I'm Missing the Crazy Adoption Threads

[Howl]

On 9/23/2020 at 5:58 PM, Inthemadhouse said:

Is anyone else noticing what is going on with Susanna Musser (The Blessing of Verity) right now?  She has been making posts supporting BLM, talking about spiritual abuse and how to recognize it, and speaking out against Trump.  She has made references to leaving her fundie days behind.

No doubt, she is still a very conservative woman, and holds many abhorrent views.  But I am wondering what the impetus for this change might be...

Based on the article referenced upthread, (Running Taught Me To Love Life – Susanna Musser) she fell in love with a woman.  "In the fall of 2020, I placed first in my age and gender category in a 5K race, in the Conestoga race, and in a 12K road race. During this same time period, I was processing the growing realization that I had never been straight my entire life...And just before Thanksgiving, 2020, a few weeks before signing up with a coach and entering marathon training, I met my person, the love of my life. I was immediately drawn to her; through her smiling eyes, her soul emanated kindness, goodness, honesty, intelligence, and humor...I ran my first marathon this spring, at the age of 49, and she cheered me on. She then cared for me tenderly afterward and allowed the recovery process to begin."

I'll assume that she's divorced now...her Insta account (Living life well 🌈 mom to 14, reader, writer, runner, nature-lover, music-lover, creative, free spirit) is private.

[hoipolloi]

19 hours ago, Benjaminallen2203 said:

Jim and Jean Mulvahill, Her adoptive Parents.

These two seem like real pieces of work. Jean's blog is a hot mess of illegible fonts & bad writing while Jim, bless his heart, was disbarred in 2005 for misappropriating client funds. For those who are new to this train wreck, here is a prior FJ thread, from 2014 to 2021.

I hope that Sarah is living well and happily.

[littlehouse]

I would love to know what you know, but as long as it doesn't hurt Sarah.

[Ozlsn]

On 6/3/2021 at 5:49 AM, Wisteria_sister said:

Jean treated Sarah and the other kids as second class citizens compared to the bio kids

Was thinking about this last night, and it is so true. For all the protestations that "Yes they are siblings" there is a huge gap in age between the bio kids who had mostly left home when they started the adoptions and the kids coming in. Even if all 22 were biologically hers it's likely the older kids would know the younger siblings but the relationships would be very different to the relationships with the siblings closer in age to them. If they had stopped adopting after maybe 4 or 5 I think there might have been more of a chance of the older kids getting to know the younger kids better but most of the weddings are a pretty good indication that (to paraphrase Orwell) some siblings are more equal than others. Even if they were excluding on age at least Sarah and Emma should have been considered old enough.

8 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I'm not sure how they managed or afforded it, but they were bringing home special needs kids from China in 2s and 3s over and over rapid fire.

I honestly don't understand how they were able to - is there no regulation of adoption at a government level? How could any agency or social welfare body look at this and say that the parents would be able to look after that many children as individuals? I read through the side bar in the Web format version of the blog and they made nine trips to China from 2007 to 2016, coming back each time with children aged between under 6 months and 11 years. You'd think there would at least be questions being raised around human trafficking.

[katilac]

9 hours ago, Howl said:

 I'll assume that she's divorced now...her Insta account (Living life well 🌈 mom to 14, reader, writer, runner, nature-lover, music-lover, creative, free spirit) is private.

Wait, wouldn't "mom to 14" mean she dropped a few along the way? 

[ifosterkittens]

11 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I'm not sure how they managed or afforded it, but they were bringing home special needs kids from China in 2s and 3s over and over rapid fire.

I wondered (only my speculation) if they had some wealthy church friends (they're Catholic) who were very generous for a while. I can envision some wealthy people with the white savior complex thinking instead of donating to a particular cause they would give it to the Mulvahills so the Mulvahills could "save" the orphans, give them a loving home, and teach them about God. (I don't agree with that thought process, but I can see it playing out). I used to read the blog, but it's been a while, so I can't remember, but I can imagine the church rallying to support the Mulvahills, and setting up food trains when they brought home more children, and a child was having a medical procedure etc. I bet Jim and Jean loved the positive attention they got. They probably thought it will get easier with time. 

