[sak9645]

Hague Convention #33 is an international treaty that is designed to regulate intercountry adoption, so that the rights of children, their birth families, and their adoptive parents are protected. At this point, 69 countries are party to the Convention.

When a country ratifies the Hague Convention, it agrees to follow certain rules in dealing with adoptions coming from or going to all other countries that have ratified.

The U.S. was one of the countries that participated in developing Hague Convention #33, and signed it back in 1994, signifying intention to ratify. However, it took until 2000 for the U.S. to pass the legislation -- the Intercountry Adoption Act -- that would allow it to ratify the treaty.

And the U.S. STILL hasn't ratified, because it has taken the U.S. State Department longer than expected to develop the implementing regulations, develop a process for accrediting adoption agencies wishing to work with Hague countries, actually accredit agencies, etc.

At this point, the State Department is saying that ratification is likely to happen in 2007. However, many knowledgeable people are of the opinion that, given progress to date, the U.S. may not ratify until 2008 or later.

For now, the U.S. doesn't have to do anything special when it works with Hague OR non-Hague countries. However, there are Hague countries -- particularly in Latin America -- that will not place children with Americans because the U.S. has not yet ratified.

When the Hague is ratified, the U.S. can continue to follow traditional practices in dealing with non-Hague countries. However, it will need to follow specific rules in the case of any adoption from a Hague country.

And here's where things get sticky with regard to Guatemala.

A while back, Guatemala decided to ratify the Hague Convention. This ratification was duly noted in the records of the Hague. However, the Guatemalan government then decided that the ratification was illegal, and tried to rescind it.

Guatemala currently considers itself to be a non-Hague country, and it does not follow Hague rules. Unfortunately, the framers of the treaty say that Guatemala is STILL a Hague country; it just is a non-compliant one.

The Hague organization has told all Hague-ratifying countries that they must treat Guatemala as a Hague member. In other words, they must either demand that adoptions from Guatemala follow Hague rules, or else refrain from participating in Guatemalan adoption.

The U.S. State Department has indicated that, when the U.S. finally ratifies the Hague, it will accept the Hague's request. Either Guatemala will need to begin conforming its processes to the Hague Convention, or the U.S. will no longer be able to accept children from that country.

Guatemala probably doesn't have the capability, at this moment, of conforming its processes to the Hague system, even if it wanted to do so. As a result, if the U.S. ratifies as early as the State Department says, it is possible that the U.S. would have to close to Guatemalan adoption.

HOWEVER, it is not 100% certain that this will happen. No one wants to see Guatemalan children relegated to life in hogars and impermanent foster care. It is possible (though by no means certain) that, especially if U.S. ratification of the Hague takes longer than the State Department expects, the Hague, Guatemala, and the U.S. can figure out at least an interim solution to the problem.

But, whether or not some sort of resolution is possible, there WILL be a good deal of uncertainty for a while.

Sharon