[mgummere]

I've been looking at some agencies for Guatemala adoptions and have noticed a trend - a lot of the listing mention new borns (male and female) with a notation that the agency only wants "interested parents who are 100% paper ready"
to apply. I also see a lot of baby boys being listed, and few, if any baby girls. I suppose girls are more sought after in
Guatemala than boys (similiar to Russia).

I just wondered what the agency does if you are 100% paper ready. I mean if you know how to do your own dossier, shouldn't the agency fee be lower? Are you just paying for a middle man to give you access to the child and the lawyer?

If this is the case - is indy adoption possible in Guatemala?

[becky]

Even if you are paper ready the agency is the reponsible for assisting you throughout the process. They are your point of contact for information and updates. They are the ones who have the 'contacts' in Guatemala to be able to match you with a referral. So...to answer your question, even if you are paper-ready you aren't going to get a reduction in your agency fee.

As for boys and girls...there are more boys put up for adoption and more families looking for girls...so that makes a situation where you have many little boys looking for homes.

As for an independent adoption...unless you 'know' an attorney in Guatemala who is willing to by-pass the agency they have a long standing relationship with to give referral to you, it isn't really likely to happen. Some people are able to do it on their second adoption, if they keep a relationship with the attorney from their first adoption.

[Bassette]

I would like to add that in some states, such as Kentucky, it is required by law that you use an agency to assist in your adoption. Check your state laws.

Also, agencies provide a wealth of protection. You may want to put alot of reasearch into the pros and cons of independant adoption.

[daydra]

If you would like to go the independent route, Ukraine does not allow adoption agencies. Most people use a facilitator who essentially checks to make sure you have all your docs and hooks you up with an in-country facilitator.

Of course, you may have your heart set on Guatemala

[KevinK]

By paper ready I don;t think they mean that your dossier is complete. They mean that you have a completed homestudy and your I171H/Ins approval (or whatever it is called today).

Just a word of caution... Choosing an agency because of a photolisting is dangerous. Sometimes everything works out fine but I think that your best interests lie in thoroughly researching agencies and picking the one that is best for you. As I've written numerous times and everyone who has completed an adoption agrees, waiting for a referal is much easier than waiting to bring the child home. Better to have te delays on the front end because you chose a highly regarded ethical agency than to be stuck in-process because you jumped at a referal and ended up with a not-so-hot agency and attorney.

Kevin
Guatadopt.com

[MarissasMom]

Hi,

We found our baby on a photolisting, and we had our homestudy/INS paperwork, but our dossier was not complete. It took me about a month (maybe 6 weeks) to do all the running to get everything - but we did have 3 different states and two embassies! Anyway, this still was the best decision for us, but it probably added two - three months to the wait (part of it was due to the timing and the darn slow down with pre-approvals).

Anyway, we are going to have our daughter sooner than if we waiting for a referral with the original agency that we used. However, it was really tough to wait. (Like Kevin said). But I will say that having the referral was really a boost to getting the dossier done quickly. It is hard to keep the steam going during the ups and downs of the adoption process!

If you have any other questions, you can PM!

Amber
four more days till our daughter is in our arms forever!!!