I was adopted through Lutheran Social Services. Do they not do that anymore?
Lutheran still does, at least in my area, but many of the older established agencies that were church affiliated have either shut down or remain open in name only.
Adoption is more a business than a ministry these days.
But taking $16,000 without delivering the product sounds like it should be a viable business model. I’d be hanging out at my state’s AG office at that point.
I think a lot of the religious adoption agencies have shuttered because the Feds started requiring them to adopt out to LGBTQXWZ.