[tbl967]

Do you regret not going for the pickup trip? In light of the current events in Guate, DH and I are considering having our son escorted home. Originally, we were planning on doing the pickup trip with our 5-year-old daughter, but don't feel comfortable bringing her under the current conditions. I know things could change by the time we are out of PGN, but I am very nervous about taking her and don't want to leave her home while we both go for pickup. The other alternative is that DH goes alone. If you have gone recently with your older child, did you feel safe? I have already spoken with our agency about possibly having him escorted home, and it seems that it only adds a couple weeks (possibly) to the process.

[DeeVee]

Hi, I completely undertstand your concern in light of recent events.

We were in Guatemala in July for a visit, and we took our 3 1/2 year old son with us. We stayed at the Marriott and felt perfectly safe while we were there. We did not leave the hotel for anything (the hotel staff went out and picked up formula for us). I'll admit I was a bit nervous riding the shuttle to and from the airport -- we had a police escort which I did not expect (come to find out the escort was hired by a private company who had some of their people travelling on the same flight we were).

I think if you follow the recommendations of your agency and be smart when you are travelling, you should not have a problem. Remember the police are supposedly looking to make sure the foster moms have the proper paperwork. You will have your US passport, as well as your daughter's, with you.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps another thing to consider is whether your daughter looks like you? I only say this because my son does not look like me (DH is of filipino heritage), and many people in Guatemala assumed that I had adopted him as well (you can see his picture in my avatar; olive complexion, big dark eyes). I am now re-thinking whether to bring my son on our pick-up trip for this reason.

[Disneycrazed]

We are actually thinking about escort now but for different reasons. My father who is 78 lives with us and for many reasons we don't think we will be able to leave him at this point.
This is hard for us since we really wanted to go.
I will say that when we talked to our agency about this they told us that it could take about 2 weeks but usually takes around 4. A lot depends on paperwork.
Good luck in whatever your decision is.

[Payne]

Having a 4 year old son at the time when adopting our daughter, I knew I would not take him down. We had originally planned on escort because of not wanting to take our son. My husband decided he would go alone for the pick up and then my mother, who was a young 66, wanted to go. My fear was taking my son and something happening or leaving him here, us going, and something happening to us-leaving him alone.

I sometimes regret not going because they had an easy trip. We, as a family, will take a trip back there when both children are older and maybe event will be more stable there.

At times, though I think the U.S. is more dangerous and crazy than other places in the world!

Payne

[cbpwife]

We had a escort bring our son home. I don't regret not going, but the extra month that it took to get back through CIS was agonizing.

[tbl967]

Thank you for your responses. My fear is also that something could happen to us while traveling together and my daughter will be left alone. Very scary thought.

Originally Posted by Payne

Having a 4 year old son at the time when adopting our daughter, I knew I would not take him down. We had originally planned on escort because of not wanting to take our son. My husband decided he would go alone for the pick up and then my mother, who was a young 66, wanted to go. My fear was taking my son and something happening or leaving him here, us going, and something happening to us-leaving him alone.

I sometimes regret not going because they had an easy trip. We, as a family, will take a trip back there when both children are older and maybe event will be more stable there.

At times, though I think the U.S. is more dangerous and crazy than other places in the world!

Payne

[rjvpmn]

We went to pickup our daughter in 2005 and left our 10 yr old son home.. it was so hard to leave him. I worried the whole trip ( but i am a worrier) I am glad i went but i can tell you it was hard knowing i had kids in two places. We are adopting again and now i have been thinking about an escort.. not sure what to do. I guess you have to do what you are comfortable with.

[CLHsilent]

We had our daughter escorted home almost a year ago (Nov. 10, 2005). We had a 3 year old son that we did not want to leave at home, plus my husband couldn't really travel out of the country with his job. We have no regrets. It was the right decision for our family. The escort we used is a wonderful woman who actually brought all kinds of gifts to our family (a hand-carved drum for my son, a dress, Guatemalan flag and doll for my daughter, household items for me, and notebook covers, etc. for my husband). We got all kinds of souveniers from Guatemala from her. Best of luck with your decision,
Christie, mom to Ana Maria