Adoptions and Orphans

Posts Tagged ‘Guatemala’

International adoption is a kind of adoption, through which a couple or an individual becomes the permanent and legal parent of a child, who is born in some other country. Generally, prospective parents must fulfill the legal adoption requirements of the child’s nation as well as country of their own.

The necessary requirements for beginning the international adoption process vary, depending up on the country of parent. For instance, in most of the countries, adoptive parents are required to get approval first, while in few, either state agency or private adoption agency approves the adoption. In case of the United States, the first stage of the process begins with selection of an international adoption agency. Each agency works with a particular group of countries, though few focus on only one country. Some countries permit independent adoption, which is least costly and the parent does not need to contact an agency to complete the whole process. However, adoption is a tough process for the first time adopting parents.

Country wise, the laws differs, and is dependent up on nation’s willingness and openness to international adoption. Few countries, like Korea and China have established procedures and rules for international adoption, while many African nations forbid it. Some of the African nations have extended residency requirements for the parents, which in fact rule out international adoptions. One of the examples is Malawi, where residency is required for adopting a child.

Some of the African nations like Ethiopia are very much open to international adoption. That is why Ethiopian Adoption has become a popular option for the American families. As per the U.S. Department of State, in the year 2005, 441 orphans’ visas were issued to Ethiopian children, while in 2006 the number of visas increased to 732.

Apart from China and korea, Philippines is an another Asian nation, which has flexible international adoption policy. According to U.S. State Department, Philippines adoption reached to the number 265 during 2007.

Hence, by looking at the statistics given below we can conclude that international adoption is on its increasing trend-

According to U.S. State Department, countries for international adoption by American parents for year 2007 include –

Guatemala – 4728, China – 5453,  Russia -2310, South Korea -939, Vietnam – 828, Kazakhstan – 540, Ukraine – 606, India – 416, Colombia – 310 and Liberia – 353. Recently, Vietnam signed treaty for openings the doors for adoption.

UNICEF has been waging war against international adoption for many years contrary to popular understanding.  It’s a war with results that fall far short of real time solutions to the spoils of its victories.  UNICEF’s premise that parents in underdeveloped countries should be provided the means to keep their children is not arguable.  Neither is UNICEF’s stance that international adoption should only be a last resort.

However, UNICEF’s tough and effective pressure tactics and  lobbying efforts towards developing nations calling for ratification of the Hague Treaty for the Protection of Children and implementation of adoption law and policy models which effectively serve to close programs completely or almost completely to foreign adopters belies a misguided, unrealistic and out of touch policy contrary to the best interests of hundreds of thousands of legitimately orphaned and abandoned children around the world. These efforts have resulted in the semi or complete closure of adoptions around the world in such countries as Guatemala, Bulgaria, Paraguay, and Romania to mention just a few examples.
 
Let’s take the example of Guatemala.  After intense pressure from UNICEF, Guatemala finally closed its doors to international adoption on December 31, 2008.  Prior to that time, foreign nationals adopted approximately 5,000 Guatemalan children per year.   Oscar Avila, “Guatemala Seeks Domestic Fix to Troubled Overseas Adoptions,” Chicago Tribune, October 26, 2008 indicated that “Guatemala has launched an ambitious campaign to recruit foster parents and even adoptive parents at home.”  So far, the program is failing miserably.  Avila reports, “Only about 45 families in a nation of 13 million currently have taken in foster children since the program began this year.”

The approach that Guatemala is taking by attempting to gain domestic attention to the problem is certainly meritorius; however, this approach could and should have been implemented concomitant with an international program which would ensure that thousands of children will find homes rather than waste away in institutions that are often underfunded, understaffed and unable to provide for the needs of these children.

One of the main criticisms of the Guatemalan adoption program prior to its closure was that it was in the hands of private attorneys who depended on sometimes unscrupulous middlemen to procure birthmothers wanting to give up their children and perhaps those not wanting to give up their children.  Of course this depiction glosses over the nature of how this practice developed in remote villages in Guatemala, far from the lawyers in Guatemala City who could arrange adoptions by foreign nationals.  It was a practical way to connect birthmothers, who were seeking adoption as an option to their usually dire circumstances, to attorneys who could then take the children into custody through the use of foster homes and then place the children with families abroad through adoption proceedings.  It is interesting to note that neither UNICEF nor the Guatemalan government could see that there could be a middle ground to solving the problem of unscrupulous middlemen who were supposedly forcing these women to give up their children, paying the women as an inducement, or even, as many reports claimed, kidnapping these children for adoption.  Many of these reports glossed over the fact that birth mothers had to relinquish their child to an attorney advising her of her rights, undergo an interview with the Family Court, DNA testing of the birth mother and child, review by the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s office, and once again, the birth mother’s consent to the adoption after the Solicitor General’s approval.  The Embassies regularly interviewed birth mothers and conducted investigations at random or of cases that appeared questionable.   During the last year of adoptions in Guatemala, a 2nd DNA test was required at the end of the process based on accusations of child switching with unimpressive findings to back up these wanton allegations. 

