Focus on Adoption (FOA) has learned of the arrest of Mary Bonn, an unlicensed child placement facilitator working for families and agencies here and in Guatemala.
Bonn was charged with Harboring an Illegal Alien in the United States after federal authorities discovered a child living in Bonn's home who had been legally adopted in Guatemala by a U.S. family. The family had been searching for their child and had no knowledge that she was living with Bonn.
FOA deplores child trafficking and any illegal and unethical practices that threaten the rights of children to a legal, ethical and humane process in determining a chiild's future. Intercountry Adoption (ICA) is one component of the broad range of social services that should be available to children in every country. ICA is legislated and closely monitored by American and foreign officials to ensure that the best interest of the child is paramount and that the laws of each country are honored. This includes careful preparation and documentation of prospective parents within a legal framework and scrutiny by American and foreign officials to ensure that these families have the desire and means to love and nurture a child to adulthood.
Unfortunately, the distinction between legal intercountry adoption and child trafficking gets blurred when adoption service providers do not adhere to the laws, or the principles of "best practices". Unfortunately, in this case, an unlicensed child placement facilitator is alleged to have circumvented the law for the sole purpose of bringing this child into the United States under another child's name and on a non-orphan visitor's visa, which clearly is illegal as well as reflecting a gross disregard for good practices.
Our hearts go out to the child and family who appear to have been victimized. FOA is working with others to develop support resources to assist other families who may be impacted by Mary Bonn's arrest.
FOA supports the impending implementation by the United States of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which should curtail the ability of unregulated facilitators such as Bonn to provide intercountry child placement services, as well as regulate licensed agencies to assure good practices. As this case plays out in the courts, FOA will keep the adoption community updated and informed on the website: www.guatadopt.com , with whom we are coordinating support resources.
Hannah Wallace, President, and Board of Directors,
Focus On Adoption: An Intercountry Adoption Advocacy Organization