EP 4 - Matt and Laura, Part 1

Speaker 1 This is an iHeart podcast.

Speaker 1 You know that feeling when your alarm goes off and your first thought is, why do I feel so awful? It's like being betrayed by your own body. But here's the plot twist: it's not your fault.

Speaker 1 Dehydration and brain fog are sabotaging you beneath the surface. When I found Early Bird's morning cocktail, I felt the shift immediately.

Speaker 1 It's this blood-orange mimosa drink that you mix the night before and you keep on your nightstand. When the alarm goes off, you drink, and it's like flipping flipping a switch.

Speaker 1 Clean energy, no brain fog, no crash. I'm in control of my day again.
Early Bird is clinically engineered to target morning fatigue from all angles.

Speaker 1 There's clean, natural caffeine, mood lifting nootropics, and a supercharged electrolyte blend to combat dehydration. This is more than just a morning drink.

Speaker 1 It's a science-backed tool to help you take control of your mornings and own your potential. It gives me the energy to show up as the best, most accomplished version of myself.

Speaker 1 Discover how good it feels to rise and grind grind on your own terms. Visit clubearlybird.com and use code BETRAYAL for 20% off.
That's clubearlybird.com.

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Speaker 2 That's right, sofas start at just $699.

Speaker 2 Enjoy a no-risk experience with pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and changeable slip covers made with performance fabric.

Speaker 2 Experience cloud-like comfort with high-resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing. The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime.

Speaker 2 Shop washable sofas.com for early Black Friday savings up to 60% off site-wide, backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund.

Speaker 2 No return shipping or restocking fees. Every penny back.
Upgrade now at washable sofas.com. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Speaker 3 This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturisas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 4 This is Bowen Yang from Los Culturas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 3 What if you could boost your Wi-Fi to one of your devices when you need it most? Because Xfiniti Wi-Fi can. Like when you need to upload 200 photos of your cat in a Santa hat to post online.

Speaker 3 We've all been there.

Speaker 4 And what if your Wi-Fi could proactively fix issues before they even happen?

Speaker 3 Xfiniti Wi-Fi does that too.

Speaker 1 It's like having a little holiday helper.

Speaker 4 And what if your Wi-Fi had parental instincts built right in? So your kids are always protected online.

Speaker 3 It's Wi-Fi that's not just smart, it's brilliant. And during the holidays, that's a gift we all could use.

Speaker 4 Xfinity, imagine that.

Speaker 7 Are your AI agents helping users or just creating more work?

Speaker 5 If you can't compare your users' workflows before and after adding AI, how do you know it's even paying off?

Speaker 10 Pendo Agent Analytics is the first tool to connect agent prompts and conversations to downstream outcomes like time saved, so you know what's working and what to fix.

Speaker 9 Start improving agent performance at pendo.io/slash podcast.

Speaker 11 That's pendo.io/slash/podcast.

Speaker 12 She was screaming, saying, There's blood all over the car. Oh my god, oh my god, the baby's coming.
I was like trying to talk her through it. Just breathe, just take deep breaths.

Speaker 12 Can you feel the baby's head?

Speaker 1 I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

Speaker 1 Here at Betrayal, we've received hundreds of emails, messages from listeners telling us their own shocking stories of deception. And we knew we had to find a way to share them.

Speaker 1 So every Thursday, we'll be bringing you new stories of resilience in the face of devastating betrayal. Some stories will be contained to one episode, and others will be released in two parts.

Speaker 1 Besides hearing from listeners, Our team has been researching and reading about some of the most unbelievable deceptions and betrayals from across the world.

Speaker 1 Not just romantic betrayals, but familial and financial ones. And in this story, it's somewhere in between.

Speaker 1 In the process of adopting a baby, Matt and Laura Trait were pulled into a twilight zone of deception and fraud.

Speaker 13 Something switched in us, and we immediately went into attack mode. Like, we can't let someone get away with this.

Speaker 13 And so we started immediately making phone calls to the sheriff's department, to, I mean, anybody that would listen.

Speaker 12 And I remember the sheriff saying,

Speaker 12 well, it's not a crime to hurt someone's feelings.

Speaker 1 This is Laura Trait and her husband, Matt.

Speaker 1 Matt and Laura met in 2005. when they were both in graduate school to become teachers.
He was standing in line with his classmate when he first met Laura.

