5/15 Update from Asociacion Defensores de la Adopcion

This is a re-post (originally, posted on the St. Johns Guatemala Adopt list) with permission from Susana Luarca, Attorney at Law:

Re: "The Thursday Update" on Guatemalan Adoptions

Dear Friends,

The Current Situation
Yesterday, a large group of adoption professionals
attempted to arrange a meeting with the PGN Director
about the raids of the foster homes, where 13
children were "rescued". The Director only agreed to
meet with three representatives of the larger group.
The newspapers reported today that a total
of 16 children were "rescued" from "clandestine"
foster homes; no names were given.

It was explained that the raids were done by a social
worker in the Child Section of the PGN, but that she
had no authorization to do so and measures were
being taken to discipline her. The 16 children were
transferred to various orphanages.

The purpose of these raids has been always the same:
to discredit adoptions. It seems that every time an
adoption law is being discussed in Congress, someone
with a little power asks the police to raid houses
where children are appropriately cared for during
their adoption process. The newspapers" headlines
take care of the rest, trumpeting the "network in
illegal adoption" or similarly misleading words. As it
has happened before, the lawyers will prove now the
origin of these children, the birthmothers will give a
deposition and the children will then be returned to
their foster mothers.

Dr. Valladares, the congressman who proposed the
current adoption law project - which in its current
form we oppose - resigned two days ago from the FRG
(leading political party of President Portillo). Today
the newspapers report that he claims the government,
which also employed his wife and several other
relatives, fired all of them as retaliation for his
resignation.

Congress will resume sessions in August, when
everyone"s full attention will be focused on the
elections that will take place in November. I would
venture a guess that the adoption law will not be a
priority at that point.

The Director of the Central Authority established that
the birth mothers now have to be interviewed, to
comply with the Hague Convention. The first
interviews will start today. At this point, it doesn"t
seem as if anything else will be required, but only
time will tell.

The Director of the PGN, Rudio Lecs n M‚rida has
not signed off on many of the pending adoption files,
and they are piling up on top of his desk. It seems
that he has been "too busy" with other matters.

Our Continuing Struggle
We adoption professionals are working hard and working
constantly to keep adoptions open. It is hard and
unpaid extra work but we do this because we know
that there is no other option but adoption for many of
the needy Guatemalan children. Unfortunately, there
seems to be a consistent and alarming lack of
concern on the part of the government for the needs of
these children; this includes a lack of concern and
plans for the many who will be "stranded" if
adoptions slow down or shut down. There is virtually
no funding to care for poor children who are abandoned
or are without parents and homes.

After the Adoption Law Seminar last week, I spoke with
Gladys Acosta, the Peruvian UNICEF delegate. I told
her that the adoption law project that she had
just praised so highly, was nothing more than a way to
shut down adoptions. I also asked her if UNICEF was
going to fund the orphanages and pay for foster
mothers, because without the reimbursement money and
income from adoptions, they would not be able to
support the children. She answered that taking care of
the unwanted children was not the concern of UNICEF,
but of the local government. She claimed that UNICEF
was only interested to see that Guatemala passed the
laws that the international community expected,
according to the international
treaties that Guatemala has agreed to be a party to.

Accepting Referrals
For those who are undecided about accepting a referral
and have asked my opinion, I tell them that it is a
very personal decision. However, if it were my
decision, I would not hesitate for a moment to accept
a referral from Guatemala at this time.

Guatemala is still a country where adoptions are open
and the children have, as a general rule, few major
health issues and the foster care is good. Having said
that, there is always a risk, and therefore always a
few exceptions. Intercountry adoption is a very
complex process that involves two different
governments' laws, involves many people and sometimes
includes the challenge of dealing with various types
of problems. Added to this is the uncertainty of
ever-changing laws, rules, practices and regulations
all of which are out of your, and our, control during
the adoption process.

Those who start an adoption process must have
realistic expectations and a healthy dose of patience.
However, as Guatemalan adoption professionals, we are
quite confident that adoptions will not close,
especially in the near future.

If you read the archives of this Adoption List,
beginning in May 1997, you will find that the same
concern about the closing of adoptions has been
looming and discussed since that time. And, even
before that time the closing of adoptions
was an ever-present concern and ongoing discussion.

To have kept adoptions open and at the same time
increased the ethics and integrity of the process (ie,
DNA testing among others) is continuing and
present proof that the hard work of many adoption
professionals has paid off. Many times it has also
been evident that the faith and passionate help of
adoptive parents has also helped to save adoptions
from being shut down by the sometimes under-handed
work of several anti-adoption forces.

Thank you to all who have been a part of this valiant
struggle. May we all keep working together to help
provide a better life to the always precious, but
sometimes unfortunate, children of Guatemala.

Sincerely and with Best Regards,

Susana Luarca
Attorney at Law
Member of the Asociacion Defensores de la Adopcion
(and very proud of it)