BLOOMINGTON - A Springfield woman who agreed to serve as a surrogate mother for a couple was charged with obstruction of justice Saturday after police said she took money and failed to turn over the baby.

Jeanette Robinson, 26, is accused of accepting $3,800 for expenses from the Champaign couple since May.

Local police became involved in the situation when they were called to a counseling center in Normal that was handling the adoption. The company, which was not named in court records, had arranged for the Springfield woman to give her child to the couple.

Robinson failed to report to a Springfield hospital for a scheduled induced delivery on Dec. 12, according to court documents. Robinson told police that she had given birth to a boy on Dec. 15 but changed her mind about giving the child up for adoption.

"She claimed that the baby was now hiding with her friend in Springfield," prosecutors said in a court document.

Records from the hospital showed Robinson was not admitted to the hospital during the time she claimed to have delivered the baby.

Meanwhile, the Champaign parents are waiting for information about the baby. Robinson's medical information is not available to them because of privacy rules.

"This has been really, really difficult. We don't even know if there was a baby," the adoptive mother told The Pantagraph.

The couple successfully adopted another baby in an agreement with Robinson in 2006.

Robinson must post $200 to be released from jail. If convicted of obstruction of justice, she faces one to three years in prison.