Thursday 22 May 2003 Update (RE-posted with permission from Susana Luarca, Attorney at Law)
And now, continued in Part Two of this week's The
Thursday Update
e. New Psychological Testing Requirements
f. Continued Outlook for Adoptions Processing
g. Commitment to You
h. New Pro-Adoption Campaign to be Announced
NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING REQUIREMENTS
The Central Authority today mentioned that from now
on, they will require that all adoptive family members
over the age of seven years must undergo psychological
testing. This obviously creates confusion such as (a)
what about family members who do not live at home,
possibly away at college or on their own?, and, (b) up
to what age?, and (c) what type of test?, (d) what
will PGN have as a criteria when reviewing such
tests? And, importantly at what date does this take
effect and what about files that are now in various
stages of processing?
We will be getting more clarification on this and will
post any new info in the next Thursday Update on
Guatemalan Adoptions. Meanwhile, don't panic - this is
just another small wrinkle in the process that can be
easily complied with albeit at an extra cost. Of
course this does nothing to remedy any perceived
'problems' with Guatemalan adoptions
CONTINUED OUTLOOK FOR ADOPTIONS PROCESSING
We are very confident that adoptions will continue in
Guatemala. Some people, based on their personal
experiences in Cambodia, have tried to establish
similarities between both countries. However, we see
only differences between the two circumstances.
In Cambodia it was the United States who closed their
doors to children adopted from Cambodia as a reaction
to the allegations of corruption, *even when* the
adoptions were legal/proper according to the Cambodian
legal system. In Guatemala, there never has been a
USA intention to close adoptions.
There are some delays, complications and uncertainty
BUT the source of these unfortunate issues is the
accession of Guatemala to the Hague Convention, a
convention that supporters say will facilitate
inter-country adoptions.
The Hague Convention does not apply to the United
States at this time. The United States consul has been
in close contact with the PGN, because
the United States would prefer to keep adoptions open
in Guatemala. The director of the PGN has told the
representatives of our lawyers group that the PGN has
promised the US representatives adoptions will be kept
open and fluid. This appears to be true, despite a few
delays, additional requirements and some general
confusion on their part.
COMMITMENT TO YOU
The Association in Defense of Adoption is in the
process of developing our website where we will post
theses Updates and available information,
clearly, professionally and with all the facts. Our
website will be a reliable source of up-to-date
information. The website will present this
information without being seen as having the intention
to mislead adoptive parents and/or those interested in
adopting from Guatemala about what is actually
happening in Guatemala.
Of course we cannot advise you to adopt or not to
adopt from Guatemala. But because we are in Guatemala,
on the ground here and next to where everything is
happening, we are in a position to provide the latest
and most reliable information. We'll give you the
facts, tell you about our efforts to keep adoptions
open and share with you the latest developments. We're
committed to realistic and practical information and
strategies that work. (Nice-sounding theories about
how adoptions might be done in an utopian ideal world
fall beyond the scope of our information service.)
NEW PRO-ADOPTION CAMPAIGN
We've just begun our first phase in raising funds to
initiate an aggressive, effective and widespread
pro-adoption educational campaign. I am sure you will
want to be a part of this to help assist us in keeping
adoptions open in Guatemala. Look for a future post
with info on how you can help.
Thank you to those who have personally expressed their
gratitude for "The Thursday Update on Guatemalan
Adoptions". Your comments are appreciated and
encouraging.
Best regards,
Susana Luarca, Attorney at Law
Asociación Defensores de la Adopción
Guatemala City
continuation.......PART 3
WHAT MAKES A CASE A "PRE-MARCH 5 CASE"?
Although this has been discussed before, here is a
reminder as to what constitutes a "post-March 5" case:
When the adoptive parents give a power of attorney to
a Guatemalan lawyer, the document itself has to be
legalized by the Ministry of Exterior Relations and
translated into Spanish. (If it is already in Spanish,
only the seals and legalizations
that are in other language must be translated). Then,
a notary has to make the document part of the
Protocolo. (“Protocolo” is the collection
of all kinds of deeds authorized by the notary,
written in a special sealed paper that is sold only to
Notaries by the Ministry of Finances). After the
document is inserted among the pages of the Protocol
Register and a deed is recorded by the Notary saying
that he/she has done so, then a copy of the deed in
the Protocolo page and of the foreign document and its
translation and legalization is presented to the
General Archives of Protocolos, to be recorded.
There, the document is reviewed, a fee is paid and a
seal is stamped in the last page. The seal states the
date and the number of record. That is THE DATE that
determines whether a case is pre- or post- March 5th.
The relinquishment by the birth mother or by the
person who has legal custody of the child must also be
dated pre-March 5. The relinquishment by the birth
mother is usually before the Protocolo seal date, but
both documents have to be dated before March 5th,
2003.
REGARDING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORT:
This new requirement was told to the director of the
group of US adoption agencies who talked to one of the
lawyers of PGN. The lawyer told them that she
believed that everybody living in the household
(parents, children and relatives) older than 7 years
old has to get the report. Her opinion is not final
and we will look into that.
I talked to Elizabeth de Larios (advisor to Rudio
Lecsan Mérida,chief of section of PGN) this morning
and asked her about this. She said that it is
ridiculous, because the parents are approved in their
country and that is what the Hague Convention is
about,to accept the other countries' procedures
without having to repeat them in the country of origin
of the child.
Ths applies only to post March 5 cases and only to
those cases of adoptive parents whose countries have
ratified the Hague Convention.
The United States has not ratified the Hague
Convention, but its provisions could be applied to US
adoptions if you, the United States citizens, don't
do something soon.
We wll talk about this in my next post.
Best regards,
Susana Luarca
Attorney At Law,
Asociación Defensores de la Adopción