Jean had said their financial situation had changed. I doubt they seriously considered the long-term costs of so many children. Many of their children have complex medical conditions which are expensive. Some of their children will not be able to live independently, and that is expensive. I think they thought love and prayer would be enough. 

[hoipolloi]

25 minutes ago, ifosterkittens said:

They probably thought it will get easier with time. 

Or that they would have at least one or two sister-moms available to help out -- and I don't mean their bio kids, all of whom seem to be living independent lives as adults.

 

[Maggie Mae]

1 hour ago, Benjaminallen2203 said:

When Sarah and I were together, she told me stories

Do you have permission to share this information? I have no idea who Sarah is, but this showed up on my unread feed and I am horrified. I would be so pissed off if my ex was sharing my trauma and personal information all over the internet. 

[Benjaminallen2203]

8 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

Do you have permission to share this information? I have no idea who Sarah is, but this showed up on my unread feed and I am horrified. I would be so pissed off if my ex was sharing my trauma and personal information all over the internet. 

This will be my last time posting on this platform. I understand your anger and worry. Sarah gave me permission a long time ago to help expose her family for who they really are. Well for those who have read it, now you know. Nothing will ever be done to them, and all 16 kids will continue to live in that household. Have a good day everyone.

[LilMissMetaphor]

Aw, don't flounce! Some of us want to know.  You don't have to detail Sarah's trauma.  What are some of the attitudes/behaviours that the parents displayed that made them so toxic? How are they bad Christians? How do they treat their kids differently? Why haven't they updated in more than a year?

[Benjaminallen2203]

10 minutes ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

Aw, don't flounce! Some of us want to know.  You don't have to detail Sarah's trauma.  What are some of the attitudes/behaviours that the parents displayed that made them so toxic? How are they bad Christians? How do they treat their kids differently? Why haven't they updated in more than a year?

I’m not sure why jean hasn't updated her blog, my guess is that she noticed CPS was watching them and she noticed people were starting to question the disappearance of Sarah. Their Toxic behaviors are the same reasons why they are bad Christians, they adopted those children for publicity and attention. They lied on adoption papers and that’s why they got banned from China. 
 

Jim was caught on multiple occasions embezzling money, wether it was from his clients or the charter school him and his sister bankrupt. Not to mention the Jim’s SA, and jeans A-b-u-s-e. 
 

The Children aren’t treated as children, they are treated as house pets to get attention. Jim and Jean have this this image that makes them look like such incredible people that saved those children, but in reality they just use and take.

[LilMissMetaphor]

Thanks for the reply.  If abuse occurred, has Sarah taken any steps (or does she feel able to) to follow up with law enforcement, either for her own benefit or for the children remaining in the home? This is easily the biggest concern out of what you've posted.

[Benjaminallen2203]

1 minute ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

Thanks for the reply.  If abuse occurred, has Sarah taken any steps (or does she feel able to) to follow up with law enforcement, either for her own benefit or for the children remaining in the home? This is easily the biggest concern out of what you've posted.

We tried a while back when we were still together, but they didn’t have enough evidence to take action. This whole situation hit a dead end 

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, Benjaminallen2203 said:

This will be my last time posting on this platform. I understand your anger and worry. Sarah gave me permission a long time ago to help expose her family for who they really are. Well for those who have read it, now you know. Nothing will ever be done to them, and all 16 kids will continue to live in that household. Have a good day everyone.

Hey, just a note - we appreciate legit contributions here and also hope you will read around some and explore the rest of the forum, but I want to make sure you have seen and read the RULES so you don't fall afoul of them. There are only a few of them and it's difficult to get banned, but it's important to get a feel for the board culture also. 

That said, welcome! 