Speaker 13 She inserted herself into our conversation with my classmate and was like, Oh, are you in the teaching program? I'm in the teaching program too.

Speaker 13 We talked for a little bit and went back to class.

Speaker 13 My other friend I was with was like, oh, she's really into you. I said, oh, no, she's not.
Like, she's way out of my league. There's no way she was into me.

Speaker 1 Matt's friend was right.

Speaker 12 I know it sounds so cliche, but when I saw Matt around campus, I just kind of knew. He had just the kind of smile and kind eyes.
So I basically worked up the courage that night to say hello.

Speaker 1 Laura invited him to her birthday dinner. He showed up with flowers.

Speaker 13 That was kind of our first date.

Speaker 12 Yeah, it worked out for me. We were pretty much stuck at the hip, like right from the start.
It just kind of clicked.

Speaker 1 They dated for two years. And over that time, their initial attraction grew into a deep connection.
This is what Matt says he loves about Laura.

Speaker 13 What drew me to Laura when I first met her were her eyes and her smile.

Speaker 13 I could tell that she was just a kind person. Little did I know just how amazingly kind and generous that she is.

Speaker 13 She is one of the most selfless human beings that I've ever met.

Speaker 12 Thanks, my love. I mean, he's saying all those things that I wanted to say about him.

Speaker 1 And this is what she loves about Matt.

Speaker 12 When I saw Matt around campus, I could just tell from looking at him that he's just, he has such a kind face and eyes and smile, and I just was drawn to that.

Speaker 12 It was true that he is the kindest man I've literally ever met.

Speaker 13 Say, well, you got to taught me now.

Speaker 12 I didn't taught you. God,

Speaker 12 getting emotional already.

Speaker 1 After they graduated, the couple started talking about the future together. Everything from marriage to having kids.

Speaker 12 I was raised in such a big family that I just always wanted a family. I always wanted more than one child.
That was like my biggest dream in life.

Speaker 1 Matt felt the same way. He loved kids and wanted a family with Laura.

Speaker 13 It was just something we both agreed on right from the start.

Speaker 1 They knew they'd have to make sacrifices to have the big family they dreamed of.

Speaker 12 We both were becoming teachers. I mean, the idea was to just make a difference in people's lives.
We were never into material things.

Speaker 12 We were never into like name brands or anything like that. We were just more focused on having a family together and growing old together like in simple ways.

Speaker 1 Laura and Matt got married at 31 and right away they started trying to build their family.

Speaker 12 We started trying right away and it's really disheartening when you're trying and it's not working. So it became like this huge project, which is sad to say.
Yeah.

Speaker 12 Even if we weren't in the mood or whatever, we'd be like, okay, well, I'm ovulating, so we need to try. And it just wasn't working.

Speaker 13 You know, you get to a certain point in the process also where,

Speaker 13 you know, it definitely affects you mentally, the struggle, you know, something that comes so easy for some people.

Speaker 1 After a year with no luck, their doctors ordered a series of tests. The trades learned they both have medical conditions that make it difficult to conceive.

Speaker 1 So their doctors recommended IVF, but the biggest obstacle was financial one round of ivf is expensive

Speaker 13 the cost per cycle is just staggering this was in 2009

Speaker 12 it was probably between 20 to 30 000

Speaker 12 but to us there was nothing more worth the money yeah

Speaker 12 And I remember like writing down notes and being ready like to have a meeting with Matt's parents to ask them for help. We had to lay out the plan, lay out the prices.

Speaker 12 They want to know all the details and why it was costing this much. But we really had to go to family and advocate for ourselves and be like, please help.
We really want to have a family.

Speaker 1 Their families agreed to help financially, and the couple started their first IVF cycle.

Speaker 12 The first one wasn't successful at all, but we weren't ready to give up. So we tried again within the next couple of months of that one not working.

Speaker 1 On their second cycle, they got a positive pregnancy test.

Speaker 12 We were so excited and hopeful and then we went to our first ultrasound and my body was creating all the pregnancy hormones, but there was no baby.

Speaker 1 It was an emotional roller coaster, but they weren't ready to give up on their dream. After a few months, they decided to give IVF one final shot.

Speaker 13 Our third try, we put in three embryos and thought that this was going to be our last opportunity.

Speaker 1 Finally, they got the phone call they'd been waiting for.

