Adoption From Guatemala - The State Department Says "DON'T"

In March 2007, the U.S. State Department issued a statement advising U.S. perspective adoptive parents not to adopt from Guatemala, citing that Guatemala's adoption process has "serious problems" which makes it difficult to assure that children, adoptive mothers and adoptive parents are protected.

The State Department listed its main concerns with the Guatemalan adoption process as being:

• Conflicts of Interest - We are concerned that Guatemalan notaries may determine a child's eligibility for adoption, authorize the adoption deed, and register the adoption at the Civil Registrar. In the same case, the notary or his/her staff may also directly interact with birth mothers, solicit consents for an adoption, and handle the referral of the child to prospective adoptive parents. The Department of State does not believe that the notaries, given these multiple roles, can truly act objectively and in the best interests of the various parties.
  



• Lack of Government Oversight - Despite these critical roles in the adoption process, the notaries are largely unregulated. Public oversight is minimal. Particularly in cases in which prospective adoptive parents are told that the birth mother relinquished her rights to her child voluntarily, the U.S. Government is concerned that social services to birth mothers are extremely limited and that their consents may have been induced by money or threats. Monetary incentives and high fees drive completion of the adoption more than protecting the children, the birth parents, and the prospective adoptive parents. The Department is aware of a growing number of cases of adopting parents who have told us that they are being extorted for very large amounts of money by their local representatives in order to complete an adoption.



• Unregulated Foster Care - Like the notaries, Guatemalan foster care providers are not regulated or checked by the Guatemalan government for compliance with any standards. Many Guatemalan foster families have demonstrated their love and concern for the children in their care, and American adoptive parents have expressed gratitude for how the foster families cared for the children while the adoptions were in process. Unfortunately, however, the Department of State is also aware of instances of grossly inadequate care for young children in foster home situations.; There are cases in which American adoptive families who have completed a Guatemalan adoption later learned that the foster care provider or others in the household had physically or sexually abused the children.



• Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption - Guatemala has been a party to the Hague Convention since March 2003, but it has never enacted Hague-consistent legislation or instituted Hague-consistent practices that would provide children the protections that are now lacking. Guatemala has not established the required central authority to oversee intercountry adoption processing under the Convention and has not yet taken numerous other steps the Convention requires. The U.S. Department of State, the Hague Permanent Bureau (which oversees the Convention) and other countries have consistently expressed concern about these and other problems with Guatemalan adoptions. In fact, many Hague Convention countries have stopped adoptions from Guatemala.

International Adoption Horror Stories

The links below are about or by people who had very bad experiences with international adoption, as well as news articles about corruption in international adoption. I've also included a link about Georgia Tann who is notorious for her unethical practices in the domestic adoption industry. Use these links to help yourself make informed decisions on international adoption and to avoid pitfalls and unethical agencies.

• When You Wish Upon A Star - International adoption horror story by David N. Kruchkow about his and other families terrible experience adopting Mexican children with Adoption Choice adoption agency.



• In Mexico, Children and Promises, Unkept - An article by the New York Times. This article is archived, so you will have to pay in order to read the full article (or just click here for an unformatted version). Deals with the same agency as in "When You Wish Upon A Star".



• Justice for Ethan - Another very sad story about an adoptive mom from the U.S. who's adopted baby lived for just 5 days after her adoption. It turns out that he had cystic fibrosis and that the people from the agency in Russia were not upfront with her about what they knew about his health. Likewise, her adoption agency, Journeys of the Heart (which is still in business, I think) did not treat her very well at all.



• Haitian Children Saved from Rogue Adoption Center - An August 2007 article about dozens of Haitian children whose parents gave them away to traffickers in return for promises of financial help.



• The Adoption Scam - About Reaching Arms International of Minnesota and why it is now out of business.



• Georgia Tann - Although Georgia Tann worked in the domestic adoption market, learning about her and the horrible things she did will give you a good idea about some of the things that can go on in international adoption. There is a book that just came out on her life The Baby Thief, by Barbara Bisantz Raymond. Also, a movie was made about her in the 1970s called "Stolen Babies".



• An Indian Adoption Story - Part I, Lakshmi's Story - A story about how a poor mother from India was tricked into putting her two daughters into an orphanage where they were eventually adopted by a family in the U.S.



• An Indian Adoption Story - Part II, Anjali and Sutara's Story - The second half of the adoption story telling about the two daughters', Anjali and Sutara, experience being put through the Indian adoption process against their will and eventually adopted by a U.S. family.



• Lora Cullipher's Story about Adoption from Guatemala - This story is posted on the Adoption Agency Checklist Website (an invaluable resource which I will be posting on my resource page) which is owned by David N. Kruchkow, the same man who wrote "When You Wish Upon a Star" (listed above). It tells about Lora's terrible experience adopting from Guatemala with Reaching Out Thru International Adoption (ROTIA) in Somerdale, New Jersey. This agency is still in operation.



• Beware of BBAS - Daniel and Elizabeth Case were about to adopt a baby boy from Russia through Building Blocks Adoption Services of Ohio, but he died in their hotel room before the adoption went through. Daniel and Elizabeth have compiled stories from other people who have adopted from BBAS and had bad experiences (to see those stories, click here).



• Baby For Sale - Trying to sell a baby online for $60,000 results in charges against a Hungarian attorney and the baby's mother. Another version of this story can be found here.



• Fraud by California Adoption Agency - The first substantial recovery in California against a county adoption agency for its failure to disclose to adopting parents their adopted child's medical and psychological history. This is a legal article and speaks more to the legal aspects of adoption fraud and adoptive parents rights.



• New York State International Adoption Consultants Charged With Fraud in State Supreme Court -Two New York women who ran International Adoption Consultants, an agency based in Medford, were charged (and subsequently pleaded guilty) to adoption fraud involving illegal adoptions of babies from Mexico. From the Office of the New York State Attorney General.



• Stephanie Porter's Story - This story is also posted on the Adoption Agency Checklist. It tells of the son she adopted from Guatemala through DeColores Adoption out of Lake Charles Louisiana and the services of an attorney Julio Roberto Palencia Lopez.