[celticsunshine06]

I was wondering if it was common for birth mothers to have babies given for adoption in cities other than their own. Your immediate response might be: yes, to have their babies in secrecy. But what if that wasn't a concern? I suppose the reason could be to have the baby in a hospital as opposed to at home. Do you suppose some lawyers directed/encouraged birth mothers to have their babies at specific hospitals? I'm also not talking about women living in rural areas of Guatemala either. The birth mother I'm thinking about had her baby about 70 miles away from her home. Any thoughts or knowledge on this issue?

~Eva

[becky]

Some attorneys encourage babies to be born at certain hospitals, or in certain towns...especially back in the time when some cities issued birth certificates much quicker than others.

[MamaS]

For a period of time, lawyers were encouraging birthmothers in Florida to cross the state line and have their babies in Georgia, because the Georgia laws regarding signing of TPR, placement thru lawyers to families without CPS homestudies etc. were much more relaxed.
Is that what you meant?

[Mariais5]

I've thought about this often as one of our girls birthmoms was from the coast, south of GC. She gave birth in the Highlands ~ a long way from her home, and you would think it would have been easier to go to GC to give birth..

A friend who lives in Guatemala suggested that maybe she had family she was able to stay with while in the last months of pregnancy. He said this is common. It does make sense that the attorney requested this as she gave birth in a city with a 3 day turn around for the bc, and our daughter was born in a national hospital..

I'm sure there could be any amount of reasons..

[PackGirl]

3 of our kids are bio-sibs....

2 were with the same facilitator and were born at his clinic.... the last one was with a different attorney and born at home.

I would imagine there would be many factors as to where a woman would choose or a facilitator would help a woman choose where to give and register the birth.

jmo

[Alexismandyjr]

I do think this was common practice. Both of my boys birthmom's where from other municipalities and both of my boys were born in Guatemala City.

[celticsunshine06]

Thank you for your responses!

~Eva

[JosieWales]

Hm, interesting thoughts. Owen was born in Mixco, even though his bmom lives 4 hours northeast of GC. But she does live in a very rural, poor area so perhaps that's why.

[mommyto2guatboys]

I know that many lawyers incourage birthmothers to have their babies in certain hospitals. We were just told by a trusted source that my oldesn't son's lawyer had doctors that she knew at certain hospitals all over the country and most of the babies placed by that lawyer were all born in these hospitals.
It is definatly interesting


Magen
My family!

[Mindybeth6]

Yes, our birthmother gave birth in a hospital in Villa Nueva. It is just outside of where she lived in GC. From what it appears just by looking at all our documentation, this was suggested by the attorney since our birthmother decided to place Mikayla before she was even born. Villa Nueva was a quick BC and not far from the city. I suppose this is why she was born here...I don't know for sure though. It also seemed close to Hogar where Mikayla was placed. HTH.

[Devora]

There are many reasons. Part of the issue lies in what it means to say that women give birth:

in cities other than their own

Except among the wealthy there is a lot of mobility in Guatemalans' lives. So it is difficult based on paperwork for adoptive parents to know what is the mother's "own" home. Many Guatemalans will identify their home as where they were born and raised even if they have not lived there for a long time or if they live elsewhere and return home only for special occasions. They may also identify their home as where they or their family own land (especially a milpa) even if they are living full-time elsewhere. Additionally, some families who were displaced by the civil war will still identify "home" as where they were originally from, even though they may not have lived there for a couple of decades and are unable even now to return.

Mobility that might take a woman away from where she was raised or where she lives most of the time include mobility due to:

• looking for employment, especially when going from rural to more populated areas
• migrant/seasonal work, especially between highlands and lowlands
• following the employment of a spouse, partner, parent, or sibling
• fleeing domestic violence
• seeking a safer place to live

Additionally, women who will soon give birth may temporarily move due to:

• wanting access to medical care
• wanting to be with family for the birth
• returning to their traditional village for the birth
• needing to be somewhere with more stable housing for the birth/raising their child

Furthermore, as has been mentioned, women who are planning on adoption for their children may temporarily move due to:

• recommendations/preferences of the adoption attorney
• wanting access to an adoption attorney
• wanting to keep the adoption secret

One account that gives a good sense of what mobility means in the lives of poor Guatemalans is Rigoberta Menchu's memoir I, Rigoberta Menchu. She clearly has a sense of her home village. Yet she and her entire family regularly migrated to work on the fincas and she lived in Guatemala City where she worked doing domestic help. Yet it's very clear that regardless of where she was living or working her "home" was her native village.