Dateline Interview

I have to say, "I was not drilled with tough questions!" I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing or not. If I remember correctly, my interview lasted for nearly an hour and a half. I was rather pleased by this after it was indicated to me by some that it could be four hours long. I don't know enough to answer questions for four hours 8).

The questions started with our previous adoption of Amaya and all we went through with that. Yes, we had babies swapped and we were continually lied to about various stages of the adoption and all of these things were touched on briefly. Since this is not part of the focus of the program, their emphasis was on "how we felt." From there, I was asked about RAI, Mary Bonn, and Blanca Martinez. Most questions focused on "who was at fault." We then discussed current investigations and Hague implications. We talked about Guatemalan non-compliance and what would happen to the children if it all comes to an end. Needless to say, I was naturally passionate when it came to the fate of the children caught in this mess. I tried to stress that the Guatemalan government has NO answers to the conflicts between centralizing their program and/or maintaining aspects of the private sector. I referred to FOA and their rebuttal from time to time - after all, they are the "professionals."

The Guatemalan government does NOT wish to process adoptions. Why in the world would they?? They barely have the capacity to function effectively now, let alone adding thousands of adoptions to their agenda. So, who will do this?? No one knows for sure, unless there are private attorneys involved to some degree. We talked about types of "oversight" necessary to clean up the current corruption. As others believe, I do as well that when we (and Guatemala) start putting people in jail for their actions, we will go a long way in "righting the ship." Rather than shut the entire system down, we need to "weed out" the bad players and continue to strive to be pragmatic in our approach. If it works - keep it, if it doesn't work - get rid of it. I urged Dateline to speak with the First Lady and get her to tell us what her plan is for all of these children when there are no longer families waiting for them. Where will they be housed and cared for? What social programs will be in place for the children? What social programs for the biomoms will be provided? The private sector will no longer spend their own money to care for these children when the government should be doing so.

There will be "bloodshed" in Guatemala if the U.S. is no longer able to adopt. What choices will the impoverished have if 5,000 adoptions are removed?? I tried to emphasize the .............

"human" side to this as best I could. I saw a child once in an orphanage that had a mother who felt like she had NO choice. She had taken a sharp instrument to the child's throat and had stuffed paper in the child's mouth to quiet her as "her choice" came to a conclusion. Fortunately for this child, someone heard the whimpering and the child was rescued. With substantial brain damage and severed vocal chords, this child was adopted by an American family. What chance would this child and others have without loving families from the U.S. I don't like telling this story, but sometimes we don't take a serious enough look at what might be in store for children in countries that don't have the opportunities that we are blessed with here in the U.S.

I was asked about biomoms receiving money. I told Dateline, and others who may be skeptical, that WE need to give the biomoms of Guatemala a little more credit than to make "blanket" statements that biomoms are coerced into giving up their child. Are they "payed" to "produce" children - ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I referred them to the FOA rebuttal for more clarity and then we talked about what biomoms in the U.S. are entitled to from adoptive families. I asked them to "decide" if THEY thought biomoms in Guatemala deserved the same respect and fair treatment that biomoms in the states receive.

We then got personal again about "bad press" and "what sells." I told them it was an attack on my family and every other adoptive family to "assume" all Guatemalan adoptions are corrupt. The thousands of perfectly legal and ethical adoptions that occur annually are testament to this. To continually present to the public the "negatives" with adoptions from Guatemala is not fair to my two daughters nor my family as a whole nor the adoption community as a whole. To attempt to stigmatize my adoption "angers" me to no end. My daughters should not have to defend themselves from false accusations because the press inaccurately portrays Guatemalan adoptions. Don't make those same "blanket" assumptions based on the actions of a few!!

I can't remember every detail, but overall I was pleased. What parts will be shown and how they will be presented are a mystery to me...............................................

After the day was over, I anxiously returned to my family at the Marriott. My lovely, legal, ethical, and yet non-typically adopted daughter Amaya and I went for a swim and splashed around for the remainder of the evening. We shared a cheeseburger and fries and talked about "things" three year olds talk about!! To think anyone has a valid motive for casting a shadow over such a loving existence is beyond my realm of understanding.

Troy