. She's covered in tattoos. She's very passionate. She's scatterbrained. She's amazing. Does a lot for the birth moms. And so we're like, oh, wow. This woman is incredible.

[Peter McDonnell]

Days later, Tara Lee presented Mike and Teresa's profile book to an expectant mom in Detroit.

[Teresa]

You know, we're so excited.

[Peter McDonnell]

That weekend, the Mathenys flew to the Georgia coast to attend a friend's wedding at an exclusive island estate.

[Mike]

We'll just say, these are not our people.

[Evan]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Mike]

And get to throw on a shirt and tie and pretend like we belong there. You know what I mean?

[Peter McDonnell]

They checked into a Best Western. The next morning, September 27, Mike stepped out to get a coffee and a rental car. Teresa was packing up when her phone rang. This is the call that started it all.

[Teresa]

She was like, the birth parents chose you. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I've got to call Mike. You've got to get back to the room. You're not going to believe this. That, like, we're matched. And he's like, what?

[Peter McDonnell]

Tara Lee had matched them in fewer than two weeks. The birth mom, Stephanie, was pregnant with a boy. We'll call him baby sir.

[Teresa]

So we were told that she was due on October 11, two weeks to.

[Mike]

The day from when we had this phone call. We're looking at each other going like, oh, my God, this is happening. Like, this is amazing.

[Teresa]

Tara said, I need $8,000 for birth mom expenses and a separate $5,000 payment for doula and counseling services.

[Mike]

She was like, I'll send you guys a contract and you guys can get me the money.

[Peter McDonnell]

Just.

[Mike]

Okay, where do I send it?

[Peter McDonnell]

Did it surprise you at all that after two years of trying and not being matched, that all of a sudden working with always hope you've got a match?

[Teresa]

Yes, because that never happens.

[Peter McDonnell]

They weren't about to question how she did it, though. They just figured Tara Lee had the Midas touch. They'd been trying to adopt for two years when suddenly it was like Tara Lee had pressed the fast forward button on a VCR and sped up their lives in a surreal blur. It felt like magic. Teresa and Mike spiffed up a nursery, bought baby clothes, and installed a car seat. But behind the scenes, something terrible was happening that would soon take center stage. A different kind of drama was about to play out.

[Mike]

So Friday we had dinner with my mother at Ippolito's. We're driving back from dinner, and that is when everything sort of flipped upside down.

[Peter McDonnell]

Teresa was in the backseat when she got a very strange email from an adoption company she and Mike worked with a while back.

[Evan]

And it said, has anyone here worked with Tara Lee and Always Hope? And it was very simple. Like that I just kind of went, huh? I did respond to the email and said, actually, we are working with Tara Lee through our agency and we have a match. We're leaving tomorrow for Michigan. Our baby is going to be born next week.

[Peter McDonnell]

When they got home, Teresa hurried down to their furnished basement and sent the woman a text. Hey, what's going on?

[Teresa]

The woman replied, do not call Tara Lee. Do not speak with anyone. Someone will be in contact with you soon.

[Evan]

I tried to call her again. She refused to answer. I blew her phone up. At this point, I'm, like, starting to get my anxiety. I'm going, what is going on? Something is wrong. And so it occurred to me, you know, we were signed with Thalia and Tanya because they would be representing us.

[Peter McDonnell]

And our birth mom, Thalia Getting and Tonya Carrado were lawyers in Detroit who handled adoptions.

[Evan]

This is the part that really haunts me the most about it all.

[Teresa]

And so I called Tanya and I said, I just got this email. What is going on? She goes, oh, my God. And I'm sobbing.

[Evan]

She said, theresa, you cannot tell anyone this. You cannot tell anyone. Tara is under investigation with the FBI. And I screamed. I screamed like I could hear it in my ears.

[Peter McDonnell]

Have you ever heard a scream like that before?

[Mike]

No.

[Peter McDonnell]

From Sony Music Entertainment and Perfect Cadence. This is Baby broker. I'm Peter McDonnell. This is episode one. You cannot tell anyone.

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[Teresa]

Were a medicine that could heal almost anything?

[Brittany]

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[Mike]

Want you to know about it.

[Brittany]

Sorry, who's they?

[Teresa]

Some people are following me and I brought my tortoise.

