[fleul]

Hello everyone. I was under the impression that US citizens cannot adopt a child from Guatemala if the birthparents are married. I was very surprised when I got together with a local group recently who have all adopted from Guatemala (one of them twice) and they said they never heard of that. We all used the same agency.

Is that the case? I thought that was part of the process when they interview the birthmom, to ensure that she is not married, etc. among a lot of other things. Just curious. Thanks.

Linda

[becky]

They cannot be currently married if it is a relinquishment adoption. They can be divorced, or widowed, or single....that is it.

[Bonitabonita]

. . . and if I understand correctly this is a requirement of the US government not GT . . .

[becky]

Yes, the US government only. Other countries do not necessarily have that rule. Our UK couples almost always get babies who have married parents, because that is not a rule in the UK.

[jnancynancy]

We were told the same thing. I child cannot be adopted if his/her parents are married to each other.

[Aleea]

What if the bmom's husband is not the bio father?

[kacmom1]

Our birthmom is married, but not to the birthfather.

[guatmom4113]

We could not get preapproval a year ago because the embassy discovered that the birth mom was married because a father signed the original birth certificate. Therefore, our daughter was not considered an orphan. This has been a nightmare I would wish on no one!! This is the most unfair law I have ever heard of, and I have felt so cheated, victimized by it and because of it. I wish this law could be repealed. It is unfair.

[becky]

If the birthmother is married and can prove that the man she is married to is not the birthfather, then she is 'solely' relinquishing the child. However, this is a complicated situation...and not very common at all.