I've said surrogate before and I do think it's the most likely option. Perhaps they don't want to say it's surrogacy hence the adoption story. You do have to adopt a baby born to a surrogate so it's only a half truth then.
The facts are that they wouldn't be approved to adopt when they've been trying IVF. They aren't top of the list for adoption due to his age, he's overweight and hardly the picture of health, her job, his already having a family and some of them estranged from him.
Even if they got through all of that, there's still the question of them being matched with a baby. That very rarely happens these days as there are very few babies up for adoption. Even babies born to addicts or being born with a plan to remove from the birth parents for whatever reason, are fostered rather than removed at birth and placed for immediate adoption.
The story doesn't add up. I know a family who fostered a baby from birth and when the baby was 3, tried to adopt her and they were refused due to the mother having a health condition and being overweight. Good enough to foster but not adopt. The child is still with them a good few years on and they are still her foster parents. I don't get how they are considered good enough to foster but not good enough to adopt. That's the system though