There are many reasons. Part of the issue lies in what it means to say that women give birth:
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in cities other than their own
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Except among the wealthy there is a lot of mobility in Guatemalans' lives. So it is difficult based on paperwork for adoptive parents to know what is the mother's "own" home. Many Guatemalans will identify their home as where they were born and raised even if they have not lived there for a long time or if they live elsewhere and return home only for special occasions. They may also identify their home as where they or their family own land (especially a milpa) even if they are living full-time elsewhere. Additionally, some families who were displaced by the civil war will still identify "home" as where they were originally from, even though they may not have lived there for a couple of decades and are unable even now to return.
Mobility that might take a woman away from where she was raised or where she lives most of the time include mobility due to:
- looking for employment, especially when going from rural to more populated areas
- migrant/seasonal work, especially between highlands and lowlands
- following the employment of a spouse, partner, parent, or sibling
- fleeing domestic violence
- seeking a safer place to live
Additionally, women who will soon give birth may temporarily move due to:
- wanting access to medical care
- wanting to be with family for the birth
- returning to their traditional village for the birth
- needing to be somewhere with more stable housing for the birth/raising their child
Furthermore, as has been mentioned, women who are planning on adoption for their children may temporarily move due to:
- recommendations/preferences of the adoption attorney
- wanting access to an adoption attorney
- wanting to keep the adoption secret
One account that gives a good sense of what mobility means in the lives of poor Guatemalans is Rigoberta Menchu's memoir
I, Rigoberta Menchu. She clearly has a sense of her home village. Yet she and her entire family regularly migrated to work on the fincas and she lived in Guatemala City where she worked doing domestic help. Yet it's very clear that regardless of where she was living or working her "home" was her native village.