[Mary Mulcahy]

This is a very negative article but some points that one must consider. 1. Adoptions from Guatemala have increased to the point that this country the size of Tenn. in the USA has more children adopted than ever before. Just behind China and Russia. Both China and Russia are huge in size compared to Guatemala. There is a competition amoung agencies for certian types of children (very young, newborn female children) There are agencies that charge a larger fee for a baby girl and 2. there are agencies that also "encourage" the first mother/ birth mother to sing a POA in advance so they do not have to sign all four times. There are agencies/ facililators/ attorneys that make the first mother/birth mother pay back expenses if she changes her mind. 3. THere is a lot of money involved and some attorneys in Guatemala make a very successful living doing this, and its not for the love of children! 4. No fee outline or expense outline is given to the family re: doctor bills $1, 000.00, food and clothing $2,000 court cost ect.. and this makes the whole process very open to critism. UNICEF has been working on shutting down adoptions for years and they almost won in 2003. It looks like when the HAGUE is finally implemented here, Guatemala will close to us in the USA.

The comment about the Marriot reminds me of one that Bruce Harris (used to be with UNICEF until he was found to have an inappropriate relationship with a young Costa Rican boy) used to say that all you smell in the hotel of Guatemala was pampers! UNICEF has been on Guatemala like white on rice. They keep dangling the golden carrot in front of Wendy Berger. And who is the biggest supporter of UNICEF, money wise, the USA> So folks there goes your tax dollars.

The thing is that anyone here on the forum that participates with an unethical agency, attorney or facilitor promote the closing of Guatemala. As potential adoptive/adoptive parents it is our duty to do everything possible to promote and ensure an ethical adoption. I always think about the families that pay extra (some thousands more) for a girl. So are you saying that a boy is not as worth while???? My children are home now but everyday I pay for my sake as well as theirs that their adoptions were ethical.

That is why these stories get published, because at some point there is some truth or some case that makes the whole system look dirty. I think a large percentage of adoptions are done legally and within the law but just a few cases can be deadly. Just think in a few years, you will have to answer your child's questions and I don't know about you, I want to tell Danny and Ricco that their mom did everything to ensure an ethical adoption.

[jaymo]

CANDKSS,
I couldn't have said it better!!! The Marriott had PLENTY of other people staying there when we went for our visit. Yes, there were lots of adoptive families .... but a child care? C'mon!!!!!!! There were TONS of American military there, in fact. Hmph. wonder what the write would say about that!
There are plenty of "things" wrong with adoption in general. No country is foolproof and for the writing to imply this is riduclous. I also agree with boysmommy in re: surrogats and selling of eggs AND SPERM (lets not forget about the boys!).
Hopefully the Hague implement will correct the negative views that people have about adoptions fro Guatemala .... all we can do is hope for the best with that situation!
Thanks for sharing the article .....
Maura.

[mombyfaith]

Oh boy does this upset me!
First of all not all of us get to bring home babies under 5 mos old.
Praise the Lord for the ones that do.
Our process took 2 years and she was 14 mos old.
I think who ever wrote that article should spend a week in Guatemala and see for themselves the poverty down there!!!!!!!!!!!
Somebody better pray for this pastors wife, quick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AnasMama]

I think what upset me the most was when they said we are dealing with children that should not have been born..... What Human should not have been born?! I know all of these journalists are out for shock factor, but I am a true believer in everyone having a purpose.

... and some of the responses to the article!!! Truly ignorant people. I think their purpose is to annoy!

[dspakowsky]

PLEASE - no one post to their discussion board. It's horrible!!! What a waste!

I has no idea people still think those things!

[JPThornton]

I found a way to contact the writer of the "article". I don't know if I can post that link here or not? Let me know if I can, otherwise PM me and I will give it to you! I am personally going to drop him a note!

[Tiggysgirl]

Oh yes, please, I'd like to know. I'd more like a way to contact ... I don't know, whomever puts the article there. Like how you'd contact a newspaper if it'd been in a newspaper.

Thanks. I'd love to show that person that there are real people affected by the situation he writes so flipantly about. Instead of making awful accusations, wouldn't it be better to find a solution?

[gwenrenee007]

This article is not what we need right now with all the PGN mess... but I went to the discussion to see if there are any intelligent people who responded to this, and let me say it is horrific. What is wrong with these people?

[sassycindy]

I don't know if this is allowed to be posted, but here is a little bio the author......obviously, he is Guatemalan and sees a very different side of things (re: adoption, the poverty in his country) than we all do. It makes me wonder what his agenda is and how he and/or his family have been affected by adoptions. Yes, the article is one sided and I'm sure that was his goals as well.

Anyway, I am not surprised to learn that the author is Guatemalan, as many Guatemalans are against us adopting their babies (my agency was quite up front about this fact and was part of the reason they told me not to leave the hotel).



The author writes:

My name is Juan Carlos Llorca. I was born 27 years ago in Guatemala and I work for a rather small newspaper in Guatemala City.
For me, journalism is not just another way to make a living. I can clearly remember how on the first week as a reporter at elPeriódico, my editor said, ‘You will never become a rich by being a journalist.’ Boy! He was right. Back home, reporters get paid barely enough to live decently.

However, by writing in the political section of the newspaper, I get a chance to have a real influence in my country’s development. And even though most of the time we are covering corruption and scandals starring the local politicians, there are those precious opportunities when I get the chance to influence lives by writing stories that directly appeal to them.

I am positive that by becoming a better journalist I can make an even better contribution to my country.