One thing I'm a bit curious about, having not yet slogged through much of the difficult-to-read blog and also not yet having time to go back through the threads here about them completely, is how this family compares to some of the other mega-fundie-families that are discussed here. Like, are they mostly mainstream Catholic who just decided to collect children like some people collect fancy sneakers? Or are they more patriarchal? Were the children sheltered to the point of difficulty adjusting once leaving the family? How good or bad was their homeschooling? Did they make any effort to acknowledge the kids' heritage, or did they just expect them to be white Americans? Like, you presumably knew Sarah really well so these are things you might have noticed yourself that you can share without violating her privacy or sharing things she told you in confidence.  

[Benjaminallen2203]

28 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

Hey, just a note - we appreciate legit contributions here and also hope you will read around some and explore the rest of the forum, but I want to make sure you have seen and read the RULES so you don't fall afoul of them. There are only a few of them and it's difficult to get banned, but it's important to get a feel for the board culture also. 

That said, welcome! 

One thing I'm a bit curious about, having not yet slogged through much of the difficult-to-read blog and also not yet having time to go back through the threads here about them completely, is how this family compares to some of the other mega-fundie-families that are discussed here. Like, are they mostly mainstream Catholic who just decided to collect children like some people collect fancy sneakers? Or are they more patriarchal? Were the children sheltered to the point of difficulty adjusting once leaving the family? How good or bad was their homeschooling? Did they make any effort to acknowledge the kids' heritage, or did they just expect them to be white Americans? Like, you presumably knew Sarah really well so these are things you might have noticed yourself that you can share without violating her privacy or sharing things she told you in confidence.  

Sarah moved out of the house 2 months after we started dating. I never knew how there home schooling was because Sarah was graduated by then and only worked full time. As far as heritage, Sarah knew nothing about her own heritage so I’d assume the others are the same. They collected the children for publicity and money, which is exactly what they are getting. That is all I know. 

[hoipolloi]

In checking the Minnesota court records, it looks like the Mulvahills were renting their house in Medina, MN but were evicted from it last year. Among other complaints -- including an alleged $35K of damages to the property -- the landlords made the following statement in their eviction notice:

Guess they never saw Jean's blog, but, considering the various news articles over the years, it seems odd that the landlords were apparently unaware of the family's size.

I feel for those kids and hope that their feckless parents have been able to find a new and suitable home.

Edited August 25, 2023 by hoipolloi

[Ozlsn]

2 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

In checking the Minnesota court records, it looks like the Mulvahills were renting their house in Medina, MN but were evicted from it last year.

I am really surprised, I thought they owned the house. No idea how easy it is to find a house for that number of people to rent.

Mind you "normal wear and tear" is a bit vague.

Reading through the most recent document (I think) it looks like they have a new lease until February 2024? It specifies that only them and the 15 children can live there, also they were $35K either behind or withheld in rent.

(I am seriously amazed at how public these judgements are btw, I have no idea if I could read local judgements the same way but here I am on the other side of the world reading lease agreements for fun.)

16 hours ago, Benjaminallen2203 said:

Sarah moved out of the house 2 months after we started dating.

Was Sarah still in contact with the siblings after moving out?

Edited August 25, 2023 by Ozlsn
Reading contracts for fun, officially weird.

[Howl]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:22 PM, katilac said:

On 8/23/2023 at 8:39 AM, Howl said:

 I'll assume that she's divorced now...her Insta account (Living life well 🌈 mom to 14, reader, writer, runner, nature-lover, music-lover, creative, free spirit) is private.

Wait, wouldn't "mom to 14" mean she dropped a few along the way? 

This is Susanna Musser, different family than the Mulvahills (Sarah's family).

 

[hoipolloi]

10 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

I thought they owned the house.

So did I. From skimming through earlier blog posts & prior FJ discussions, they moved out to CO at one point at which time Jean talked about renting a house there but keeping the home in MN as a summer "cottage" or something. 

10 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Reading through the most recent document (I think) it looks like they have a new lease until February 2024? It specifies that only them and the 15 children can live there, also they were $35K either behind or withheld in rent.

(I am seriously amazed at how public these judgements are btw, I have no idea if I could read local judgements the same way but here I am on the other side of the world reading lease agreements for fun.)

