[amouton]

My husband and I are planning to start the adoption process at the end of the year with a required workshop. I am relatively sure we are adopting from Guatemala, at this point maybe a girl(we currently have both). In most stories I have read the family request one or the other. Does anyone know if the time will changed much if we are open to a boy or a girl? I don't think it really matters much to us, we just believe God is calling us to adopt. Also wondering how long diffrent parts of the process are taking you all? Homestudy(a little nervous about this part, not sure why), referall to babyhome. Also curious what the age of the babies were at referall and the age when you got them home?

[Shoshana]

Hi - You might want to post on the Guatemalan Forum - you'll probably get more responses.

In Guatemala, the wait for a baby girl is longer. More boys are relinquished for adoption, and more adoptive parents request girls. Referrals are usually for newborns, although there are older children available for adoption - it's just not the norm. The average age for homecoming is 6-8 months, tho' some babies are as young as 3 months, and others, when there are problems in the process, over a year.

The most important thing you can do now is to research, research, research. The agency's expertise in Guatemalan adoptions and the commitment and reputation of the Guatemalan attorney are critically important.

Best wishes,

[amouton]

Thanks so much for your info. Can you tell me more about your story?

[jaenelle]

Shoshana -- How did you get your baby home from Guatemala so soon? Did you do anything different that made the process better or faster?

[Shoshana]

Honestly, a good part of it is luck. Even IF you have the best agency, and the best attorney in Guatemala, with the best reputation, you could still run into an unpredictable investigation with the US Embassy (tho' less likely with a good atty), or social worker vacations at family court, or a difficult reviewer at the PGN (Guatemala's attorney general's office where the adoptions are approved/finalized).

Other things that can be done is to be completely paper ready BEFORE accepting a referral. Some people fly to Guatemala to hand deliver the Power of Attorney but personally don't think that makes a big difference.

My daughter was born 9/17/03 and the final PGN signature was obtained 11/24/03. If I hadn't already purchased tickets to "visit" her, I could have gone earlier to bring her home. I believe my case went so quickly primarily because of the attorney I had in Guatemala. This woman's ethics were remarkable - I base this statement on our long conversations. I'm sure that no one in PGN or the US Embassy had any concerns about her practices. (Oh, even being a single mom didn't slow down my case).

[Kimberj71]

It took us 5 months to have our completed dossier in Guatemala and 8 months to recieve the referral of our daughter (we had requested a girl). But much of that wait (4 months) was over the summer of 2003 when Guatemala was "shut down". She was nearly 1 month old when we received her referral. She came home in May 2004 just a few days shy of 5 months old. The referral to home time was 4 months.

During the process, we asked for another referral (with no gender preference) and were matched with our son 2 weeks later! He was 20 days old. Unfortunately, we did not have our second dossier together and in Guatemala. So he had to wait longer to come home (I do NOT recommend doing this...it's very difficult). We had a second dossier together and in Guatemala in a month and a half. Our son was 2 months old. He came home in August 2004 at the age of 6.5 months. The referral to home time was 6 months (the actual time of the Guatemalan process once our papers were down there was 4.5 months).

Hope that helps! And good luck!

Kim

[levland]

Originally Posted by Shoshana

Hi - You might want to post on the Guatemalan Forum - you'll probably get more responses.

In Guatemala, the wait for a baby girl is longer. More boys are relinquished for adoption, and more adoptive parents request girls. Referrals are usually for newborns, although there are older children available for adoption - it's just not the norm. The average age for homecoming is 6-8 months, tho' some babies are as young as 3 months, and others, when there are problems in the process, over a year.

The most important thing you can do now is to research, research, research. The agency's expertise in Guatemalan adoptions and the commitment and reputation of the Guatemalan attorney are critically important.

Best wishes,

We are a middle-aged couple with four grown bio kids, now interested in adopting a 2 year old girl from Guatemala. We have contacted International Families Agency based in Philly and are trying to reference check them. Any info will be appreciated. Many thanks, Monica

[RJVDH]

My husband and I are adopting from guat. makes no difference boy or girl process is the same. Home study is the easy part. The wait is long. I am do to travel next week. Our process took about 8 months

[robinsnest005]

My husband and I are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Guatemala. We started our homestudy in Jan. 2005 and it was finished by the end of March. We received our referral April 7th. Realistically we will not be going to get him for 6-8 months. This process is one that is really hard because you receive pictures of your child so early in the process...I am already going crazy just wanting to hold him. It is also a process that is unpredictable. Some people seem to fly through the process while others just seem to linger on and on. You have a better chance with a good lawyer down in Guatemala, but you do not get to choose your lawyer. They are assigned a lawyer when they are given up for adoption and that lawyer represents you the child and the mother.
Baby girl referrals do take longer and I was told at the start that an older child would also take longer (not really sure why) We wanted a boy and we said that we would take a baby from 0-2 years old. He was 10 days old at our referral.
I hope that this info helps in your decision. We felt called to adopt from Guatemala and even though I know the process can be a frustrating one I am glad we chose this path every time I look at our beautiful son.

[levland]

Help - just found out that the agency I've been checking out for the past month (and everything looked great) is being sued by a family who was with them for 22 months, went to Guatemala but never got the kids. I know there are two sides to every story but the agency wont tell me their side unless I give the name of the family, which I dont know, as they want to stay anonymous due to the litigation. I am so upset! Does anyone know of another agency for Guat. who can help us, an older (55 & 56) 'geographically challenged' family, husband US citizen, wife South African/Canadian, now living abroad ? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks, Monica

[paige16]

Hi everyone, my husband and i are wanting to adopt from guatemala, we have our homestudy done, and ins papers are in the process, looking for an agency, any ideas. maybe someone has worked with an agency they can refer to me?

[moelladeville]

Hi,
I am the adoptive mom to two of the most wonderful boys from Guatemala. I want to address the boys v. girls question. To the person who said the timeframe is the same -- that is true only AFTER the referral. It usually takes several months to get the referral of a girl, and I had to wait only days for each of my boys' referrals.

Amouton, you mentioned you're open to a boy or a girl. The truth is that the majority of adopters want girls. While the process in Guat is different for everyone (as Shoshana explained so well), there was someone who applied for a girl with my agency the same day as I applied for a boy. I had my referral in a week, and picked up my son five months later. Her process was a full four months longer.

Adoption is a truly personal decision, so please don't think I'm telling you what to do. I just wanted to raise the issue that the boys are less sought after than girls. Knowing my two, I can't imagine why! Good luck on your journey!

Marjorie

[SAR2006]

Has anyone out there used EACI (European
Adoptions Consultants, Inc.) to adopt in Guatemala? They are based in Ohio in the US. I am about to use them and would like to have any feedback, positive or negative.

Thanks

[ginamcal]

My family and I are looking to adopt from Guatemala. Currently we are looking into 3 agencies; Adoption Blessings Worldwide, Celebrate Children and Families Thru International Adoption. Does anyone out there have experience with any of these agencies that they would be willing to share? Please PM me or email to gmcal@sbcglobal.net
Thanks.

[bat73]

We are using them now to adopt from Guat.

Edited to removed Agency Discussion. All Agency feedback must be shared via PM. Please refer to the Agency Discussion Guidellines at http://forums.adoption.com/internati...ease-read.html

Becky in Illinois