The Child Exchange: Americans use the Internet to abandon children adopted from overseas

[Xithras]

9. This isn't just an adoptive kids thing. I raised a former friends kid for nearly two years on a POA.

She became a bit rebellious and he didn't want her in his house where she would "corrupt" his other kids. She was 13 years old. Mom was a junkie and had vanished years earlier, and dad remarried to a Bible thumper who constantly told her that she was possessed by Satan.

It took about two years, but we eventually tracked down another relative who was willing to take her in permanently. I'm glad to say that she turned out fine, and she's a beautiful 19 year old nursing student today.

I really was shocked at the time at how easy it was to "legally" get custody of another persons child. Her dad signed a Power of Attorney document that granted me full temporary guardianship with educational, medical, and decision making rights for her, we signed it and had it notarized, and that was it. It took a half sheet of paper and 30 minutes. When my lawyer looked it over a few months later, he shrugged his shoulders and said that we "did all you needed to do".

It really is that easy.