You're right re: end date - looks like it's Feb 2024, assuming they stay current on the rent. As for the back rent, that is $37K in addition to the nearly $35K in alleged damages listed in the Dec 2022 settlement document. Lots of money to lay out, assuming the landlords have required them to follow through on making those repairs. This probably explains why Jean's blog went silent in early 2022. 

Re: court records & transparency. I was also surprised to find so much available. In my limited and non-professional experience, it is unusual to have case documents freely available. Usually, they're only listed by name and you have to pay for copies or go into the court in person to see them. I have to say that the MN judiciary website gets high marks from me. Not only does it provide a lot of info but allows you to search on a county or statewide bases. Itʻs a model for public access.

[Nike]

Thank you Benjamin for this insight into this family. 

I found a comment by Jean in a narcissist support group in FB. If you type narcissist and her full name it should come up.

I remember with one of the adoptions (Mia?). Jean said that they made her sleep between her and Jim "to promote bonding". The girl understandably did not want to get into bed with 2 complete strangers and cried all night.  It was so downright abusive. 

I also remember Jean saying that one of the girls (for some reason I think it was Mia) had got up to get the breakfast table ready. I thought it was a lovely gesture but Jean had disapproved as she had said " the child was only doing it to control the situation"

I used to follow this family and wonder if there was a toxic environment behind the pictures. This development with Sarah suggests that there is.

[meep]

Oh, Jean DEFINITELY made nuances that they owned that house! It does not surprise me that they are consistently outright liars. It was always one of those situations that didn't feel right. 

[Sarah mulvahill]

On 5/26/2021 at 6:58 AM, ILoveJellybeans said:

Dying to hear Sarah's side of the story. I imagine their house is kind of like an orphanage but with better food and more trips out. No parent could possibly pay attention to all those kids, especially when they adopted them all so fast that they probably had no time to bond with them before getting the next one.

 

On 5/27/2021 at 11:50 PM, dianapavelovna said:

I am extremely skeptical about everything in Jean's recent post - which is obviously about Sarah, although she doesn't name her. (I also seriously doubt she asked for Sarah's permission to post, particularly since they apparently don't have much/any contact these days). How interesting that RAD is not an issue or noticed at all until the child is an adult and pulls away from the parents in what certainly appears to be a developmentally appropriate way. How interesting that Jean appears to have diagnosed her adult child with a mental health disorder - not, you know, a professional who has met and evaluated said adult child.

I was reminded of times when Jean has referenced how they wanted to "do things differently" when they adopted, for example, they weren't going to let any of the adopted kids participate in really time intensive activities like travel sports because they'd "already done that" with the bio kids and it was too time consuming and tiring.

I also remember a post that was a typical recount of their recent activities, including gymnastics classes. Jean mentioned that Sarah really wanted to join a competitive gym team, but she and Jim didn't want her to. I don't remember if they ultimately let her or not. But if they maintained that restrictive approach as Sarah reached 18 & beyond, I can only imagine that she chafed at it.

Anyway, dear Sarah Mulvahill, if you read this, I hope you are happy and have the love and support you need.

Finally, I didn't peruse closely, but the sources/references Jean linked to in the post seemed to be of the questionable sort. I saw Forrest Lien's name at one site. Read up on him here.

Hey y’all.  
It’s Sarah mulvahill here, I just want to keep this short and yet answer some of y’all’s questions. 
1. Thank you so much for your concern about me, I’m doing absolutely wonderful in life. I will soon be a full time cosmetologist and working on getting my IA (independent insurance adjuster). 
2. The main reason as to why I left the house at 19 is bc there was so much physical abuse and sexual abuse and many more, not only was I the only one who was the main target but some of my other siblings who couldn’t say no. 
3. I dealt everyday wanting “freedom” and independence. I wanted to explore the world and life. But that wasn’t “normal “ in the house. 
4. 16 of my younger siblings are still in the house and who knows what there doing these days, idk if the whole physical and sexual abuse is still present. 😔

