3 years after woman is told her baby died after birth, she finds out her child was adopted by another couple
After grieving for a child and trying to live the rest of your life with whatever strength you have left, only to find your child isn’t dead but alive somewhere out there can be emotionally overwhelming.
When a mother found out that her daughter, whom she was told had died in the hospital soon after her birth, was still alive, she began her search to find out what really happened to her baby girl, Rayla.
The Black mother, named Demaya Morris, reportedly gave birth to her daughter at home on September 6, 2017, according to daily reports. To help her get through the birth, the baby’s father was said to have gone out to search for help and came back with a woman who assisted Demaya until the paramedics finally came to the house. They reportedly found the baby was not breathing, and it was alleged that the woman who came to help told Demaya not to breastfeed Rayla, even though she was not a doctor.
Rayla finally did start crying when the paramedics arrived and cut the umbilical cord. Eventually, the mother and infant were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was here when things took a drastic turn.
It was alleged the mother was told her baby didn’t make it. When they left the hospital, Demaya wasn’t even given a birth certificate. They left only with a picture of the baby and an urn provided by the hospital.
On the same day, another white couple, named Joanna and Jake Lentner, left St. Joseph’s Hospital knowing they were becoming parents to an adopted baby. The day that Demaya supposedly lost her baby was the same day Joanna and Jake received a call from the hospital informing them that they had one last patient the couple could adopt before the hospital closed their maternity ward. September 6, 2017, which was marked as a death day for Demaya’s newborn, was the day that Joanna and Jake had their adoption processed.
Years later, Demaya wrote on Facebook talking about how her baby was still alive, and screenshots of the posts were shared on Twitter.
“About three years ago, we were told our baby girl Rayla was dead by St. Joseph’s Hospital,”
said the mother in the post.
“Our lives changed forever. Trying to live with this devastation has been so hard and confusing, only to find out recently that there’s a strong possibility we’ve been lied to and our baby’s still alive out there somewhere with a whole new family. Mind you, we were never granted a death certificate of any kind, but was given an urn and a picture of the baby.”
After the news of the death of her baby, Demaya was said to have pushed for a death certificate for Rayla and even sought out legal help. That was when she discovered that somehow there was an adoption open with Joanna Lentner. All of this news is mind-blowing.
The screenshots of the mother’s post said:
“We can use whatever legal help anyone can offer. If you know lawyers or anyone in this type of illegal adoption field, please DM if you have any info that may help us figure out what actually happened.”
People who saw screenshots of the story were shocked to read that such a thing could happen to her precious baby girl. Some Twitter users even shared screenshots they believe are from Joanna and Jake Lentner’s blog, where they were reportedly posting updates about their adoption journey. This blog is now deleted, and so is Joanna’s photography page, which was called Joanna May Photography. Other social media pages of the couple were also deleted later.
Hoping to raise money for legal fees so she could finally know what happened to Rayla, Demaya set up a GoFundMe page that was also later deleted, where she said:
“I just need help figuring out how to get my baby back through all trials and tribulations. My kids are all I got through every struggle. My situation is not perfect, but I don’t deserve any of them to be taken from me.”