Avila’s report indicates that the Guatemalan Department of Social Welfare has now created satellite offices all over the country in an attempt to increase its pool of families interested in fostering or adopting these children.  Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of reform that many adoption attorneys called for which would remove involvement by middlemen but allow attorneys to work with the Department of Social Welfare in concert with its ongoing program to promote foster care and adoption domestically.  UNICEF would not come to the table nor would the Guatemalan government which was eager to completely shut the door on international adoption in response to UNICEF’s strong and effective lobbying efforts.

Another example of misguided criticism regarding international adoption is in Malawi, where the infamous Madonna adoption took place.  Malawi is a country of 13 million and approximately 1 million are orphans half of which are “AIDS orphans”. Solutions are slow in coming in a nation beset by an AIDS epidemic infecting almost one fouth of its population.   These orphaned children deserve a chance at having permanent homes and families.  International adoption is not a perfect solution to the problem in Malawi and so many other nations of Africa but it saves lives, gives children a chance, one adoption at a time.

Of course, most would agree that international adoption should not be the sole answer to poverty faced by nations around the world.  No rational person would think so.  International adoption should be seen as a stopgap emergency measure taken while the United Nations, human rights groups, humanitarian organizations and the governments of these underdeveloped countries seek answers to the abject poverty, high birth rates, AIDS epidemic, malnutrition, lack of education, lack of women’s rights, and massive unemployment which lead to parents making these hard decisions about the future of their offspring.  International adoption is one temporary cog in the wheel.  UNICEF and other detractors and critics of international adoption have continually failed to recognize the vital emergency role of international adoption and how compromise and middle ground solutions could serve the orphaned and abandoned children.

Guatemala is one of the controversial topics in the world of international adoption today. No, still in the controversy, it’s just that the adoption of a child from Guatemala today something can be difficult, unless you know what you are doing.

International adoption is not easy, especially when there is a language barrier. This combined with the fact that you are there, the entrance in an area where everyone is treated the adoption unofficial, as a large industry, and perhaps you can begin to imagine, where you can meet potential problems

International adoption is a very positive solution for couples who have endured disappointing results and domestic use, fertility acceptance testing has failed. Please note that international adoption is not cheap. International adoption is not for everyone is a complex task, exciting, scary, implementation and, finally, changing your life and is an excellent way in which you develop your family and an attentive, loving the house a child in distress.

International adoption is a possibility, more than ever. It is a current event more wind in their sails to America and simple to explain is that if a child who is a citizen of a country, parents, citizens of a other country.

Guatemala is one of the few countries, the placement of children in healthy newborns direct international adoption. Before taking decisions on the adoption of Guatemala, you have to find the house of your tasks. The Government of Guatemala has no specific procedure to international adoption, the authorization of investment. It is mild most of the requirements in the area of placement of children adopted internationally.

Guatemala is located in Central America, between Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Last year, about 3700 children from Guatemala have been replaced by American citizens and Guatemala is one of one of five countries that space for the international adoption of children.

As I said earlier this short article, the adoption in Guatemala is a department store. It is sad but true fact of life that the interests of the child, very rare (but not always) in the first place. But this is not to give the impression that adoptions from Guatemala function, far from it, it’s just that if you perform an operation that is a mixture is primarily motivated by a complex of basic research in physics desire, it means that the adoption of a child. Do you accept this action of their usual environment, and then introduce potentially vulnerable adults in an environment that is no longer fed on environmental issues and greed, you have the potential for a major conflict.

If you are interested in a family with one child, the infant, child and alder, international adoption is a viable option. International adoption is a very positive solution for couples who have endured disappointing results and domestic use, fertility acceptance testing has failed. International adoption is a complicated, fascinating, frightening, implementation and ultimately change their lives.

