Meeting Amaya's Family

I've been wanting to write about this topic for some time, but just haven't mustered the energy or thoughts to put it on paper. In our first adoption of Amaya, we ran into difficulties during the entire nearly two years that it took. One of the most disturbing times was when we were within a week of coming home. We had cleared PGN and were waiting on the final stages with the Embassy when we discovered that our former attorney was making claims that the bio-grandmother, who helped with our abandonment case, was an imposter. The attorney was threatening to go to authorities and make this claim if she wasn't paid. How much she wanted or what her true motives were, we never knew for certain.

As a public "warning," I want anyone who has heard the name Blanca Eugena Martinez to take notice that we have never met a more "twisted" individual. I'll get to the point of this post soon enough, but ......

this particular individual, by her actions, prompted a sincere effort this past summer to locate Amaya's alleged grandmother and set to rest unfounded threats, or create a more unsettling feeling about our adoption. I think all parents take offense to any "questions" in regards to the ethical and/or authentic nature of their adoption. We are no different! I, for one, could not rest until I knew the "truth" behind the claims this "sick" woman was making. With this being said, it was a goal of mine, on our trip to Guatemala this past June, to locate the lady we knew as Amaya's grandmother.

I had little to go on other than knowing the general area she was from in relation to where Amaya was born. I had set aside only one day to conduct this search, fully expecting to NOT find her. I secured the services of an individual not experienced in "searching," but someone whom I trusted and understood. We set out for our destination early one morning with nothing more than a first name and photo of Amaya's grandmother. We had met her during the abandoment process at Feliciano's hogar and had taken several photos along wth video. Because of her uncertainty about American families adopting Guatemalan children, she had requested a meeting with us to "check us out." It is hard to explain how emotional it was at this time. We had no guarantees that she would allow the abandonment to proceed. At anytime, she could have said "no." I don't think I have been more nervous or mindful of my "Ps" and "Qs" than since the first date I had with my wife! 8)

At that time, we had every reason to believe she was indeed Amaya's bio-grandmother. We had photos, provided by grandmother, of a half-sister and half-brother of Amaya. Every indication we had was genuine.

Upon arriving in a mid-sized village a couple hours outside Guatemala City, we stopped at the first "city hall" type building we could find. My translator and I entered a section of the building that reminded me of any other city hall where families of all sorts are congregating with different concerns. Our first inquiries met some resistance, as it was told to us that "outsiders" asking about locals sends up red flags. It was indicated to us that they were leary of the possibility of harm being brought to anyone they may talk to us about. With adoption, for some in Guatemala, still being a very "hot topic," we refrained as best we could from divulging too much. In no way did we wish to bring any sort of shame or embarassment upon this family. Even with the possibility of not locating her, I instructed my translator to NOT divulge this was regarding an adoption.

We did indeed "bend the truth" a bit to avoid complicating the situation, but we were able to build trust with a city employee who asked if we had a photo. I ran back to the car and snatched the photo from the front seat and returned. I no sooner placed the photo on the desk before both individuals we were talking with made it very clear that they knew this woman well, and she was a "legend" in town. A legend in the best sense of the word. She had worked at a local bakery for years, that evidently had been a very popular place for locals. One of the individuals said he knew exactly where she lived and he would gladly ride with us to her location. In a matter of 20 minutes, we had located a woman I had thought about every day for two years. We were about to find out whether Blanca Martinez was the Medusa I believed her to be, or would our biggest fear become a reality.