A clandestine church in the United States reportedly mistreated and compelled women to relinquish their children for adoption, according to a BBC inquiry. The church, identified as The Truth or the Two by Twos, pressured hundreds of unwed mothers into surrendering their children — some without ever meeting them — for adoption from the 1950s to the 1990s.
A minimum of four single women have recounted their distressing experiences of being coerced into relinquishing their infants. Three of these women feared expulsion from the church and eternal punishment if they declined.
One woman, only 17 at the time of her rape in 1988, claimed she was compelled to give her child to a married couple within the church. “My dread of going to hell was so immense that it drove me to decide to give the baby to this couple in the church,” she recounted to BBC. Another stated she was not even allowed to see her baby girl before the child was permanently taken away.
Furthermore, some children adopted by the church reported experiencing abuse and neglect from their adoptive families. The FBI has initiated an investigation into claims of child sexual abuse within the church, which boasts a membership of up to 100,000 globally.
Six individuals, adopted as infants between the 1960s and 1980s, included a woman who accused her first adoptive family of physical and emotional abuse, along with sexual abuse in her second family, as reported by BBC.
The adopted children were called “Baldwin Babies” because the adoptions were managed by Dr. Wally Baldwin, a sect member who passed away in 2004. A minister who collaborated with Dr. Baldwin stated that several women resided at his home in Oregon during their pregnancies.
The precise number of Baldwin Babies remains uncertain, but Dr. Baldwin’s adopted son, Gary Baldwin, estimated it to be “less than 200. ” Gary admitted that there were flaws in the vetting process but asserted that his father’s intentions were benevolent, while others also expressed fond memories of him. Nevertheless, former members of the sect contend that the church and its ministers, referred to as workers, should bear accountability for the trauma inflicted by the adoptions.
The British broadcaster reached out to six senior officials of The Truth, known as “overseers,” for their input. Only one replied, stating that any adoptions he was aware of were conducted “through legal channels” and that he had “heard some beautiful stories. “