Is this the path you have chosen to follow certainly, the road is to get your first steps must be made to ensure liaison with the adoption of a professional in your area of jurisdiction of the court with a know-how with the adoption of the International Because at the end of the day, you are on the path of proceedings commenced virtually all on immigration. While the legal formalities for domestic ie the end of your environment, while not binding, as a lot of love and affection, and so you are willing to invest in this project, there will simply not of the earth, and we could, at the end With more losers than a few fragments of heart.

If you are looking for more information on adoption services, adoption agency or any other issue on adoption please visit this links.

International adoption is a kind of adoption, through which a couple or an individual becomes the permanent and legal parent of a child, who is born in some other country. Generally, prospective parents must fulfill the legal adoption requirements of the child’s nation as well as country of their own.

The necessary requirements for beginning the international adoption process vary, depending up on the country of parent. For instance, in most of the countries, adoptive parents are required to get approval first, while in few, either state agency or private adoption agency approves the adoption. In case of the United States, the first stage of the process begins with selection of an international adoption agency. Each agency works with a particular group of countries, though few focus on only one country. Some countries permit independent adoption, which is least costly and the parent does not need to contact an agency to complete the whole process. However, adoption is a tough process for the first time adopting parents.

Country wise, the laws differs, and is dependent up on nation’s willingness and openness to international adoption. Few countries, like Korea and China have established procedures and rules for international adoption, while many African nations forbid it. Some of the African nations have extended residency requirements for the parents, which in fact rule out international adoptions. One of the examples is Malawi, where residency is required for adopting a child.

Some of the African nations like Ethiopia are very much open to international adoption. That is why Ethiopian Adoption has become a popular option for the American families. As per the U.S. Department of State, in the year 2005, 441 orphans’ visas were issued to Ethiopian children, while in 2006 the number of visas increased to 732.

Apart from China and korea, Philippines is an another Asian nation, which has flexible international adoption policy. According to U.S. State Department, Philippines adoption reached to the number 265 during 2007.

Hence, by looking at the statistics given below we can conclude that international adoption is on its increasing trend-

According to U.S. State Department, countries for international adoption by American parents for year 2007 include –

Guatemala – 4728, China – 5453,  Russia -2310, South Korea -939, Vietnam – 828, Kazakhstan – 540, Ukraine – 606, India – 416, Colombia – 310 and Liberia – 353. Recently, Vietnam signed treaty for openings the doors for adoption.

My husband Brad and I are adopting 2 babies from Guatemala. The video is of our trip to visit them. We are praying to be able to bring them home soon – if you would like to give a donation you can go to www.myspace.com ***All donations will go to the adoption***

In the world of International Adoption, Guatemala is one of the most popular and least regulated Countries. Last year there were estimated to have been 1,500 Guatemalan Children and Babies who have started fresh lives abroad, but the spectre of Illegal Adoptions have haunted Guatemala for years. Stories have emerged of mothers being forced to give up their new born children and of a booming private adoption business that has now grown almost into a multi million pound industry.

One of the key questions to look into is, are illegal adoptions taking place and if so how widespread is the practice? Finally, what is in the best interests of the Children of Guatemala?

“With Overseas adoption, what is in the best interests of the children of Guatemala?”

Whilst organisations, such as UNICEF, do not claim that all of the overseas adoptions coming out of Guatemala are illegal or abusive, a new report issued from the organisation does highlight the increasing problem of child trafficking.

“Overseas adoption arose directly out of Guatemala’s harrowing history.”

Overseas Adoptions and International adoption arose directly out of Guatemala’s harrowing history. The 36 year civil war which ended officially only four years ago left nearly a quarter of a million dead or disappeared and one million homeless, half of them children.

Elizabeth Gibbons is the director of UNICEF, and a leading critic of adoption as practised in Guatemala:

‘Many, many orphaned children were taken into adoption by military officers sent into international adoption. Originally a humanitarian activity, but it became obvious that it had the potential for being a lucrative business. And the higher demand in the West the more birth control, more access to abortion so you have the problem of a huge demand, therefore a supply must be created.’

In recent years there has been a tightening up of controls in many of the major embassies and the UK, US and Canadian embassies now carry out DNA tests of both the birth mother and the baby to check out that the woman giving the baby up for adoption is the real birth mother.

