[hannah163]

I'm a newbie but I've noticed that the signatures of many on this site state that they've adopted from Guatamala. In addition, when I came to this board (International), I've noticed that Guatamala has the largest number of posts (40k). I'm just curious - why are so many adopting from Guatamala? I performed a google search but I didn't find anything that explained it. Thx!

[DPline]

Guatemala has actually been closed to international adoptions for a few years now. But many of us did adopt from there when it was open.

[hannah163]

Did they have shorter wait times?

[DPline]

At the time it was open I would say the wait times were comparable to other countries.

Speaking for myself only, there were a few reasons we chose Guatemala.

We were interested in the country and the culture. I felt strongly that we should adopt from a country that we would be interested in having that connection to.

Also, we spoke a little of the language. Very little, but a start, and we took lessons to improve.

It is also relatively close to the US so a pretty short trip. As much as I would like to visit Russia or China, the thought of that long of a trip back to the US with a baby or toddler scared me.

Also, the children available for adoption in Guatemala were in foster care or private orphanages. So there was less concern about issues that arrise in an institutional setting and also we were able to go down and visit as often as we would like. We visited both of our children multiple times before their adoptions were complete.

Lastly, there is relatively little alcohol use there so Fetal Alchohol Syndrome was less of a concern than with some countries.

Obviously a lot of our reasons were not guaranteed but it was what the right choice was for us.

[Slatond10]

I agree w/ DPline.
Guatemala also allowed singles to adopt which wasn't the case w/ China @ the time that I had decided to pursue adoption.

[sak9645]

Guatemala has an extremely high birth rate and low per capita income. Many of the births are to indigenous women who begin childbearing at a young age and have multiple children before their childbearing years are over. The indigenous ("Indian") population tends to have little education and, consequently, limited access to jobs and money. Members of this population may not even speak Spanish; they may well speak a native language that dates back to Mayan days, and that, too reduces a person's ability to obtain jobs that pay well.

There is also, throughout the population of Guatemala, a cultural opposition to birth control, as well as a belief that girls and young women should not be given information about sexuality and reproduction. Unfortunately, these conditions mean that many women have unplanned pregnancies, and some may be ostracised by their families.

For all of these reasons, many women and families simply cannot feed all of their children and make them available for adoption. In general, they will NOT find adoptive homes in Guatemala. Guatemalans of European descent, who tend to be the most affluent citizens, are often biased about adopting children of "Indian" heritage and appearance. And people who "look like" the children may have insufficient resources to take on the care of "another mouth to feed."

Ethical intercountry adoption could be a wonderful way to allow these kids to find loving homes. And for quite a while, the Guatemalan government made it relatively easy for foreigners to adopt. Prospective parents could be of almost any reasonable age, and married or single. They could have other children in the home, and did not need to be infertile. They could use an agency to adopt, or adopt independently, usually with the aid of a Guatemalan attorney. They could get a referral soon after a baby's birth, and visit him/her as the adoption process evolved, if they chose, to get to know him/her. They could make multiple trips to be with their child or even foster him/her in-country, or they could have the entire process completed without them, and use an escort to bring the child home.

Unfortunately, whenever you have vulnerable populations -- children needing families and families desperate to have a baby -- you have fertile ground for people who prey on the vulnerable, for their own financial gain, unless there is very strict regulation and monitoring.

While many of the adoptions from Guatemala were ethical and appropriate, widespread unethical behaviors also occurred. These included baby-buying, baby-stealing, and coercing of birthmothers, misrepresenting babies' health status to prospective parents, and so on.

The U.S. was able to work with the Guatemalan government to limit some unethical and illegal practices. As an example, there was a requirement that, in all cases where an alleged birthmother relinquished her baby, DNA testing had to be done, in order to prove that the woman was actually the mother of the baby, and not someone who stole or bought the child. And the birthmother was expected to sign a relinquishment document on three separate occasions during the process, so that she had time to change her mind, if desired.

But both governments, over time, began to feel that their actions were not enough. In time, pressure was placed on the Guatemalan government to begin developing more safeguards, and to do so within the context of the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

At this time, the development of a Hague-compliant system is underway. Adoptions are closed to Americans, until a Hague-complaint system that meets U.S. expectations is put in place. Everyone hopes that, for the sake of the children, reopening will occur soon. However, for the sake of the children, it is clear that reopening should not occur until the U.S. and Guatemalan governments provide adequate protection for the children, their birth families, and their adoptive families.

Sharon

I hope this helps.

Sharon

[hannah163]

Thk you! Now I understand!

[Clare'sMom]

And We Also Just Happen To Be The Coolest

[DPline]

Originally Posted by Clare'sMom

And We Also Just Happen To Be The Coolest

Exactly!

[dac_cincy]

I think too one of the reasons you see so many more of us out here on this board is that, we recieved pictures of our children at referral. So people wanted to share their kids with people who understood. Then people were looking for others who might have had the same foster mother.
People would meet up on visit trips and form freindships and those continued thru the process. Then add the fact that agencies were not telling people the steps or explaining delays, and people came out here looking for support to understand what was going on, what was coming next. These bonds continue to grow and develop as most of the kids have come home (there are still families waiting for their children to come home) and things have come up.

I, for one, woudl have been lost without all the support and guidance of the families out here. I continue to come out here and check posts daily, becuase I know there are families still waiting for their kids and sometimes, only this group gets it in terms of what is going on with my child.

Love and hugs,

[hannah163]

Awww. What a beautiful story and what wonderful bonds you all have formed. Thanks for the response!

[Betelnut]

I chose Guatemala because:

• They fostered the kids with real families (not orphanages);
• Only one trip was required and it was for 3-4 days;
• Guatemala is close (only a 6 hour flight from DC and three hours from Dallas where my parents lived) so the initial pickup trip would be easy and subsequent visits would be easy;
• They allowed single adoptions
• The kids are so darn cute!!!

Very practical reasons!

I think one reason there is a good community here is that there are a lot of people who adopted from Guatemala and the process was a killer (all those kick outs from PGN) and you simply NEEDED to vent with people who understood!!!!

Too bad Guatemala is closed now.

[DPline]

What Deb said is so true. My kids have been home for 7 years but I am dtill friends with so many people I met through this board. (Including Deb!) Some I am lucky enough to live close to and know in 'real life' and many that are cyberfriends, but all equally valuable to me. We supported each other through the adoption process and support each other now raising our kids.

[mommytoEli]

and there were so many posts here because we were mostly staying at the same hotel....multiple times during the process since we were allowed to visit....so MANY of us met eachother in real life. we became part of eachother's stories....so i think we were more connected than people who adopted from other countries where this wasn't happening.

i adopted from guatemala because that is where my son was. dh saw him online and fell in love with this little old man face. lol. we weren't looking to adopt exactly at that time...but we were drawn to him. he is amazing. AND the funniest thing is he DOES have a little old man spirit. i say often it is like he has lived a thousand lives before this one.