cbs2's hazel sanchez live in chelsea with more on this. hazel. reporter: yeah, the independent adoption center ran its new york office out of this building behind me before it shut down on tuesday. now nearly 1900 couples from
across the country, many that waited years and invested thousands of dollars for a child, are left devastated. john and emma from indiana, and rich and his husband will all share the same dream. to have a family. they were well on their way
until the adoption agency closed. i'm so broken hearted. my husband and i, we want so badly to start a family, and it's just like that. that dream just kind of went out the window. reporter: on tuesday, in
dependent adoption center e- mailed its clients saying they had filed for bankruptcy and that "the climate of adoption has changed and that there are fewer potential birth parents than at any other point in their history. more than 1800 clients were in
various staples of the process when the agency closed including 176 couples in the new york area. bateman signed up in 2014, completing screenings, home studies, and paying all initial fees, totaling $15,000. this has been such a time-
consuming process and expensive. i mean, we would like to start it again, but it's just the emotional toll has been horrible. reporter: just like bateman, this couple from indiana says they, too, are out thousands of
dollars with no child and to have start from scratch. it's not that easy just to pick up and start over. there's no easy route. there's no clear path. reporter: this adoption attorney says they will likely not get their money back or any
of their personal files. maybe ultimately once another agency takes over their files, but as of right now, my understanding is they're going to be locked up for some time. reporter: bateman says some affected parents networking together on social media claim
to have paid agency fees as recently as last month. cbs2 news reached out to iac to find out if they did accept payments just days before filing for bankruptcy, but they refused to comment. i think they need to be held accountable.
where did they go? they all disappeared. the website's down, the phone lines are down. there's no further communication. i'm so disgusted. reporter: experts say because iac is a nonprofit
adoption agency that makes it less likely for couples to get their money back but the couples we spoke with say they are not giving up and they will
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