‘The existence of DNA doesn’t in any way tell you whether the mother is willingly giving up the child or whether she is being coerced. The second concern is that the children who pass the DNA test are not the same ones who go with the adopting parents on the plane, they could be switched. And thirdly, that the child who is rejected for having a negative DNA result by one of three embassies that offer this test, can then be offered to another embassy with parents of a another nationality.’

‘No one respects the law or the state; everybody just does their own thing. And it’s the same with adoptions’

So with all of this abuse of the system going on, why hasn’t the government of Guatemala done anything to stop it. The general consensus is that Guatemala is in chaos with the country, now a fledgling democracy, only just emerging from under the shadows of years of Military rule

Guatemala is a difficult place from which to operate from and it is very hard to know who is in charge of what. There doesn’t appear to be a Minister in charge of Social Affairs and Adoption is very much bottom rung on the ladder.

The Chair of the Commission on the Child and the Family in the Guatemalan Parliament is Nineth Montenegro who is a vigorous critic of her own system and is campaigning to pass the “The Children’s Code” to protect the rights of the Child in Guatemala explains:

‘We’ve been working on it for three years now and parliament still hasn’t passed it. They say, if we try to regulate adoption in this way we will deny children better opportunities in wealthier countries. There has been terrible resistance to the new law. You know Guatemala is a democracy only in name, not a real democracy.

No one respects the law or the state; everybody just does their own thing. And it’s the same with adoptions.’

Part Two of this article will deal with the fun and games (euphemism for hassle) of dealing with Lawyers and Orphanages

UNICEF has been waging war against international adoption for many years contrary to popular understanding.  It’s a war with results that fall far short of real time solutions to the spoils of its victories.  UNICEF’s premise that parents in underdeveloped countries should be provided the means to keep their children is not arguable.  Neither is UNICEF’s stance that international adoption should only be a last resort.

However, UNICEF’s tough and effective pressure tactics and  lobbying efforts towards developing nations calling for ratification of the Hague Treaty for the Protection of Children and implementation of adoption law and policy models which effectively serve to close programs completely or almost completely to foreign adopters belies a misguided, unrealistic and out of touch policy contrary to the best interests of hundreds of thousands of legitimately orphaned and abandoned children around the world. These efforts have resulted in the semi or complete closure of adoptions around the world in such countries as Guatemala, Bulgaria, Paraguay, and Romania to mention just a few examples.
 
Let’s take the example of Guatemala.  After intense pressure from UNICEF, Guatemala finally closed its doors to international adoption on December 31, 2008.  Prior to that time, foreign nationals adopted approximately 5,000 Guatemalan children per year.   Oscar Avila, “Guatemala Seeks Domestic Fix to Troubled Overseas Adoptions,” Chicago Tribune, October 26, 2008 indicated that “Guatemala has launched an ambitious campaign to recruit foster parents and even adoptive parents at home.”  So far, the program is failing miserably.  Avila reports, “Only about 45 families in a nation of 13 million currently have taken in foster children since the program began this year.”

The approach that Guatemala is taking by attempting to gain domestic attention to the problem is certainly meritorius; however, this approach could and should have been implemented concomitant with an international program which would ensure that thousands of children will find homes rather than waste away in institutions that are often underfunded, understaffed and unable to provide for the needs of these children.

One of the main criticisms of the Guatemalan adoption program prior to its closure was that it was in the hands of private attorneys who depended on sometimes unscrupulous middlemen to procure birthmothers wanting to give up their children and perhaps those not wanting to give up their children.  Of course this depiction glosses over the nature of how this practice developed in remote villages in Guatemala, far from the lawyers in Guatemala City who could arrange adoptions by foreign nationals.  It was a practical way to connect birthmothers, who were seeking adoption as an option to their usually dire circumstances, to attorneys who could then take the children into custody through the use of foster homes and then place the children with families abroad through adoption proceedings.  It is interesting to note that neither UNICEF nor the Guatemalan government could see that there could be a middle ground to solving the problem of unscrupulous middlemen who were supposedly forcing these women to give up their children, paying the women as an inducement, or even, as many reports claimed, kidnapping these children for adoption.  Many of these reports glossed over the fact that birth mothers had to relinquish their child to an attorney advising her of her rights, undergo an interview with the Family Court, DNA testing of the birth mother and child, review by the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s office, and once again, the birth mother’s consent to the adoption after the Solicitor General’s approval.  The Embassies regularly interviewed birth mothers and conducted investigations at random or of cases that appeared questionable.   During the last year of adoptions in Guatemala, a 2nd DNA test was required at the end of the process based on accusations of child switching with unimpressive findings to back up these wanton allegations. 