Speaker 12 When they called and said that my levels were like in the 900s and that I was pregnant, I was shocked and just elated.

Speaker 1 After years of disappointment, they were cautious, almost afraid to believe that this pregnancy was real.

Speaker 13 We had done this before and believed we were pregnant and then we go in for the ultrasound and we weren't.

Speaker 13 And so the real true moment for us was going in for that first ultrasound appointment and being able to see that there actually was a baby in there.

Speaker 13 It was one of the most joyous, amazing experiences of our life.

Speaker 1 Laura had an image in her head of what pregnancy would be like.

Speaker 12 I was always so excited to be pregnant because I thought I would be one of those cute pregnant ladies that wear all the cute pregnancy clothes and waddle about and just be happy all the time.

Speaker 1 Instead, Laura started having preterm contractions at 20 weeks.

Speaker 12 I was having a lot of them and they were monitoring me.

Speaker 12 So they put me on strict bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy.

Speaker 13 We just kind of pushed through like, hey, this is all going to be worth it. It's going to be worth the wait.

Speaker 1 She spent the last few weeks of her pregnancy in the hospital under constant monitoring until finally.

Speaker 12 They woke us up one morning and they're like, we're going to do a C-section this morning.

Speaker 12 And I remember during the C-section, just waiting to hear that little cry, you know, just waiting to hear that sound.

Speaker 12 And then you hear it and it's like, oh, it feels so good to have your dream come true.

Speaker 13 He was a miracle for us. Out of nine or ten embryos that we had put in through the courses of all the cycles, one was successful.
And it just felt like

Speaker 13 everything

Speaker 13 finally was in place and I was just overjoyed with happiness.

Speaker 1 They named their son Hudson, which was the name of both of their hometowns, hers in New Hampshire and his in Ohio. Hudson was happy and healthy.

Speaker 1 Despite how difficult it was to have him, the joy of being his parents outweighed it all. And they wanted to do it again.

Speaker 12 We had still had some of those frozen embryos and we decided to try more rounds of IVF.

Speaker 1 They went in with high hopes for another miracle like Hudson. But after their fifth IVF cycle ended in a miscarriage, we kind of did more soul searching.

Speaker 12 We were like, let's look into adoption. So we started raising money again.

Speaker 1 Just like IVF, adoption has upfront costs.

Speaker 1 Big ones.

Speaker 12 We had an adoption yard sale and

Speaker 12 went back to family, you know, to borrow money.

Speaker 13 There were adoption facilitators whose job it basically is to connect you with a birth mother and they want to charge you $15,000 to $20,000 just to talk to a birth mother.

Speaker 13 You know, it's like, hey, we've got a birth mother on hand. They really need somebody.
If you send us $15,000, you can talk to them.

Speaker 1 Because they'd already invested so much money in building their family, the traits needed to be resourceful.

Speaker 12 I have my graphic design degree, so I was like, I'll create a website for us and we'll try and reach out to see if we can find birth moms who are looking for a nice family on our own instead of going through one of these agencies.

Speaker 12 And so that's when I started creating this website called the siblingforhudson.com.

Speaker 1 A siblingforhudson.com. The name said it all.

Speaker 1 And it worked.

Speaker 1 Three different women were interested in having the traits adopt their baby. They talked to them all, screening for the best match, somebody they could see being in their lives long term.

Speaker 1 That's how they settled on.

Speaker 12 The Spirit mom, Elizabeth Jones.

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You know that feeling when your alarm goes off and your first thought is, why do I feel so awful?

Speaker 1 It's like being betrayed by your own body. But here's the plot twist.
It's not your fault. Dehydration and brain fog are sabotaging you beneath the surface.

Speaker 1 When I found Early Bird's Bird's morning cocktail, I felt the shift immediately. It's this blood-orange mimosa drink that you mix the night before and you keep on your nightstand.

Speaker 1 When the alarm goes off, you drink and it's like flipping a switch. Clean energy, no brain fog, no crash.
I'm in control of my day again.

Speaker 1 Early Bird is clinically engineered to target morning fatigue from all angles. There's clean, natural caffeine, mood-lifting nootropics, and a supercharged electrolyte blend to combat dehydration.

Speaker 1 This is more than just a morning drink. It's a science-backed tool to help you take control of your mornings and own your potential.