[Peter McDonnell]

From executive producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels and co creators Joe Bennett and Steve Healy comes an animated comedy thriller about what it takes to chill, change the world. Common side Effects. Series premieres with back to back episodes February 2nd at 11:30pm on Adult Swim. Next day on Max. I'm a parent, but I haven't adopted anyone. So when I delved into the world of adoptions last year, I had a lot of questions. As it turns out, most people who want to adopt don't know how the process works either, which is why they hire an expert to guide them. And that person or agency wields a lot of influence and power. They're almost always a good Samaritan, though. But I wouldn't be telling you this story if that was true in this case.

[Investigative Reporter]

She knew that they would do anything for the hope of having a child.

[Teresa]

It didn't feel like we were given a choice.

[Investigative Reporter]

She could tell such outrageous lies.

[Peter McDonnell]

I believe everything she says.

[Investigative Reporter]

Her personality was sort of like, I'm a foul mouthed, tattooed woman, but I'm doing adoptions and you wouldn't expect that.

[Teresa]

There's so many babies coming out of this agency.

[Investigative Reporter]

I did not realize until the criminal complaint was filed the extent of it across the country, you know, there's no playbook for this type of fraud. I think that when you've been bamboozled, you want to know what happened.

[Teresa]

She can tell a wicked story.

[Peter McDonnell]

The news that the FBI was investigating Tara Lee absolutely shattered the Methenys dream of becoming parents. And they had a million questions. In the years since, they've in a sense, rewound the tape of the disorienting few weeks that led up to it. Were there signs that things were off? Clues that Tara Lee was not a good Samaritan? The Mathenys now say there were. The day they found out they'd matched with Stephanie, they were sitting side by side on their bed at a Best Western in Brunswick, Georgia. Tara Lee was on speaker, rattling off bits and pieces about Stephanie's pregnancy. And the Mathenys, hopeful, trusting, vulnerable, thought their dream of parenthood was coming true.

[Teresa]

So we were told that she was due on October 11, which was two.

[Mike]

Weeks to the day from when we had this phone call. So we were literally thinking like, oh my God, we're gonna have to go home after this wedding and literally pack our stuff and go to Michigan.

[Peter McDonnell]

Then Tara Lee told them that Stephanie, the birth mother, was waiting on another line.

[Teresa]

She was like, can I patch her?

[Peter McDonnell]

Aunt Teresa said, of course. So Stephanie came on and said hello. She was in her early 40s and had been taking care of others her whole life. First her younger siblings, then two children from her first marriage who were now older. Then her husband went to prison for a drug related offense and they divorced. And now she lived with her boyfriend and was raising their four year old son on the boyfriend's limited income. They decided to put their baby up for adoption because they thought he'd have a better life. But it was a very hard decision.

[Teresa]

Tara asked, do you choose them to parent your child? And she said yes.

[Peter McDonnell]

The Mathenys told me the call was tense. They didn't want to say the wrong thing and make Stephanie second guess her decision. As in any private adoption, Stephanie had the right to change her mind even a few days after the final adoption agreements were signed. And that would be days after her son was born, they said. Stephanie also seemed cautious, though, but not because they were strangers making a life changing decision together. It was more like Tara Lee seemed to be controlling what Stephanie said, as if Stephanie had been coached or prepped to seal the deal.

[Teresa]

After we got off that phone call, she was like, okay, so I'm gonna put you and myself and your birth mom into like a group chat. And she was like, the reason why I do that is so in case things get awkward, I can kind of step in and kind of smooth things out.

[Mike]

She literally said, like, I'm just here in case things get weird.

[Peter McDonnell]

So Tara Lee created the text chain. Mike sent Tara Lee $13,000. And Teresa and Mike flew home to Atlanta with a mission.

[Mike]

We're scrambling. We don't know how long we need to be in Michigan. I don't know where we need to even stay.

[Teresa]

We're told that we would be there probably two weeks. He would most likely go into the NICU for a little bit.

[Mike]

And then that's where I'm like, I think it was like Monday where I started to wait a second. She never sent us the contract. You know, still not seen a contract. I'm trying to get Tara on the phone. I can't get her on the phone.