Avila’s report indicates that the Guatemalan Department of Social Welfare has now created satellite offices all over the country in an attempt to increase its pool of families interested in fostering or adopting these children.  Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of reform that many adoption attorneys called for which would remove involvement by middlemen but allow attorneys to work with the Department of Social Welfare in concert with its ongoing program to promote foster care and adoption domestically.  UNICEF would not come to the table nor would the Guatemalan government which was eager to completely shut the door on international adoption in response to UNICEF’s strong and effective lobbying efforts.

Another example of misguided criticism regarding international adoption is in Malawi, where the infamous Madonna adoption took place.  Malawi is a country of 13 million and approximately 1 million are orphans half of which are “AIDS orphans”. Solutions are slow in coming in a nation beset by an AIDS epidemic infecting almost one fouth of its population.   These orphaned children deserve a chance at having permanent homes and families.  International adoption is not a perfect solution to the problem in Malawi and so many other nations of Africa but it saves lives, gives children a chance, one adoption at a time.

Of course, most would agree that international adoption should not be the sole answer to poverty faced by nations around the world.  No rational person would think so.  International adoption should be seen as a stopgap emergency measure taken while the United Nations, human rights groups, humanitarian organizations and the governments of these underdeveloped countries seek answers to the abject poverty, high birth rates, AIDS epidemic, malnutrition, lack of education, lack of women’s rights, and massive unemployment which lead to parents making these hard decisions about the future of their offspring.  International adoption is one temporary cog in the wheel.  UNICEF and other detractors and critics of international adoption have continually failed to recognize the vital emergency role of international adoption and how compromise and middle ground solutions could serve the orphaned and abandoned children.

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Citation Details
Title: GUATEMALA PASSES ADOPTION LAW, POTENTIALLY ENDING NOTORIOUS INTERNATIONAL CHILD-TRAFFICKING RACKET.
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs (Newsletter)
Date: December 13, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale


Distributed by Thomson Gale

GUATEMALA PASSES ADOPTION LAW, POTENTIALLY ENDING NOTORIOUS INTERNATIONAL CHILD-TRAFFICKING RACKET.: An article from: NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs

Considering the corruption going on and being ignored by adoptive parents, do you think it would help stop the unethical/criminal activities?

Do you think that adoptive parents as well need make sure that they are not buying a baby, especially in countries like Guatemala where it got out of control? Many of the organisations there had fake birth mothers meet adoptive parents.

For a country as big and diversified as the US, adoption records are very important to keep.

What is adoption?

Adoption is the lawful act of permanently admitting a child with a parent or parents other than the birth mother or father. In accordance to an adoption order a parent or parents are liable to transfer parental responsibilities and rights over the child onto the adoptive parent or parents. Once an adoption is finalized, there is no authorized distinction between adopted children and those born to the parents. According to adoption records adoption has gained persistent standing in American society.

Who adopts

At present, studies say that in the United States 1 in 5 couples of childbearing age encounter grave problems in trying to conceive a baby. For these people, being able to boast the joy of being a parent becomes a goal which is hard to pin down. They seek an adoption as a substantial alternate to their inability to ever become birth parents. Having a child to love and care for is what brings joy to millions of infertile couples around the world. Adoption is also undertaken by individuals and couples who wish to give an orphan child the love and importance of a parent in their poignant lives.

Adoption in the United States

1992 was the end year National Adoption totals were collected in the USA, however adoption records from foster care homes and other non-government bodies allows us to get a rough estimate on the numbers. Back then 127,000 annual adoptions in the U.S was recorded. As of 2002, United States consisted of 1.5 million adopted, which was over 2% of all US Children. Adoptive parents have to pay virtually nothing to US$40,000 to adopt a child.

In recent years International Adoption through agencies has also become very popular in the United States. Amid 1971 and 2001, U.S. citizens adopted 265,677 children from other countries. The figure of children pending adoption decreased from 132,000 to 118,000 during 2000 to 2004.

In 2005 the U.S. Department of State declared that 22,728 visas were given to orphans coming into the United States, 7,906 being from China(Mainland), followed by Russia with 4,639 and Guatemala 3,783.

Adoption law vary from state to state, and federal laws also influence many procedures prior and after, connected with the adoption record process. It is important that placing and adopting parents, as well as those looking for family members are aware of legislations beforehand.