Speaker 1 It gives me the energy to show up as the best, most accomplished version of myself. Discover how good it feels to rise and grind on your own terms.

Speaker 1 Visit clubearlybird.com and use code BETRAYAL for 20% off. That's clubearlybird.com.
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Speaker 3 This is Matt Rogers from Lost Culture Resess with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 4 This is Bowen Yang from Los Culture Resist with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 3 What if you could boost your Wi-Fi to one of your devices when you need it most? Because Xfinity Wi-Fi can. Like when you need to upload 200 photos of your cat in a Santa hat to post online.

Speaker 4 We've all been there. And what if your Wi-Fi could proactively fix issues before they even happen?

Speaker 3 Xfinity Wi-Fi does that too.

Speaker 1 It's like having a little holiday helper.

Speaker 4 And what if your Wi-Fi had parental instincts built right in so your kids are always protected online?

Speaker 3 It's Wi-Fi that's not just smart, it's brilliant. And during the holidays, that's a gift we all could use.

Speaker 4 Xfinity, imagine that.

Speaker 1 Matt and Laura Trey were dedicated to growing their family. It was their biggest dream.
They made a website where they told their story, shared family photos, and made a heartfelt plea.

Speaker 1 They wanted to adopt a baby. That's how they met Elizabeth Jones, a birth mother who was five months pregnant.

Speaker 12 She said that the reason they were adopting out their child was because she wanted to focus on her career and her husband did too.

Speaker 12 And they had two children already, so they couldn't afford to raise another child. And they felt like the best thing to do was to find another good family for that baby.

Speaker 1 Elizabeth lived in Virginia, across the country from the Traits in California. At first, the couple took it slow, made no assumptions, and took time to get to know each other over the phone.

Speaker 1 But after those initial calls, Laura started talking to Elizabeth every day.

Speaker 12 We were like growing this amazing bond, talking every day and really building a strong relationship. We had video calls.
Mac and Hudson got to meet her through a video call.

Speaker 12 She kind of felt like a sister to me.

Speaker 1 Elizabeth was stoic, thoughtful. She'd been in the military and she took things seriously.
After a few weeks of talking every day, Elizabeth told the traits that she'd made her decision.

Speaker 12 She told us I really would love it if you guys would adopt my baby. And we found out at that time it was a girl.

Speaker 1 They were overjoyed with the news. Laura and Elizabeth, they'd become really close over the past month.

Speaker 1 Elizabeth felt like the right person, someone who could be a positive addition to their family, part of the baby's story.

Speaker 12 We wanted the baby to know where she came from. We were always going to be honest about that and hopefully we could all have a really great relationship.

Speaker 1 So the traits began the legal process, finding adoption attorneys and starting the paperwork. All the while, they stayed cautiously optimistic.

Speaker 13 You never know if the birth mother is going to change their mind at the last minute.

Speaker 13 So we're remaining hopeful, but we're trying to kind of guard ourselves a little bit in the process because the baby has a right to stay with the birth mother if that's what they choose.

Speaker 1 But Elizabeth was all in.

Speaker 12 She kept telling us, this baby girl is yours and I have no plans whatsoever of backing out. Like, I really want you guys to be her family.
And this is a great match.

Speaker 12 And we were like, this is a great match. And we love you guys.
And we're so looking forward to doing this together as a unit.

Speaker 1 So the Traits started preparing a nursery for their baby.

Speaker 12 She sent us ultrasound photos. She even mailed us a stuffed unicorn with the baby's heartbeat in it, like recorded in it.

Speaker 12 So we were like elated setting up the baby's room here at our house. And we put the little unicorn in there and the ultrasound photo.

Speaker 1 When Elizabeth was seven months pregnant, Laura decided to fly out to Virginia to meet her. Even though it was their first time meeting in person, it felt like a reunion.

Speaker 1 Laura greeted her with teary eyes and a long hug.

Speaker 12 We spent like every waking hour together. Like we went shopping for baby clothes together.
We picked up like a going home outfit and we toured the hospital where she was going to give birth.

Speaker 12 We did a professional photo shoot and I had made us shirts. Her shirt said birth mom strong and my shirt said adoptive mom strong.

Speaker 12 So I brought those out there with me and we had our professional photo shoot.

Speaker 1 In the photos Laura and Elizabeth are standing in a wooded area arm in arm. They're each making half of a heart with one hand holding the heart shape up to the camera.

