CAIRO , Egypt ( CNN ) -- Suzanne Hagelof and Iris Botros dreamed of adopting babies . Separately , they visited orphanages in Egypt . Hagelof adopted a child , and Botros was in the process of adopting twins , when they ran foul of authorities . Now they are in jail , accused of being part of a conspiracy to traffic children . Iris Botros and her husband , Luis Andros , are accused of trying to smuggle twins out of Egypt . Last week , the two women were led into a Cairo courtroom in handcuffs , along with six other people . They stood in a big black cage in the courtroom , looking apprehensive amid the hubbub . To their defenders , all they were trying to do was provide orphans with a better chance in life . To the prosecution , they were involved in forging documents to try to adopt children illegally and smuggle them out of the country . Along with the two American women , the accused include their husbands , two doctors , a nun who ran an orphanage , and an Egyptian banker . Watch the women get bundled into court » . A year ago , Hagelof , a U.S. citizen who lives in Egypt with her husband , adopted a child from an orphanage run by the Coptic Christian Church , a religious minority in Egypt . She says no money changed hands . Several months later , Luis Andros , a U.S. citizen who is originally from Greece , and his wife , Iris Botros , left their restaurant business in North Carolina for Egypt . Botros , who is originally from Egypt , visited another orphanage run by the church . She paid the orphanage about $ 4,600 for the twins -- partly for clothes and partly as a donation . Both women wanted to take the children to the United States -- in Hagelof 's case for a visit , but in Botros ' case to begin a new life in Wake Forest , North Carolina . And that 's where the trouble began . To get a visa for the children , both women went to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo . According to their attorneys , the documents they presented included birth certificates and certificates signed by doctors stating they were the natural mothers . According to defense attorneys , the two women knew they were using forged documents . Embassy officials became suspicious of the documents -- partly because the women seemed too old to be the mothers . Both Hagelof and Botros are in their mid- to late forties . The embassy contacted Egyptian authorities , and both Hagelof and Botros -- along with their husbands -- were arrested soon afterward , as was a nun from a Coptic orphanage and a banker who allegedly helped Botros make contact with the nun . Also arrested were two doctors who had written the certificates for the three infants , all of whom are now at an orphanage not affiliated with the church . Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the U.S. State Department will comment on the case , citing the ongoing trial . Botros ' husband , Andros , blames the embassy for their plight . Asked through the bars of the courtroom cage what had happened , he replied , `` Well , our American Embassy , instead of helping the people , they put them in jail . '' His wife interjected , insisting they would not get a fair trial . A few feet away , Suzanne Hagelof called out , `` We want to tell our story , '' while her husband , Medhat , looked on , quiet and dejected . As reporters tried to talk to the defendants , a guard intervened , shouting `` Sit down , sit down . '' Adoption has long been illegal under Egyptian law as well as being forbidden under sharia , Muslim religious law . Fostering is legal but uncommon . It has become a high-profile issue since Suzanne Mubarak , wife of the president , embarked on a campaign to stamp out human trafficking . She recently told CNN that human trafficking `` exists in all societies . '' `` I came to realize what an insidious crime this was and how it was just really built on profit . On not only low morals , on no morals at all , '' she said . And that 's how the prosecution seems to be framing this case , using a law passed last year that provides for tough penalties for human trafficking . Khalil Adil El Hamani , the attorney representing Hagelof , says Egyptian authorities want to prove that all the defendants are from one gang and are trafficking children , so as to make the case seem to be a giant conspiracy . Both couples insist they had no idea what they were doing was illegal and have no link with human trafficking . The attorney representing Botros and her husband says their only crime was to dream of being parents . `` They are now are in jail because of this dream , '' he told CNN after the first hearing in the case a week ago . `` They never thought that they will be in jail . They thought that they are going to adopt only . They did n't think they are making something against the law in Egypt . '' All eight defendants remain in jail -- the men at the Tora prison in Cairo , well known for its overcrowding . The next stage of the trial takes place May 16 , and proceedings could last six to eight months . If they are convicted , the accused could each face up to 10 years in prison .
Women adopted children from orphanage run by Coptic Christian Church . Alert was raised when they sought visas for children at U.S. Embassy in Cairo . The women now face human-smuggling trial in Egypt , where adoption is illegal .