5. When I left the house I immediately reported everything to the police officers, special hotline services and CPS. They had told me that there “weren’t enough evidence” so therefore they closed the case. It has been about 3 years now that I haven’t talked to them, let alone I wasnt allowed to talk to any of my siblings. 

if yall would like to know more or have any more questions I’d be more than happy to share. 
I’m also going to gather more evidence to expose these horrid people bc everyday I think about my siblings who can’t think on their own. It’s sickening and miserable for me as the oldest sibling living there till I moved out. 
My email is sarahmulvahill2000@gmail.com or you can also reach me on instagram. It’s sarah__g__7

 

 

[Ozlsn]

On 8/27/2023 at 5:08 PM, Nike said:

I remember with one of the adoptions (Mia?). Jean said that they made her sleep between her and Jim "to promote bonding". The girl understandably did not want to get into bed with 2 complete strangers and cried all night.  It was so downright abusive

This is creepy as hell to me. Sleeping nearby maybe but between two adults she barely knows? That's not normal to me at all.

The blog appears to have gone private, at least for me. 

1 hour ago, Sarah mulvahill said:

if yall would like to know more or have any more questions I’d be more than happy to share.

Are you in contact with any of the siblings?

[JermajestyDuggar]

12 hours ago, Sarah mulvahill said:

 

Hey y’all.  
It’s Sarah mulvahill here, I just want to keep this short and yet answer some of y’all’s questions. 
1. Thank you so much for your concern about me, I’m doing absolutely wonderful in life. I will soon be a full time cosmetologist and working on getting my IA (independent insurance adjuster). 
2. The main reason as to why I left the house at 19 is bc there was so much physical abuse and sexual abuse and many more, not only was I the only one who was the main target but some of my other siblings who couldn’t say no. 
3. I dealt everyday wanting “freedom” and independence. I wanted to explore the world and life. But that wasn’t “normal “ in the house. 
4. 16 of my younger siblings are still in the house and who knows what there doing these days, idk if the whole physical and sexual abuse is still present. 😔

5. When I left the house I immediately reported everything to the police officers, special hotline services and CPS. They had told me that there “weren’t enough evidence” so therefore they closed the case. It has been about 3 years now that I haven’t talked to them, let alone I wasnt allowed to talk to any of my siblings. 

if yall would like to know more or have any more questions I’d be more than happy to share. 
I’m also going to gather more evidence to expose these horrid people bc everyday I think about my siblings who can’t think on their own. It’s sickening and miserable for me as the oldest sibling living there till I moved out. 
My email is sarahmulvahill2000@gmail.com or you can also reach me on instagram. It’s sarah__g__7

 

 

I just want to say I’m very happy for you that you got out. And I truly hope something can be done for your younger siblings. 

[Benjaminallen2203]

13 hours ago, Sarah mulvahill said:

 

Hey y’all.  
It’s Sarah mulvahill here, I just want to keep this short and yet answer some of y’all’s questions. 
1. Thank you so much for your concern about me, I’m doing absolutely wonderful in life. I will soon be a full time cosmetologist and working on getting my IA (independent insurance adjuster). 
2. The main reason as to why I left the house at 19 is bc there was so much physical abuse and sexual abuse and many more, not only was I the only one who was the main target but some of my other siblings who couldn’t say no. 
3. I dealt everyday wanting “freedom” and independence. I wanted to explore the world and life. But that wasn’t “normal “ in the house. 
4. 16 of my younger siblings are still in the house and who knows what there doing these days, idk if the whole physical and sexual abuse is still present. 😔

5. When I left the house I immediately reported everything to the police officers, special hotline services and CPS. They had told me that there “weren’t enough evidence” so therefore they closed the case. It has been about 3 years now that I haven’t talked to them, let alone I wasnt allowed to talk to any of my siblings. 

if yall would like to know more or have any more questions I’d be more than happy to share. 
I’m also going to gather more evidence to expose these horrid people bc everyday I think about my siblings who can’t think on their own. It’s sickening and miserable for me as the oldest sibling living there till I moved out. 
My email is sarahmulvahill2000@gmail.com or you can also reach me on instagram. It’s sarah__g__7

 

 

Well said