Speaker 1 They're beaming and they're matching shirts. The Treats sent this photo out as their holiday card.

Speaker 12 That weekend, we also went to meet with the adoption attorney and she signed a power of attorney giving us rights to make medical decisions for the baby girl.

Speaker 1 Before she flew back home, Laura wanted to join Elizabeth at her doctor's appointment.

Speaker 1 And Elizabeth agreed.

Speaker 12 We were waiting in the waiting room. And she had said, oh, I forgot my water in the car.
Can you run out and get my bottle of water? I'm really thirsty. I was like, sure, I'll be right back.

Speaker 12 But then when I came back into the waiting room, she was gone.

Speaker 12 So I had told the nurses at the front desk, you know, who I was

Speaker 12 and that I'd like to go back with her. And they were kind of giving me the runaround.
So I started texting her.

Speaker 1 Elizabeth texted back that they'd brought her into the exam room. And while she was there looking at the baby on the ultrasound monitor, Elizabeth was overwhelmed with emotion.

Speaker 1 She asked Laura to wait outside.

Speaker 12 I was feeling for her because I'm here to see an ultrasound with her, and this must be hard for the birth mom to have this person in the room with her. And she's going to give up her baby to me.

Speaker 1 Matt hadn't come on this trip, so Laura called him to get his opinion.

Speaker 13 You don't want to push a birth mother, right? Because this is a huge decision you're making.

Speaker 13 And so, you know, I've said before how empathetic Laura is and how she puts herself in other people's shoes.

Speaker 13 And, you know, she was doing that, like feeling what this woman must have felt having to make this decision. So it made it understandable that there were some emotions going around.

Speaker 1 After the appointment, Laura knew she had to have a hard conversation with Elizabeth.

Speaker 12 Elizabeth and I had a heart-to-heart.

Speaker 12 I remember being like, Elizabeth, it's okay if you want to keep baby girl. Like the best place for her is with her family.
If you want to keep the baby, it's okay.

Speaker 12 And maybe you should keep the baby, you know?

Speaker 12 But we really did bond during that conversation. And she just ended up reassuring me that it is what she wanted.
And so I just kind of hung in there and

Speaker 12 tried to just kind of ignore my gut feelings.

Speaker 12 and just try to see it from her point of view.

Speaker 1 Laura flew home feeling a bit nervous. She She had expected to go into the exam room and talk to the doctor, but she empathized with Elizabeth's pain and she respected her.

Speaker 1 After all, Elizabeth was giving their family the biggest gift and she never asked for a penny in return.

Speaker 13 At no time did she ever ask us to give her money, you know, which some birth mothers do, like pay for my rent or pay for my bills. I need help.

Speaker 12 I remember her telling me, no, I don't want any money. I want you to put that money towards baby girl.

Speaker 1 The baby's due date was in late December, and the couple decided on a name for her.

Speaker 12 When we found out that the baby was due right around the holidays, we decided to name her Noella. We thought it was a fitting name for the time that she was due.

Speaker 1 Laura and Elizabeth kept talking every day, and the conversations were intense, especially when, in late November, Elizabeth started having preterm contractions, just like Laura had in her pregnancy with Hudson.

Speaker 13 She was in lots of pain. She had gone to the ER several times to the point where they put in something called a surclage.

Speaker 1 It stitches in the cervix to prevent the baby from being born too early. Elizabeth kept the traits updated on what her doctors were saying.

Speaker 12 The doctor around this time also did an MEO and she said that the doctor said everything looked good, but she had to be on bed rest.

Speaker 12 And the doctor was okay with with taking the surclage out and that it was better to take the baby out now to not do damage to her cervix.

Speaker 12 The baby girl's lungs were fully developed at that time. So she was begging us to come back out for the delivery of the baby.

Speaker 1 Things were happening quickly. It was scary.

Speaker 1 Elizabeth said her doctors were recommending they remove the stitches and prepare for an early delivery. So the couple jumped into action.

Speaker 13 We were in Arizona visiting my family for Thanksgiving. So we're scrambling around trying to change flight reservations and, you know, reaching out to the lawyer.

Speaker 13 And it was just like, okay, it's time to get into action to get out there and finally meet our daughter.

Speaker 1 When your alarm goes off in the morning, do you feel energized? Or are you tempted by the snooze button again and again?

