[hopefultoo]

My husband and I have homestudy recommendation, state certification and INS approval. The problem: My husband has a felony conviction of when he was 20 years old. He is now 35, has no record since, is a great husband and wonderful father. The agency we were with is telling us that it will be extremely difficult to adopt with any of their programs with this on his record. We have requested that they close our case with their agency and now NEED A AGENCY THAT WILL WORK WITH US AND INFO ON COUNTRIES THAT WLL ACCEPT THIS CONVICTION OF A LONG TIME AGO. Please help with any info or referrals. Thanks and good luck to all of you on your adotion journeys.

[BrandyHagz]

Check out the Guatemalan Forum.

I don't think convictions are an issue in Guatemala, provided you can get approval from BCIS to adopt.

There are several great agencies that work with Guate, and the members over on that forum can PM you with their recommendations.

Good luck!

[DreamingAzure]

From the things I have read, it depends on what the felony was....if it was a violent crime your chances are small...but there was a couple I heard of that included a hand written letter in their dossier explaning about the offense and how the wife's life has changed since that happened. I believe they brought their daughter home from Russia.

Don't give up home!! There is always a possiblity out there!!

BEST OF LUCK,
Shana
Mom to 2 fur babies & 1 Feathered Teen

[alphamom9]

in many states there is a proceedure to get a conviction expunged--depending on the offense and subsequent behavior etc etc.While legal aid probably won't do it for you I'd start with them to see if this available where you live

[BrandyHagz]

Be careful of advice on getting it expunged…you may end up paying a lot in attorneys fees, only to find out that even expunged “incidents” show up on your FBI Check and if it isn’t addressed in your homestudy, can result in your FBI Clearance being declined. So, in the end, expunging an incident may sound like a good idea, but you’ll end up having to disclose it and answer for it anyway…because it will have to be in your study in order to get approval from BCIS.

Good luck!