[615bride]

We are early in the process but I want to start thinking about this now. The agency with whom we are working works with "a small orphanage in Guatemala City" (their description). If we want to be specific about only accepting a foster referral (or vice versa) we can, otherwise, whatever comes up and matches our desire (either gender as young as possible) is what we'll be offered. I know *nothing* about orphanages in Guatemala because I assumed our child would be in foster care. I've Googled and been on Guatadopt.com but still haven't seen much. What would be some of the not so obvious differences between a referral from foster care or from an orphanage? Does anyone have opinions on this that I can use to make my decision (or not make a decision and let whatever happens happen)?

Thanks so much!

[foxl]

And I know nothing about the orphanage or how it is staffed, mind you,

Is that in an institutional setting there might -- MIGHT -- be more institutional oversight.

And of course, cost differences.

Are you adopting a newborn?

Have you asked the agency for more details? What do most clients prefer?

Good luck,
Linda

[2boyz1girl]

I'm no expert, but I've heard that in general it is better to go with foster care over orphanages. If the child has been in foster care they have probably had one or two stable consistent caregivers, meaning they would have better attachments, and therefore be better able to attach to you, than a child who has been institutionalized.

[VReed]

I have no personal experience with foster care; my granddaughter was adopted from a smallish (about 25 children) orphanage. She received excellent care and came home at 13 mo. old having no trouble bonding at all and sleeping 12 hours per night. She was VERY well adjusted. Just my two cents worth. Vicki

[foxl]

Depending on how they organize things, you can have an orphanage where the kid has one primary caregiver. My daughter came from one like that at age 12mos, and adjusted very well, indeed!

Linda

[crathke]

Double-check with your agency and verify whether they are referring to an "orphanage" or a "hogar"; there are subtle differences in the two but people frequently use only the term "orphanage" because they don't want to take the time to explain a "hogar". Even so, orphanages in Guatemala are generally privately owned (not state-run as in some countries) and so the "institutional" issues are far less.

That being said, our son was in a hogar with 15 other children. The caregivers were *extremely* consistent with a 2-1 ratio during the day and a 3-1 ratio overnight. The family who owns the hogar is extremely involved in the day-to-day operations, there every single day, and care deeply for "their" children. We still have contact with them, and the family has visited our home in the US since bringing our son home in 2003. He was 31 months old when we brought him home and had precisely *one* incident that we can point to and say "ah, that was a 'bonding issue'." He is extremely well adjusted, his socialization skills are on target (and always have been) and his small motor skills are beyond age-appropriate. (we think that is in part due to his being encouraged to do for himself at the hogar, and partly due to his own independent personality).

I know a lot of people choose Guatemala for the foster care system, and I will agree that many foster moms are second to none in the world. However, I've also heard some hair-raising horror stories about FMs. Were we to adopt again, our choice would be to work with the hogar we already have experience with.

Could you get the name of the "small orphanage" and then post here for people's references? That may help, too.

[csw]

Hi
I wish the foster parents in Guatemala had to take some sort of classes in infant/child nutrition, basic first aid, child development, CPR etc...I think they should have to be certified in some way...I am sure there are very good foster mothers,,but our experience was that our daughter was not fed properly, her diaper rash not treated, was overdosed on Motrin (she was given double the dose for her weight) and seemed to be left in the crib with bottle after bottle...we have had many issues to deal with since she has been home and at times I feel she would have been better off in a small, well run hogar...just my opinion....

[615bride]

Thanks so much for the feedback - it's so helpful. Here's some more info that I've gathered from the agency. The "orphanage" is small and run by a mother and daughter. I thought she said it's name was St. Lucy's and is in Guatemala City. I know I need to talk with my agency more about this. The questions I asked were last minute, my hand was on the doorknob type questions because we had just gone through a billion other things. Now that I'm home and the HS is starting and the I 600-A is in, I'm starting to think about it all. How would I go about finding out about this orphanage/hogar? You all are so great to help everyone out here. I hope when I know more about the process I can do the same!

[crathke]

Ask your agency the name of the orphanage again-you may even want to have them spell it to make sure you get it right (St Lucy or Santa Lucia??) and if they can tell you which Zona (region) of Guat City they're in, that would be even more beneficial.

Then, if I were you, I'd start a thread that went something like the agency/attorney feedback threads asking "Has anyone here adopted from St Lucy's Orphanage in Zona Whatever, Guat City? Please PM me with your feedback" and see what happens.

[Kate'sMom2B]

Yep, what Crathke said.

