Texas attorney charged with attempting to sell, purchase unborn children

NORTH TEXAS — The founder of a North Texas adoption agency has been arrested on allegations of paying pregnant female inmates in the Tarrant County Jail to put their unborn babies up for adoption.

Jody Hall, head of Adoptions International Inc., posted a $50,000 bond after being booked into a Central Texas jail last week. She is an attorney and founder of an adoption agency promoted as a licensed nonprofit.

Back in May, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said it began looking into what it calls unethical adoption practices involving Hall.

"During this investigation, information was discovered that Jody Hall was paying money to multiple, pregnant Tarrant County inmates for the purpose of placing their unborn children up for adoption with Hall's agency," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Two months later, sheriff's detectives served arrest warrants on Hall at her home in Kyle, Texas.

In 2019, the U.S. State Department canceled Adoptions International's accreditation, which prevents the agency from engaging in adoptions outside the U.S. for failing to maintain standards.

The crime of selling or purchasing a child is a felony in Texas.

It's unclear at this point whether any inmates in the Tarrant County jail actually received any money or put their babies up for adoption.

CBS News Texas has not been able to reach Hall for a comment.