[Peter McDonnell]

Mike kept calling and texting Tara Lee, but she wouldn't answer or reply. They'd given her $13,000. The boy they were adopting would be born in a week, and they had no contract. Why the hell wouldn't Tara Lee answer her phone? Which was when Mike and Teresa got a surprising email from Tara Lee. She'd left the country.

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[Brittany]

Details. Um, I think I just won my taxes. Yeah, I just switched to H and R Block in about one minute. All I had to do was drag and drop last year's return into H and R Block and bam. My information is automatically there so I don't have to go digging around for all papers to switch. Nope. Sounds like we just leveled up our tax game.

[Peter McDonnell]

Switching to H and R Block is easy. Just drag and drop your last return. It's better with block. Tara Lee's email said she'd gone to Ghana with one of her daughters, carrying suitcases of school supplies for Ghanaian children. Mike and Teresa's contract would have to wait, but Tara Lee added, please know.

[Teresa]

That your birth parents are being taken care of. I have staff. I'll be back in communication later.

[Mike]

Well, and then we're freaking out because we're like, wait a second. This baby's supposed to be born in in less than two weeks.

[Peter McDonnell]

The methenis told me they didn't understand why Tara Lee didn't tell them she was going to Ghana. While they were on that first call, hoping for some answers, they sent Stephanie a message in the group text.

[Teresa]

I mean, just some like, how are you doing? How are you feeling? But she wouldn't answer.

[Peter McDonnell]

That made me wonder if it was normal for an adoption agency to monitor communication between the birth mother and adoptive parents. It seemed fishy, so I called up Rob Kirsch. Rob is a respected adoption attorney who handles adoptions in six states, including Michigan. I asked Rob if it was okay or normal for a birth mom to communicate directly with the parents adopting her baby.

[Tara Lee]

Yeah, I mean, generally that's what happens is they've been communicating their whole pregnancy or the whole time that they've been matched together. I just got off the phone with an expectant mom in Michigan. The adoptive parents are from Georgia. They're coming to visit her next month and they're going to go to a prenatal appointment with her so they can be there and have that relationship.

[Peter McDonnell]

And you and the agency aren't going to sort of shadow them and be there that whole time? No, no.

[Tara Lee]

A lot of times the birth mom will let us know that she's on her way to the hospital, or the adoptive parents will say, hey, we just heard from the birth mom and she's in labor now. So that's when we learn about it. Because really, the communication has more been direct between the adoptive parents and the birth moment. Yeah, you know, we're certainly not the intermediary.

[Peter McDonnell]

The Mathenys said they didn't realize it was abnormal for Tara Lee to monitor their communication with Stephanie. But Tara Lee had made it seem like a necessity.

[Mike]

She goes to Ghana, she comes back. It was. Once she got back and we knew that she was back, that's when I started reaching out to her. I would text her and be like, hey, how are you? I heard you're back from Ghana. And she'd be like, yeah, I'm back. You know, how was your trip? Great. We'd exchange pleasantries and go back and forth. And the minute that I asked anything regarding S's birth mom, medical, anything of substance, she went dark. She wouldn't respond. It was such a mind fuck. Pardon my language.

[Peter McDonnell]

So you were struggling to get just basic information.

[Mike]

Basic information.

[Peter McDonnell]

Tara Lee's scattered communication style drove Theresa nuts. She was rearranging their lives to be ready for the baby. She also needed to know when to take maternity leave. So Theresa put on her best face and called Tara Lee to finally pin down some dates and details.

[Teresa]

And I was like, oh, my gosh, we have to leave, you know, in a week and a half, like. And she goes, you don't need to leave in a week. The baby's not due till the end of the month.

[Peter McDonnell]

So suddenly it went from the 11th of October to the end of end of October.

[Mike]

This is, like, where it all started to get weird, where I started to kind of raise an eyebrow.

[Peter McDonnell]

Getting the due date wrong by almost three weeks was a huge error, except Tara Lee played it off with a shrug. Whoops. Teresa and Mike were exasperated, but they weren't about to rock the boat, not with a baby in it. And Tara Lee had an explanation for the error. She said the reason the date was wrong was that Stephanie hadn't received any prenatal care until much later in the pregnancy. No prenatal care. I asked Rob Kirsch, the adoption attorney, if that was normal. He said it was very unusual. In almost every adoption, he's handled the birth mother's insurance or Medicaid, covered the cost. So I asked Mike and Teresa why they thought Stephanie hadn't gotten any care.

