[karif1076]

Just wondering - is it an issue if the birthfather is "unknown"? We just received our referral and the "circumstances" of the birthfather are unknown - I wasn't sure if this could cause issues down the road. Is it mainly the birthmother that has the right to choose an adoption plan for the child or does the birth father need to sign the consent as well? I haven't heard much about the birth father's participation, if any, during the process.

Thanks for all of your help - I'm new to all of this!

[cerca]

No actually as I understand it you can not adopt a child if the birthfather is on the birth certificate (U.S. rule)...I might be wrong but I thought the U.S. did not allow the adoption with both parents...so you should be good.

Jess

[MicheleB]

Thats correct Jess. A US citizen cannot adopt a child from Guatemala if the birthmom is married to a "known" birthfather.

You are good to go!!

[Turthipo]

Wow, that's facinating really. I have the alternative to that - I am trying to find my birth parents & the lack of birth father's information is causing me grief.

[DD Amasa]

If the birth mother is unmarried, it doesn't matter if the birth father is known or not or consents or not. Many of us have the birth father's name from the family court interview with the birth mother. But as long as the birth mother is single, he doesn't have a say.

[karif1076]

Thanks everyone - that makes me feel better. (I don't want to bombard my agency with any more questions right now - they have really been great and patient with me so far!! ) I've had a referral for 3 days now. Inside I am just a bundle of emotions - trying not to show my excitement because I'm so afraid that if I get too excited everything will fall apart. It is going to be a LONG ? months if I've been this nervous/worried & it's only 3 days so far, LOL!

Lynn - I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems due to lack of the birth father's information. I hope that things work out for you!

[Pamsko]

We got very little birth father "information" from the interviews with the birth mother. It is my understanding that children can only be adopted if they are reliquished by one parent. If the birth father is "known", then the child cannot be adopted.

Good luck. Hope your adoption is smoooth sailing!

[Seraphic Queen]

Proceed with some caution on this. I happen to live in one county in Massachusetts where the Guatemalan adoption decree is not recognized by any of the judges precisely because in Guatemala fathers' rights are not terminated legally before the adoption. And Massachusetts requires "re-adoption." There is another county where some of the judges do not recognize Guatemalan adoption decrees. And I know from this board that there is at least one county in Texas where this is the case. There may be other counties in the country which I just don't know about. And I didn't know about it until after we had our child home.

This means that we are being required by the Probate Court to conduct a search at our expense via newspaper in Guatemala for the "unknown unnamed birthfather." We have found an attorney who is going to attempt to argue for a waiver of this requirement, but she is not confident she will win. Find out from your agency or your Probate Court what will be required on this end if you have to "re-adopt." It doesn't mean you can't adopt from Guatemala if your county wants an attempt made to find the birthfather. It just means you will incur more expense and more aggravation just when you thought the paperwork hassle was all over. And, as one attorney told me, if you live in a state requiring re-adoption, you really have no parental rights until you comply with the "re-adoption" process and all it requires, even if your child came home on an IR3 and has citizenship automatically.

I would guess that if Guatemalan adoptions ever come under the Hague Convention, termination of fathers' rights will be part of the process. This means the adoptions will probably take longer and be more costly if Guatemala remains a country open to international adoption. To attempt to search for the unknown unnamed birth father in such a poor country without the techonology and wealth some countries have will be very difficult.

[jaymo]

ok, so after reading through this thread, I am a little curious --- we HAVE information on the girls birthfather. We have his name, age, type of employment and height. The girls birth mom approached the lawyer with just 2 weeks left of her pregnancy so perhaps they split or something. Is that amount of information unusual? Will it pose a problem with PGN or something?
Maura.

[KayV]

No, it's the birth certificate that matters. We know our birth father's name, his history, where he is from, where he's living now, etc., etc. As long as they are not married, and the birth father is not listed on the birth certificate, only the birth mother has to consent to the adoption.

KayV

[DD Amasa]

I also have info on the birthfather from the family court approval. As long as the birthmother is unmarried, it's not an issue.

I think that county in Mass is a real oddity. Even in most of the U.S. an unmarried mother can put her child up for adoption without hunting down the birthfather (althought he can dispute it if he's around and certainly if he is paying support). Florida had passed a law a few years ago requiring unmarried mothers to put notices in the newspapers for several weeks or months before an adoption became final, but I that law was under dispute as an undue hardship on a mother trying to give up her child while the birthfather may have skeddadled.. It's odd that Guatemala would be held to a standard many, if not most, American states don't meet.

[Seraphic Queen]

Yes, it is an oddity that's for sure! I spent seven months trying to find a way to get around it. But there is a county in Texas which requires a birthfather search for "re-adoption" and another one in Massachusetts which requires it from time to time. Chances are there are others. I don't know about other states, but before adoptions can become final here, there must be an attempt to get the birthfather to sign away his rights. But why the court won't recognize Guatemalan adoption law as valid when the U.S. government does, I don't know.

I just hope the birthfather doesn't come forward in response to our plea for him to come forward!