I know the fostercare my 1st referral varied a lot from the care my 2nd referral--now daughter--received (2 different agencies/attorneys were used). At 9.5 months, referral 1 was not sitting up, or bearing weight on her legs or crawling... and was on powdered milk instead of formula (for who knows how long), and was very thin. My now-daughter was chubby, happy and on target developmentally thanks to a great fostermom. So fostercare can really vary greatly (if going this route try to get references from people who used your agency to see if they were happy with their kids' fostercare).

I imagine orphanages and hogars may have some of the same disparity. You're doing the right thing to look for references on that specific orphanage.

Best of luck!

[becky]

Just to chime in here on the foster mother 'training' issue. I could not agree with you more Cathy...it is something that is really needed. Our agency decided it was so important that we launched a Foster Mother Training Program this past year. We did a fund-raising drive from the families who has previously used our agency to adopt and we raised enough money to provide on-going training to all foster mothers our agency uses.

We work in conjunction with Dr. Montiel to provide training in basics such as: Nutrition, sleeping on the back, tummy time (we provide mats to all foster mothers), safety in the home, etc. We have made it a requirement for any woman wanting to foster one of our babies.

I think it is long over-due and very much needed due to the tremendous differences in the quality of foster care that exist in Guatemala. I wish all agencies provided similar training for their foster mothers!

[csw]

Becky,
I am soooo glad to hear that! I can still see the beaded necklaces draped from one end of my daughters crib to the other..
And..the beaded bracelet I kept telling them to take off her...guess the foster mothers working with your agency know about choking hazards! I think it should be a definate requirement there that they are certified...thanks for the info!

[brink]

Our two sons (now 10 and 8 yrs) came two yrs apart, both at age four from the same small, loving orphanage in Guatemala City. It was founded over 25 yrs ago by some women who believed they could do better for the children of Guatemala. They only work with a few agencies, and we'd used one such agency when we adopted our US newborn daughter 14 yrs ago. We were comfortable with the situation, knowing that our agency has worked with this director and founder of this orphanage for about 18 yrs. It is a clean, comfortable home-like facility. From photos, we can see that they paint often (different wall colors), adding colorful murals for the kids. The kids are taken to the zoo, pinata parties at Burger King, they put on a Christmas Nativity play each year for others, celebrate each child's birthday with cake and their favorite meal, and the older children attend private school, since the public school system seems lacking. A large portion of our adoption fees goes directly back into the daily expenses to run the facility, which has always made us feel better about the expense of foreign adoption. There are only ever 30-35 children there, and the ratio of children to caregiver is about 6-1...as good as US daycares and better than our public classrooms!

We are awaiting the anticipated call within the next wks to travel to bring home our 10yr old daughter from the same orphanage. She's been there since about 2yrs old, but only legally declared abandoned about 1yr ago. We are confident she has been receiving love and good care, which has always made the long wait more bearable.

Though every orphanage is different, I share the details of our situation, in the hopes of helping dispel myths seen on TV exposing the "horrors" of the adoption world. I even hate to use the word "orphanage" , because of the images it brings to people's minds.

Of course our kids did not have the benefit of living in a family from the start, but they were taught to love and respect others...and what a great start that was for them. They are beautiful, fun, loving boys..and we're so thankful for the love and care they received before they came home.

Best wishes. Ask God to lead in your adoption journey. He knows the plans He has for you (Jeremiah 29:11) and for any child He may bring into your family. We could never have "found" our children, but God brought us together from different places on the globe.

[Julielea]

I realize this is an old post, but in the event that others have the same question, I wanted to reply. I can't speak about the foster care in Guatemala, but just wanted to say that I spent several months working at a privately run orphanage/hogar in Guatemala City that had about 40 children under age 6. The staff ratio was about 4-1, and the caregivers were very consistent, especially with the children under age 3 (they focused their most experienced care-givers on the youngest children). These younger children had caregivers that had been with the orphange for at least 3years and really cared for the children and formed attachements with them.
There was also a reasonable amount of regulation and oversight to ensure proper care, including a social worker who visited regularly. If I were comparing American foster care and this Guatemala orphanage, I would say the hogar I worked with was superior to many of the foster care situations here in the US, unfortunately, and I can't imagine that Guate foster care can be much better than the US. But, like others have said, it's really a case-by-case thing. I wouldn't rule out either option. Best to you.

[WVUMom418]

I agree with some of the other posters, find out the name of the orphanage and post it here and you probably will receive some good feedback. My daughter was in an excellent hogar in Antigua, she received such excellent care that I specifically requested our next child come from that same hogar.

But as no 2 foster families will be alike, no 2 hogars are alike either. It's best to do as much research as you can in advance to make an informed decision.