Guatemala Ratifies Adoption Treaty
Last week, the Associated Press reported that Guatemala ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions requiring government agencies to regulate adoptions to prevent baby trafficking.
"We will avoid that adoptions become a market for buying and selling children," said Rolando Morales, chairman of Guatemala’s congressional commission on children and families.
Last year, Americans adopted more than 4,000 children from Guatemala, making it the top country for U.S. adoptions after China. But amid reports that brokers were allegedly paying or threatening Guatemalan mothers to give up their babies, the U.S. government urged lawmakers there to tighten up regulations and threatened to revoke visas for adopted babies if changes weren’t made. In March, the U.S. government urged Americans to stop adopting from Guatemala altogether.
Tell us below what you think about adoption in Guatemala. Have allegations of baby trafficking stopped you from adopting? Do you think the Hague Convention will change anything? We’d also love to hear from any parents who have already adopted from Guatemala.
I recently visited Guatemala as part of a research project on human trafficking, and can attest that baby/child trafficking is a very real problem. Babies and young children may be kidnapped and sold to an agency, lawyers often take a cut of the adoption fees for themselves, and many mothers give up their kids either for the income or due to being coerced by the agencies/lawyers.
For anyone who is interested, I strongly advise against adopting from Guatemala. If you want to adopt, choose an American-born baby or seek out a well-regulated agency from another country. If you want to specifically help Guatemala, sponsor a child through Common Hope (www.commonhope.org). Please be aware of the impact your adoption – and adoption fees – are having in the community you adopt from. Thank you, and best wishes for the new additions to your family!