[Mike]

One of sort of the MO For Tara, which comes up over and over again is, you know, she used to always go back to, you know, her. You know how these girls are talking about women at the methadone clinic, women on drugs. You know how these girls are.

[Peter McDonnell]

And what do you. What did you think she meant by that?

[Teresa]

That they basically don't do as they're supposed to do. Like, you know, go to their doctor's appointments. They. They don't take her phone calls. They don't basically do what she tells them to do is kind of what I thought she meant by that.

[Peter McDonnell]

That was like saying Stephanie's lack of care was her own fault.

[Mike]

I'm also in recovery, so myself, you know, I've been sober for a long time. I find it kind of offensive. It's like, you know how those people are. You know, it's like, no, tell me, how are they?

[Peter McDonnell]

The Mathenys and other clients of Tara Lee, who I eventually spoke with, told me that many of the birth mothers did have substance use disorders, drug addictions. Part of Tara Lee's business model was to seek out pregnant women in vulnerable situations to give up their babies. She'd pass her business card out at methadone clinics and prisons. But Tara Lee had a gritty authenticity that her clients liked, at least initially. And she seemed to genuinely care about helping the birth mothers. But one thing stuck out. I won't get into the weeds here. But Mike, who works in finance, was puzzled by why Tara Lee wanted $8,000 for Stephanie's expenses. Stephanie's rent, utilities, cell phone, groceries, and transportation amounted to less than $2,000 per month. She was due in two weeks, and by law, they could only support her for six weeks after birth. That was a total of two months, or $4,000. But Tara Lee wanted twice that much. That was a big cushion. But she said she'd return whatever wasn't used. So Mike and Teresa didn't say anything. They trusted Tara Lee knew what she was doing. She'd done it so many times. But they'd never adopted. What did they know? Stephanie wasn't due until the end of October. They had three more weeks at the Mathenys home in Atlanta. Halloween decorations were coming out. Leaves were turning, and the nights were growing colder. Every day of those three weeks, Teresa and Mike passed by their son's nursery.

[Teresa]

So we had a little white Jenny Lind crib, and the walls were kind of like a mint green, gender neutral. Then had a little, you know, chair with an ottoman and stuffed animals.

[Peter McDonnell]

The nursery had been sitting ready for almost two years, but those last few weeks of October seemed to take forever.

[Teresa]

I would go in that nursery and sit and wait, you know, just waiting. The waiting was really, really hard. It's really hard. It was the hardest part.

[Peter McDonnell]

Despite Tara Lee's dysfunction and idiosyncrasies, she was going to change their lives. For years, the Mathenys had watched as other couples started families with apparent ease. The Mathenys had tried to avoid the creeping worry of that their nursery might remain empty, that at some sad point in the future, they'd have to take it down. But matching with Stephanie had changed everything. They imagined now. Rocking their son in the nursery, reading to him, changing his diapers, putting him to bed, rushing into his room at 4am if he cried, cried for them. They were going to be parents. Teresa took maternity leave from her work as a lab tech in the animal sciences department at Georgia State. Mike, a loan officer, would work part time from the road. They were so excited that days ahead of time, they laid out everything they wanted to take to Detroit. What are you packing for this trip?

[Mike]

Golf clubs.

[Peter McDonnell]

Did you really?

[Teresa]

Yeah. My husband forgot that we were bringing another human home with us and that.

[Mike]

We were gonna be in Michigan in October.

[Teresa]

So first of all, he brought his golf clubs, put them in the floorboard in the back. We have stroller, car seat. So in addition to this, it was very important to me that I wanted him to be on breast milk. And so my cousin at the time had a baby, and so she was pumping for me. And so we had an entire cooler full of breast milk iced down.

[Peter McDonnell]

Friday, October 19, 2018. It was the Mathenys last night in Atlanta before sleepless nights and bottles of breast milk. To celebrate, they went out for a big Italian dinner with Mike's mom. Then, driving home, as Mike said, everything flipped upside down. Teresa was in the back seat when she got a strange email from an adoption company they'd worked with. She didn't think anything of it, but when she read it aloud to Mike, he said it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He knew something was off. Ever since they'd first connected with Tara Lee, Mike had been suppressing his true feelings about her.