[dspakowsky]

Originally Posted by sassycindy

I am positive that by becoming a better journalist I can make an even better contribution to my country.

Then he better get to work - he has a long way to go!!!!!

[praying4rlittl1]

Ok..I've been thinking about this article all day and trying to get my thoughts together. I DO think it raises some vaild points, but I think the manner in which it is presented is just plain ugly. There are also some things that I question as being factual. I have a gut feeling that Susana Luarca's statement was probably taken out of context. Obviously I have no basis for knowing that, just a feeling I have based on this writer's outright bias. Just on the surface, here's what disturbs me..

But U.S. ratification of an international adoption treaty is likely to choke off the supply next summer
It's that one word, "supply". Right off the bat, I know this writer has a bias and it's anti-Guatemalan adoption.

Guatemala still allows adoptions to be managed privately, without judicial approval
Maybe this is incorrect, but isn't PGN "judicial approval"? How much more "judicial" can it get?!?! And imagine if the attorney general's office in the US managed adoptions. What a nightmare!

Many of these children would grow up Guatemalan if not for the money and the pressure on vulnerable young mothers to give them up for adoption, Arellano said.
Two blatant things in this one....

Number one, even if my children are US citizens, they are and will always be, Guatemalan. I know what the writer was getting at, but again this guy's bias is screaming out. So instead of stating the facts, he slings his venom right at us adoptive parents.

Second, the fact of the matter is, most of our bmom's simply CANNOT afford to keep their children. It's ugly and it's sad, but to force them into abject poverty is not an ethical choice either. The writer makes it his case that if we would just all leave the children in Guatemala, that somehow they would all survive and even thrive. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. Many if not most of these young (and older) mothers have NO choices. It's see their baby die or give it a chance at life. Gutwrenching yes. But to force them into poverty in my opinion is the worser of the two.

Many adoptive parents stay at the Guatemala City Marriott, which could pass for a day care center with all the babies coming through its lobby.
My word...no commment....

The writer is simply trying to paint a mental picture in the mind of the reader as to what is going on in Guatemalan adoption. If the reader can see this as some kind of baby mill, then UNICEF will win and adoptions will be stopped. Nevermind that the facts are skewed and nevermind that those thousands of children that would have had homes and are instead now left dying on the streets. I absolutely think there are changes that need to be made. But they need to be made for the right reasons and not at the expense of the most helpless of all, the children.

But hey, don't worry! If adoptions in Guatemala are stopped, UNICEF will gladly step in and take your money to "help" those kids.

[riverview]

just posted another topic for this guys email. GO GET EM'!!!!

[NJRach]

What a rotten article. His writing style would be more suited to the National Enquirer.

Rachael

[AnasMama]

This article really depresses me... I don't understand why people don't think before they write. Does this guy not realize the impact he is going to have on the adopted children?

So much for "doing the right thing". It seems to me that no matter what you do in America, you are going to get slammed.

All I ever wanted was a family. I could have had a "home grown" child, but I felt in my heart that it would be better to give a child a home that needed one, rather than "force one" out of my own body... I really felt good about my decision, and I still do. But it really hurts me to have people talk about this as if we were shopping for a pair of shoes...

I have no control over anyone else. I do not know if these women are getting pregnant in order to sell their children. I hope to God they are not. REGARDLESS, there are children out there that need homes. I would have to say that if children are being "sold" it is the minority of the children, and they should not have to pay the price for their mother's decision.... and we adoptive parents should not be ridiculed because we want to share our love with these children. Don't attack us, and don't attack the birthmothers who have had to make a very hard decision. This man needs to dig a little deeper into his soul, if he has one.

His article is full of assumptions... not facts. It is full of words like "imagine" and "assume", and "I've been told"... "you have to conclude". How can an intelligent person take any of this as fact?

I sure hope he can sleep at night.

And I wish those blamed social idiots that made their racist ignorant comments on the comments page would go get an education or shut the heck up.

I'm done venting, now I am going to bed.

[brink]

I think we need to be very careful how quickly we dismiss some of the "facts" of this article. We may not like what was written or want to believe any of these things could be true, but we'd be naive to think it's no more complicated than Americans "coming to the rescue" and being blessed to parent Guatemala's children. It would be easy to get our hackles up and dismiss this as biased journalism.

In reality, the vast majority of us do not know what is actually true about what occurs in Guatemala during the process. From the people we've worked with to complete our three Guatemala adoptions who have never paid extra "incentives" to complete an adoption, we have known for years it is a very common practice to pay extra to have cases moved through the system. It IS a lot of money that changes hands. We can't afford to believe that everyone involved is in this for the sake of the children. In our case, a large percentage of our fees go to the orphanage our children lived in. Out of that, lawyers are paid, but most of it goes back into food, clothing, medical, private school tuition for the children. If that much of our fees goes to the orphanage, it truly makes me wonder what lawyers are doing with the vast sums they are being paid?

As much as we would all love to paint a beautiful, but sad picture of a loving birth mom freely relinquishing her child, we don't know much of what is truly going on. We do know the widespread poverty.

We owe it to our children and to every child born anywhere to be certain our adoptions are as ethical as we can know them to be. We don't have control over how our money is spent, but we can't afford to be naive or flippant ourselves about a subject most of us know less about than we would like. Because no matter what we would like to believe about our sweet babies or children, that is a LOT of babies leaving their first country. Little wonder many Guatemalans would question what is happening to their nation's next generation. It's much more complicated than we know.