A young mother claimed her ex-stepfather and his wife drugged her and tricked her into giving up her baby for adoption. So, Dr. Phil stepped in to mediate.

For most new mothers, the hours and days after giving birth are some of the happiest times of their lives. They get to see and hold their child for the first time after months of dreaming and anticipating. They know their lives have changed, but for the best.

But for one young mom named Kristen, that story went in a completely different direction. Instead of meeting her newborn, she was signing her parental rights over to her child’s adoptive parents, a decision that would be lauded as a brave and selfless one – if it was one she made on her own.

That’s why the then-22-year-old went on the Dr. Phil show in 2015: to claim that she had no recollection of agreeing to an adoption. Instead, she alleged that she was tricked into giving her baby away – and she wanted to get the child back.

On the show, Kristen told Dr. Phil that she had given up her daughter for adoption to her ex-stepfather Adam and his wife Stacy in 2013. But that wasn’t a choice she made on her own. “Stacy is demanding, evil, manipulative, and very, very psychotic,” Kristen alleged.

On top of that, Kristen then stressed she had no recollection of signing over her parental rights. “I don’t remember signing any adoption papers for my daughter,” she said. And, although she was allegedly supposed to be present at the time the adoption was finalized, she claims no one notified her of the change in legal status.

For these reasons, Kristen took to the Dr. Phil stage to claim that the adoption was, therefore, illegal. And, because she had no memory of signing any adoption papers – despite her signature being on legal documents – she accused Adam and Stacy of doping her throughout her pregnancy.

“I do have suspicions that they drugged me,” she said. “I don’t remember much of my pregnancy, and before that my memory was great.” To Kristen, the turn of events would not have been shocking; she alleged that Stacy “did everything that she could to control [Adam]” and win over rights to parent the child.

Of course, Adam and Stacy refuted each one of Kristen’s claims. Her stepfather recalled the first time he met Kristen when she was seven years old. “Right away I knew that she was a handful,” he said. He also alleged that she often lied and got into trouble at school.

Adam also said he initially met news of Kristen’s pregnancy with shock and concern for her unborn child. “Kristen had no job, she bounced from house to house, she wasn’t married,” he said. “I didn’t think a child deserved to be put through that.”

And, despite Kristen’s desire to get her child back, Stacy claimed that the young mother had never wanted anything to do with the newborn. “Kristen never acted like she wanted to see the baby whatsoever,” Stacy said. “Kristen made it clear to the nurses and the doctor she did not want her child laid on her once it was born, she did not want to see or touch the baby.”

Another point of contention was the type of adoption agreed upon by Kristen, Stacy and Adam. The legal documents say they have a closed adoption, which means the child’s birth mother has no right to interact with the child once she has rescinded her parental rights.

Adam had a simple explanation for his ex-stepdaughter’s actions. “She’s got a victim mentality, she takes no responsibility for her actions,” he said. “Kristen was not manipulated by me and Stacy and she knows that.” Stacy only echoed her partner’s distrust of Kristen, saying, “Kristen’s favorite thing to do is call us evil and bad people. If we’re so evil and we’re so bad, why did you choose us to adopt your child?”

When the three finally came on stage to hash out their problems, Kristen held true to her story, that she could not remember signing over her parental rights to Stacy and Adam. When Dr. Phil implied that she thought the signatures were forged, Kristen said, “No, I don’t doubt [that I signed the papers], but the memory of signing them, I do not have.”

But Dr. Phil also read one of Kristen’s Facebook statuses posted prior to the adoption, which made it seem as though she was happy with her decision. “I have a great opportunity to give my baby a wonderful life with wonderful parents and also to make my life better,” she wrote. “I will always love her and I am not abandoning her.” Again, she claimed she didn’t remember writing it.

But Dr. Phil also tried his hand at casting doubt on Stacy and Adam, whose intentions he explosively questioned. “Did you get [Kristen] into your home and isolate her from friends and family and drug her and seduce her until she signed away her baby?” He asked. Before he could finish his question, Stacy interjected, saying, “Absolutely not.”

“We were helping this young woman before she ever became pregnant,” Stacy added, a claim that Kristen herself corroborated. When Dr. Phil pressed Stacy once again about giving drugs to her husband’s ex-stepdaughter, she had this to say, “If we wanted this child so much, why would we drug its mother? We’re drugging our child, too.”

In fact, Stacy then claimed that they took extra precautions to make sure Kristen could make a clear decision after giving birth. “She never laid pen to any piece of paper – and it was made sure by the attorney – until after 24 hours after she gave birth. We were not even in her room or present when she signed her adoption papers.”

In the end, it would be those signatures that would bar Kristen from taking the legal action she threatened against her ex-stepfather and his wife, the parents of the child she wanted back. Sunny Hostin, a former US assistant attorney and legal analyst, came on the show to help the 22-year-old understand why. “The bottom line is that this decision that you made is binding,” Hostin said.

“This was a final adoption and it was done legally,” Hostin added, having heard both sides of the story. “You don’t have a challenge to this adoption. That is over.” Hostin sensed it wasn’t just about the legality of the transaction, though. “What I’m hearing from you is regret. I’m hearing from you remorse, but I’m not hearing any legal standing to challenge this adoption,” she said.

With no legal rights to her child, Dr. Phil suggested Kristen take a common sense approach to her future relationship with Stacy and Adam, who had absolutely no legal obligation to foster a relationship between their daughter and her biological mother. But if she could find a more courteous, gracious outlook, she might have better luck in at least seeing the child who she gave up for adoption, Dr. Phil imagined.