Speaker 1 If you're dragging yourself out of bed, fighting brain fog and fatigue, I've been there too. Then I found Early Birds Morning Cocktail.

Speaker 1 It's formulated with clinically studied ingredients like clean caffeine, electrolytes, antioxidants, and adaptogens. It's a simple morning cocktail that fits seamlessly into my wake-up routine.

Speaker 1 It starts working immediately to combat grogginess, fatigue, and mental blocks. One drink, and the brain fog clears.
The fatigue lifts. I'm in control of my day again.
Take back your mornings.

Speaker 1 Visit clubearlybird.com and use code BETRAYAL for 20% off. That's clubearlybird.com.

Speaker 2 Tired of spills and stains on your sofa? Wash away your worries with Anibay. Anibay is the only machine-washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget-friendly prices.

Speaker 2 That's right, sofas start at just $699.

Speaker 2 Enjoy a no-risk experience with pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and changeable slip covers made with performance fabric.

Speaker 2 Experience cloud-like comfort with high-resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing. The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity, and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime.

Speaker 2 Shop washable sofas.com for early Black Friday savings up to 60% off site-wide, backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund.

Speaker 2 No return shipping or restocking fees. Every penny back.
Upgrade now at washable sofas.com. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Speaker 3 This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 4 This is Bowen Yang from Los Culturas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 3 What if you could boost your Wi-Fi to one of your devices when you need it most? Because Xfinity Wi-Fi can. Like when you need to upload 200 photos of your cat in a Santa hat to post online.

Speaker 4 We've all been there. And what if your Wi-Fi could proactively fix issues before they even happen?

Speaker 3 Xfinity Wi-Fi does that too.

Speaker 1 It's like having a little holiday helper.

Speaker 4 And what if your Wi-Fi had parental instincts built right in? So your kids are always protected online.

Speaker 3 It's Wi-Fi that's not just smart, it's brilliant. And during the holidays, that's a gift we all could use.

Speaker 4 Xfinity, imagine that.

Speaker 7 Are your AI agents helping users or just creating more work?

Speaker 5 If you can't compare your users' workflows before and after adding AI, how do you know it's even paying off?

Speaker 10 Pendo Agent Analytics is the first tool to connect agent prompts and conversations to downstream outcomes like time saved, so you know what's working and what to fix.

Speaker 9 Start improving agent performance at pendo.io/slash podcast.

Speaker 11 That's pendo.io/slash podcast.

Speaker 1 The Traits and their son rushed to Virginia the day after Thanksgiving and rented an Airbnb. They had packed everything they needed to bring home their daughter Noella.

Speaker 1 And things with Elizabeth were progressing quickly.

Speaker 12 Right after she got her sirclage out, she came to the Airbnb. They had said that she was three and a half centimeters dilated at that time.

Speaker 12 She spent a lot of time with us after that, and we were just trying to take care of her best we could.

Speaker 12 Every time she had a contraction, she was moaning and groaning, complaining about how much pain pain she was in. So we were just trying to be there for her to support her through it.

Speaker 12 Just trying to love on her and just take care of her.

Speaker 1 They also took care of Elizabeth's two young kids.

Speaker 12 We were taking the kids out, her kids out, while she rested.

Speaker 12 And one of the kids noticed the car seat in her rental car and asked us, oh, is that for the baby?

Speaker 12 At that point, we were like, oh, they know about the baby. Okay.

Speaker 1 It was a relief that Elizabeth had talked to her kids about the adoption.

Speaker 13 Our son and her kids got along really well and spent a lot of time playing and going to various activities together. It just reassured us, like, hey, this is going to be great.

Speaker 13 You know, our families are going to know each other and they're going to grow up knowing each other and that's going to be a beautiful thing.

Speaker 1 It was also important to the traits to be honest with Hudson throughout the adoption process.

Speaker 12 He was excited about having a brother-sister. It was something that he really wanted too.

Speaker 12 So we were telling him that we were there to meet his baby sister.

Speaker 1 After a week, the baby hadn't come.

Speaker 13 I mean, that's a good thing. We want her to be healthy.
And so we had told her we were going to go home the next day.

Speaker 13 I have school to get back to, and Hudson had school to get back to, and it was just time for us to go back. And, you know, look, we'll fly back out when the baby comes.
Don't worry.

Speaker 1 Late that night, Laura received an alarming text from Elizabeth.

