A disproportionate number of cases of severe abuse and neglect involve children who are adopted. In some cases, adoptive homeschooling parents come to dislike their adopted children and single them out for abuse, whether verbal, physical, or both. Sometimes an adopted child is homeschooled and abused while their siblings are sent to school and treated well. In some cases, adopted children may be treated as servants and expected to do childcare and housecleaning rather than completing homeschool lessons.
Sometimes, adopted children who face abuse at the hands of their homeschooling parents were brought from overseas. These children’s backgrounds are often especially traumatic, involving war or long-term stays in orphanages. Adopted children, and most especially adopted children from overseas, may need special treatment and adjustment that their adoptive parents may not be properly prepared for. Some fundamentalist Christian leaders have encouraged overseas adoption as part of families’ Christian mission to the extent that they have created what might be called “orphan crazes” among their followers. Some of these families may be unprepared for or unaware of the challenges of international adoption, and some of these adoptions have ended up failing while others have ended in abuse.
Adoption was involved in each of the following cases in the HIC database:
- Josie Ann Abney
- Kaya Centeno, and 4 siblings
- Girl by Kimberly Howell
- Children of Michael and Shirley Gray
- Tylee Ryan and Joshua Vallow
- 4 Children of Patricia Hyler
- Girl by Margaret and Charles Breeze
- Girl by Melissa Keister
- 10 Children of Mark and Melissa McGregor
- 2 Children of Mary Heller
- 2 Children by Samuel and Brandi Hollie
- Girl by the Smiths
- Boy by Lyubov Korotkova
- 11 Children of Machelle Hobson
- 6 Children of Joseph and Samantha Ferguson
- Olivia Farrell
- Daughter of Randall Pruitt
- 4 Children of Patrick and Angel Henderson
- Children of Thomas and Denise Atkocaitis
- 4 Children of Cynthia Collier
- 5 Children of Travis and Amy Headrick
- 7 Children of Kenneth and Kelly Fry
- 6 Children of Timothy and Barbara Krause
- 6 Children of Jennifer and Sarah Hart
- Daughter of Alan and Aimee Friz
- Savannah Leckie
- Girl by Hyacinth Poouahi
- Sabrina Ray, and 4 siblings
- Jeffrey Franklin
- Malayia Knapp, and 8 siblings
- Seth Johnson, and 6 siblings
- Natalie Finn, and 4 siblings
- 3 Children of Joshua and Brandi Weyant
- 2 Children of Richard and Cynthia Kelly
- Girl by Robert Wyatt
- 14 Children of Daniel and Jenise Spurgeon
- 3 Children of Echo Terry
- 3 Children of Jim and Paige Nachtigal
- Shaun Tara and 5 siblings
- 16 Children of Jonathan and Allison Schumm
- Victoria Evans, Alloma Gilbert, and Christopher Spry
- 4 Children of David and ReJeana Moss
- Pridine Fru
- Stacy and Jeremy Beckman
- Children of Christine Baughman
- 10 Children of Dave and Wonda Dixon
- 5 Children of Jessica Banks
- 4 Children of Sylvia and Michael Wenger
- 28 Children of Kathy and Dan Blackburn
- 4 Children of John and Margie Cantrell
- Jackie Zudis
- 5 children of Charles and Suzan Sealock
- Children by Timothy and Karen Tolin
- 5 children by Patrick and Sherry Kelley
- 15 children of Bill and Debbie Rettew
- Children of Martin and Kathleen O'Brien
- 3 children of Kate Parker
- 2 children of Emily Miller
- 24 children of Paul and Paula Dunham
- 2 children of Sandra and Jeffrey Weller, and 4 siblings
- 2 daughters of Johann and Kimery Jorg
- Four Children of M.A.H. and R.J.H.
- 10 children of Sharon and Reed Leonard
- 6 children of Lora and Aubrey Thomas
- 3 children by Iliana, Rogelio, and Tim Archuleta
- 2 children of Erin and Jennifer Pickel
- 3 children of Lev Dzyuba
- Christopher Smithburg
- Lauren Kavanaugh, and 5 siblings
- 3 children of Eraca Dawn Craig and Christian Jessica Deanda
- Shane Graham and 10 Siblings
- Minnet and Jasmine Bowman and Sister
- Colin David Jones
- 5 Children of Wanda Sue Larson and Dorian Harper
- Hannah, Noah, Mollie, and Josiah Carroll
- Two Children of Mother and J.S.
- Child by David Allen Goddard
- Erica Lynn Parsons
- Child of Wilson and Brenda Sullivan
- 6 Children of Zion and Glenda Lea Dutro
- 2 Children of Paul and Amanda Lavoe
- Child of Ardee Verlon Tyler and Penny Sue Tyler
- 2 Children of Ingrid Brewer
- Children of Earl and Deborah Dinkler
- Child of Todd and Lisa Mortensen
- Esther Combs
- Child of Samuel and Diana Franklin
- Child of Steven and Mikelann Renwick
- Child of Tai-Ling Gigliotti
- Dominick J. (Andrew) Diehl
- Joseph Beebe
- Christopher Forder
- Lucas Ciambrone
- Viktor Alexander Matthey
- Timothy Boss
- 2 Children of Richard and Christine Dodson
- Ricky Holland
- Alex Pavlis
- Child of Stephen Douglas James
- Child of Tammy Renea Andrews
- 6 Children of Anya James
- 2 Children of Earnest and Windie Perry
- 2 Children of Shelley Blair
- Chrystal Ramirez and Sister
- Child of Peter and Deedra Mitchell
- Child of Matthew and Amy Sweeney
- Adam Herrman
- Children of Tom and Debra Schmitz
- 3 Children of Mark and Susan Hooper
- Child of Kathryn and Kenneth Kreier
- 3 Children of Leslie Tiesler and Brad Thill
- 2 Children of David and Glenda Kinghorn
- 3 Children of Kenneth H. Brandt
- 5 Children of John and Linda Dollar
- 2 Children of Dwayne and Pamela Hardy
- Austin and Edward Bryant
- 4 Children of Vanessa and Ray Jackson
- Child of Paul and Debbie Salvetti
- 6 Children of Maj. John and Carolyn Jackson
- Child of Ernest and Cynthia Davison
- Child of Mona and Russell Hauer
- 5 Children of Jeffrey and Rebecca Trebilcock
- Child of Jeremiah Lovato
- Sean Paddock and 6 Siblings
- Calista Springer
- 3 Children of John and Sonja Kluth
- 11 Children of Michael and Sharon Gravelle
- Hana Grace-Rose Williams
- Nubia and Victor Barahona
- Nathaniel Michael Craver
- Lydia and Zariah Schatz
- Dennis Gene Merryman
- Samuel Hudson, and 5 Siblings