Some couples desperate to be parents turn to adoption in the hopes of fulfilling a life long dream. But when potential birth moms prey on vulnerable couples, their dreams can turn into nightmares.

After struggling to have their own kids, Jennifer and Jaime St. Clair are that much more thankful for their two kids, Anderson and Parker.

The kids are a happy ending to a heart wrenching experience they never expected.

“It was just overwhelming. I was so excited,” said Jennifer about the first time she heard about Caroline who was pregnant with twins.  “It’s as if you find out you’re pregnant yourself. That’s how it felt. She offered the world to a couple who didn’t have any kids. That’s all we wanted.”

The St. Clair’s worked through an adoption agency and Caroline moved to North Carolina to be closer to them.

They paid for her living expense and bought her a laptop. The St. Clair’s say Caroline pulled at their heartstrings from the beginning.

“The first thing she does is put her hands on her tummy to see the baby move,” Jennifer said.

When they pushed for a doctor’s proof of pregnancy, Jamie says she pushed away.

“She refused to go to doctor’s visits. The more we pressed, the more she would say, ‘Oh I’ll do it’ and then she would never follow through with it.”

When they became even more suspicious, the St. Clair’s decided to confront her at her extended-stay motel.  But they found out Caroline had left.

“She wasn’t there.  She was gone,” said Jaime.

Jennifer wasn’t ready to give up.  “I was a little frantic. I thought something happened. I wasn’t ready to believe she upped and taken off.”

But the St. Clair’s soon found more signs something was wrong.  “She was calling pawn shops, pawning everything we gave her.”

Jennifer and Jaime wouldn’t get Caroline’s babies. They never saw her again and don’t believe she was even pregnant.  “You want a baby so bad. We just believed her hook line and sinker.”

6NEWS found out the St. Clair’s are not alone. Cabarrus County prosecutors have convicted two girls of taking money from couples while pretending to be pregnant.

Lindsey McCall was convicted of taking more than $10,000 from a couple in Cabarrus County.  Lori Seavert was also convicted after lying about being pregnant.

“It feels like emotional rape. That’s what it feels like to them and it becomes difficult, very difficult,” said Amy Miller.

Miller helps place parents with birth mothers through Link Adoption, the same Concord Agency the St. Clair’s used.

“Some of these girls, they’re professionals. We are professionals in the adoption field and some of them are so good they’ve even fooled us. They have a fake proof of pregnancy. They have fake documents. I mean they’ve scammed two and three agencies at one time,” said Miller.

The tragedy, Miller says, is vulnerable couples are caught in the middle.  “It’s the pain and the suffering they go through that hurts so bad.”

Some potential parents give up on the hope of adoption.  The St. Clair’s were able to move on and were able to adopt Anderson and Parker.

“We are almost grateful for what happened,” said Jaime.

They are twice as thankful for their chance at parenthood.