David and Ally have yet to receive official confirmation from authorities that Marcus is one of the allegedly trafficked babies. But the BBC has found clear signs, which they have shared with the couple.

Upon reviewing court documents, we found that Marcus’s full Indonesian name was listed as one of the allegedly trafficked babies.

An indicted woman, accused of falsely stating that she is the biological mother of some of the babies, is listed as Marcus’ mother on his Indonesian adoption papers.

Separately, the Indonesian branch of Interpol has identified the Singapore adoption agency that took care of the babies. It’s the same agency that offered Marcus to David and Ally.

The agency is still registered as an active company in Singapore. The BBC attempted to contact the agency’s owner but has not yet received a response.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused to answer questions from the BBC about whether it was investigating the agency and Lie Siu Luan’s alleged collaborators in Singapore, noting that legal proceedings in Indonesia were still ongoing.

He pointed the BBC to previous statements in which the MHA, together with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), said they were working with their Indonesian counterparts to assist in investigations.

Since news of the latest case broke, lawmakers have repeatedly raised it in parliament.

One of them noted that the children’s adoptions had been approved based on recommendations from government officials, and that the adoptive parents “are innocent parties who have taken all steps in accordance with the law.”

But MSF argued that adoption agencies are responsible for ensuring their babies come from “appropriate sources” and must carry out rigorous checks, and that adoptive parents must also do their due diligence.

David and Ally say the possibility that Marcus could have been trafficked never crossed their minds.

They said they did their best to conduct their own background checks, but were limited by their lack of knowledge. After all, it was the first time they had adopted a child.

The couple argues that the responsibility lies with the Singapore government, as its officials had closely monitored them during the process of approving Marcus’ adoption.

“He [officials] They are the experts on this, to see if it is legitimate. They deal with so many adoptions, day after day. “We don’t,” Ally said.

MSF refused to answer BBC questions about whether it carried out any checks on babies entering Singapore and how it routinely carries out checks on adoptions of foreign children.

It noted previous statements saying it was providing support to affected parents and that there were “some delays” in processing citizenship applications for their children.

The ministry has also promised to conduct a review of adoption processes.