Speaker 12 She sent pictures of bloody sheets on the bed. And she said that they were rushing to the hospital.

Speaker 1 The doctors examined Elizabeth at the hospital. They determined that she was in early labor and told her to come back in the morning when her labor had progressed further.

Speaker 1 The baby was premature, but otherwise healthy. Laura and Matt were elated that they would meet their baby the next day.
But the next morning, Elizabeth's labor had progressed rapidly.

Speaker 1 She sent Laura and Matt even more photos of blood. That's when the urgency set in.
She needed to go to the hospital right away.

Speaker 1 So the Traits jumped in their rental car, speeding to the hospital to meet her and the baby.

Speaker 12 She actually called me on our drive and she was screaming, saying, there's blood everywhere. And oh my god, oh my god, the baby's coming.
You know, there's blood all over the car.

Speaker 12 And her husband was driving and I was like trying to talk her through it. Just breathe, just take deep breaths.
If you put your hand down there, can you feel the baby's head?

Speaker 12 Like, do you have anything to wrap the baby in? She's like, I have a towel. I'll use that.

Speaker 1 Then Elizabeth told Laura that her husband flagged down a passing ambulance. They were going to take the ambulance to the hospital.

Speaker 12 So we're like, okay, we'll meet you there.

Speaker 1 On her first visit, Laura toured the hospital and Nikki with Elizabeth. They'd met the nurses who'd be there for the delivery.

Speaker 1 Matt and Laura made it to the maternity ward before Elizabeth in the ambulance.

Speaker 12 I saw some of the nurses we had met during our tour, and I was like, you know, Elizabeth's giving birth in the ambulance, and she's on her way.

Speaker 12 And so they jumped into action. They got a team together.
They got a little incubator.

Speaker 12 The whole team of doctors and nurses and everyone, they were all waiting near near the elevators for the baby to come up.

Speaker 1 Even in their rush, the traits had still remembered all their necessary paperwork.

Speaker 12 Matt was turning in our power of attorney, giving them our insurance information, getting all set with that.

Speaker 1 The chaos slowed down as the traits waited by the elevator doors with an incubator.

Speaker 12 And we were just waiting. And waiting.

Speaker 13 The more time that went by,

Speaker 13 the more uneasy we started to feel.

Speaker 13 Obviously, there was a sense of urgency because the baby needed the NICU and here we are at the NICU waiting and baby's not coming and baby's not coming.

Speaker 1 It felt like time was standing still. They looked down at their son, Hudson, who was six.

Speaker 13 We worked so hard to reach this moment.

Speaker 13 The dream was finally coming true. Our son had a big brother shirt on.

Speaker 1 as the minutes dragged on a nurse pulled Laura away suggesting that they go down to the ER to be closer to the ambulance arrivals

Speaker 12 we went in those elevators only doctors are allowed to use and we went down to the ER and all of the nurses were looking for this lady

Speaker 12 they were telling us nobody got delivered here by ambulance that gave birth And so everybody was trying to figure it out.

Speaker 12 They were calling other hospitals to see if maybe they had gone to a different hospital with a Nikki, and Elizabeth just didn't realize which hospital they were taking her to.

Speaker 12 And then I remember one of the nurses coming up saying,

Speaker 12 There is someone here by the name of Elizabeth Jones, but she checked herself in for lower back pain and she's not even pregnant.

Speaker 12 Okay, well, Elizabeth Jones is a common name, so maybe it's somebody else.

Speaker 1 On the next episode of Betrayal, the day the Trades have been dreaming of turns into a nightmare.

Speaker 12 She's saying she doesn't even know you.

Speaker 12 She's saying she has no idea who you are.

Speaker 1 If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com. That's betrayalpod at gmail.com.

Speaker 1 Also, please be sure to follow us at glass podcasts on Instagram for all betrayal content, news, and updates. We're grateful for your support.

Speaker 1 One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal.
Five-star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners.

Speaker 1 Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison.

Speaker 1 Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning. Written and produced by Monique Laborde.
Also produced by Ben Fetterman.

Speaker 1 Associate producers on this episode are Kristen Malkuri, Caitlin Golden, and Grace Bollinger. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck.

Speaker 1 Audio editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio and Nico Aruka. Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines.
Music library provided by MyMusic.

Speaker 1 And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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