[Mike]

When Teresa was talking about Tara, our first conversation with her. God, I hope she hears this. I hate her voice, okay? Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. And from the very beginning, I had, like, this spidey sense that, like, something was not right with her.

[Peter McDonnell]

Teresa hurried down to the basement where the nursery was, exchanged some alarming text messages, and then called adoption attorney Tanya Carrado in Detroit.

[Evan]

She said, teresa, you cannot tell anyone this. You cannot tell anyone. Tara is under investigation with the FBI. And I screamed. I screamed like I could hear it in my ears. Oh, my God. I fell to the floor. I started, like, having a panic attack.

[Peter McDonnell]

Mike ran downstairs and found Teresa on her knees sobbing.

[Evan]

Then my thought is, like, who was that woman that we talked to on the phone that claimed to be our birth mom? Who was she? You know, what is going on? I'm like, is there a baby? It was almost like finding out that my mom died. That was my reaction. You know, it felt like a death. Mike, for the first time in our relationship and marriage, I don't think he quite knew what to do, except he just took control of the conversation and started talking to Tanya. And, you know, I just remember Mike saying, where is our money? I remember him saying, like, you know, at the end of the conversation, what should we do? What? What should we do? And Tanya's saying, get in your car and drive up here. Just get in your car.

[Mike]

We didn't know what to believe, what was true.

[Peter McDonnell]

When morning came, the Mathenys packed their car with everything their baby could possibly need, plus golf clubs, and took the 75 north to Detroit, hoping beyond hope that whatever Tara Lee did, Stephanie was who she said she was and baby S would become their son. It was somewhere around Cincinnati, Ohio, at 70 mph that Teresa suddenly panicked. In all the chaos to get information from Tara Lee, she realized that they never received any proof of Stephanie's pregnancy. No photos of her, no ultrasound of the baby, no proof of life. And that was agonizing enough. But there was something else. They weren't the only couple Tara Lee collected money from and matched with Stephanie and her son. There was another set of parents who thought the baby boy would be theirs. Next time on Baby Broker. We'll meet the other couple.

[Teresa]

This is where it gets even more wild.

[Peter McDonnell]

And we're just staring at each other.

[Brittany]

Like, there's no way this is real.

[Peter McDonnell]

And you feel like she's trying to get you to give an answer right there in the driveway. Oh, absolutely. This season on Baby Broker.

[Teresa]

She looks up and she says, do you want to adopt another baby? And I remember at that moment thinking, this is like a machine for her.

[Peter McDonnell]

I get answers from someone who saw inside Tara Lee's scam and built an army against her.

[Teresa]

By the third night, we had nine families. After a month, we had 20 families.

[Peter McDonnell]

And then a little bit after that, we were up to 100 families and we all became investigators. A local investigative reporter goes sniffing into Tara Lee's business.

[Investigative Reporter]

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tara Lee after seeing one of our recent stories. And now Lee could be locked up because of our video. I mean, I've covered horrible crimes. I've covered public corruption. I've covered a lot of awful things. And this, this is still in its own category.

[Peter McDonnell]

And the FBI tells me how they pursued Tara Lee.

[Teresa]

She's taking adoptive parents to the point that they're remodeling their houses to create nurseries. People are raising money through church fundraisers.

[Investigative Reporter]

She knew that they would do anything for the hope of having a child.

[Peter McDonnell]

Don't want to wait for that next episode. You don't have to unlock all episodes of Baby Broker ad free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel. Search for the binge on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page. Not on apple. Head to getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. As a subscriber, you'll get binge access to new stories on the 1st of every month. Check out the Binge Channel page on apple podcasts or getthebinge.com to learn more. Baby Broker is an original production of Sony Music Entertainment and Perfect Cadence. It was hosted and reported by me, Peter McDonnell. I'm the executive producer along with Catherine St. Louis and Jonathan Hirsch of Sony Music Entertainment. Stephen George recorded the narration at the Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. We used music from Audio Network and a few tracks from Epidemic Sound. News clips are courtesy of WXYZ 7 in Detroit, Michigan. Our production managers are Tamika Balance Kolasny and Sammy Allison. Our lawyers are Allison Sherry and Kathleen Farley. Special thanks to Steve Ackerman, Emily Rasik and Jamie Myers.

[Brittany]

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