Nicole Baby racket
Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have been named in shock allegations about a big-buck adoption scheme
In news that has rocked Hollywood, a host of celebrity Scientologists may have been unwittingly caught up in a shock black market adoption scandal.
After a 10-month investigation, a US magazine claims former Florida politician Mary Hinton helped stars connected to the church who wanted to adopt in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
But the National Enquirer says that rather than guide the celebrities down the correct path, Mary would find them babies who came from struggling and incredibly poor mothers, and would allegedly charge the stars – who reportedly had no idea they were involved in something untoward – millions of dollars for her services.
The article suggests Scientology devotee Tom Cruise and his then-wife Nicole Kidman, Burt Reynolds and his then-wife Loni Anderson, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley may have been some of the stars unknowingly caught up in the black market scheme, although this has not been confirmed.
At the time Woman’s Day went to print, Nicole was yet to comment on the claims, but it’s thought the Aussie actress is likely devastated by such a suggestion. Nic, 50, and Tom, 54, adopted two children – Bella, now 24, and Connor, now 22, and it’s thought they were aided by the church in their mission to start a family.
According to the publication, Mary – a 70-year-old registered nurse and former director of a childcare centre – would “boast” about arranging adoptions for celebrities and would have earned close to $1 million for her services at any one time.
When contacted last month, Mary denied any wrongdoing but she did admit to referring celebs to an attorney in order to adopt via the correct processes. When the publication asked for the name of the attorney, Mary said she could not recall it. She later blurted out “Robinson”.
‘Disadvantaged women begged Mary to take their children’
While famed Scientologist John Travolta, 63, did not adopt any children himself, his longtime manager Jonathan Krane and his actress wife, M*A*S*H star Sally Kellerman, turned to Mary for help.
In her 2013 memoir Read My Lips: Stories Of A Hollywood Life, Sally, 80, recalls how friends Burt and Loni referred her to “a woman named Mary Hinton”.
Interestingly, Sally’s own mother-in-law, Lorraine Krane, confirmed the couple had worked with Mary, and had nothing but praise for her work.
“Everyone who wanted to give up a child would call Mary Hinton – and if you wanted a baby, you’d call Mary Hinton,” Lorraine explained. “Mary is a wonderful person. All the adoptions she arranged were by word of mouth. Disadvantaged women begged her to take their children when they needed help and couldn’t afford it.
“Mary could find a home with someone wealthy who could take care of babies who would have otherwise been on welfare or taken by the state. Those babies have amazing lives now.”