Excellent! And good luck with PGN. I for one would love to see it cleaned up!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Thank you all for all that you do to keep adoptions open and to keep us posted on the situations.

Susana,

Gracias, gracias! Thank you so much for your tireless energy and comittment to the children of Guatemala!

Thank God that this executive order is no longer a threat!!!!

May God bless for all you do in behalf of the children,

Gloria
mom to 5 Guatemalan blessings

Oh my GOSH THANK YOU for posting this!

Big sigh of relief here!

I am so grateful and relieved! Yesterday was a huge scare for so many of us.

I am one of those long time PGN waiters.We've been in since late May because of a typo on my little girls certifications. It is so comforting to know that there are people that do care about getting our kids home and will speak up. Sometimes adoption can feel so powerless and scary. Thank you for all of you who are doing something to help.

Sincerely,
Angel

does Susana have a website that we can track? She is always insightful and on top of things.
Thanks for all the info! JR

Thank you for keeping us posted so quickly! You and my agency (FTC) are the only ones I rely on for the most accurate, hot-off-the-presses info.

GOD BLESS YOU - the positive effect you have on the children, and on the families, cannot be described.

Thank you for keeping us up to date. Thank you for all you do on behalf of the children.

The PGN comment alone brought tears to my eyes - thank you so much for this post.

This eases my mind!! I am so thankful for this site and for all of the hard work that is put into it. As well as for all the hard work Susana Luarca has done for all of our children waiting to come home.
Keep up the great work !!!

Muchas, muchas gracias, Susana! We are so very grateful for your hard work on behalf of the children we are waiting to give a loving home to. Thank you for bringing this information to us and easing our minds!

Thank you Susana for your updates, and your tireless work. It's all for the children! Bless you and all that you do for them, and us!

That's great news, but please clarify something. While the executive order is no longer a threat today, what about the entire Hague situation? Don't we still need to be concerned that the US is recognizing Guatemala as a Hague country and won't allow adoptions until they become compliant. What do we need to do about this?

Amen and thank you. We have been in PGN for nearly 45 days, w/ one ko. We were so scared last night!!!! thank you for your HARD work.

Heather

Thanks very much for posting this. Is there anything we can do to help clean up PGN?

God Bless you Susana!!!!

Susan is an angel. Thank you for the last paragraph...the words about PGN. Thank you for your attention to the children that are held hostage there.
Jennifer
(Gabbie 9 months in PGN)

Thank you so much! People ask me daily why the PGN does not feel a rush to get the children to their lifelong homes. I am so thankful that someone is and will be holding them accountable to those children who need love and to those parents whom have so much love to give.

That is the best statement I have heard Yet !!! Thank you so much for being so strong and positive

We have all waited on PGN long enough...watching our children grow up in pictures. If you need any support from adoptive parents, there are plenty of us sitting in PGN who will be happy to support in any way.

Muchas Gracias Susana

no system is perfect, but a system that forgets or ignores the impact on children is one that needs to be challenged - in any country

My husband and I were fortunate enough to have met Susana and toured her wonderful Hogar. She is a beautiful lady on the outside as well as the inside! She does a wonderful job caing for the children in her hogar and she has been so helpful with my adoption. My little Esau will be home soon thanks to her intervention. We will be eternally grateful for this woman. God does put his angels on earth and he dresses them up as to look like one of us and you are seeing her in action.

M and S from Pennsylvania

Thank you Susana. You are definitely a true advocate for the rights of the children. If I were with you I would give you a great big hug. Thank you again for fighting for our children. May God Bless You for all that you do!

God said "Bless the little children". You are our heart and eyes in Guatemala. Our two little ones are half-way home and now we can believe that what is right will happen. They will come home to a beautiful and blessed life with two loving parents and a big sister (from Guatemala). Thank you and if we can help, please advise whatever you need.

Susana,

Words alone cannot express our gratitude for your relentless efforts. From the bottom of our hearts, we so appreciate all you do to send our children home to us. I too, have a daughter in PGN.

Kathy

Susana,
I too just want to say Muchas Gracias to you and your staff for all the work you do to help the children. May God Bless you with His Abundant FAVOR for all you do! Thank you from a parent who already has her Son home, but loves all the children of Guatemala!

What wonderful news, Susan Thank you for sharing it so quickly. This makes my weekend. Now if something could be done with PGN to get cases moving quickly, what a blessing that would be. You are so right when you say that the worst enemy of an abandoned child is time. We must all do something to make them realize the damage they do to their country's children the longer the process takes.

Hi All- Yes, this is good news...for now. Those of us that have adopted before or have been involved with Guatemalan adoptions for some time, may notice a pattern which occurs every few months regarding executive rulings, threats of halting adoptions, jeopardizing not only referrals and in-progress adoptions but also dreams. Though, one might rejoice that, "Oh good, my adoption can proceed", what seems to be a major problem here is the lack of an agreed-upon procedure between lawyers, agencies and birthmothers before entering PGN. This may very well be the reasoning for Guatemalan officials apprehension for the current Guatemalan adoption process. Resolving this may also resolve and give solution to some of the long waits in PGN due to investigations. This might be speculation, but it seems to address the pattern of periodic questioning of the process by Guatemalan officials. If a standard practice for all applications for adoptions were initiated it might make it easier for the PGN to proceed in a more timely fashion. Marie

Suzanna

Thank you for your post. I cannot tell you how relieved i am. Thank you for being so clear and prompt in informing us. I can now start to enjoy my weekend after a really nail biting time. How can we support what you are doing? Sara.

Thank you for all your hard work and for keeping us informed, Susana. It means so much to all of us waiting. Now that we have averted this crisis, do you anticipate others down the road? Just worried about future roadblocks by this administration. Or, do you think the Pres will now back off? Do you have a sense of how much of this was political posturing or is he serious about truly changing the system? Also, I'm worried that, despite the withdrawal, there may just be overall slow-downs as a way of impeding adoptions (de-facto). Your insight is appreciated.

Thank you so much Susana for your great work. Let us all hope and pray that the PGN starts to work faster to get all these babies home to their loving homes. We too are in the PGN and I dream of my baby all of the time and just holding her in my arms.

Susana,
You are awesome and we thank God for you and your staff. We too have alittle girl in PGN. We were lied to for five months being told we were in. After hiring AS we found out the truth. We finally got in 8/25 and just got kicked out for a typo in the Social Worker's report and PGN requested a Birth Certificate with a newer date. Two things that are pathetic reasons to get kicked out for. Our pre-approval sat at USCIS from 2/22/06 until 8/06. So when you talk about wasted time of our child's life it hits close to home. We got our referral when she was 3 months old she is now almost 1 1/2. There is no excuse for this. We just hope she can come home soon. We have missed so much already. Keep up the super push to make things better for all these little latin gems!

Susana,
May God bless you and give you strength to fight this battle for the children of Guatemala, thank you for giving them a voice and the adopting parents. We are thrilled to know that someone is taking a stand against the PGN, it is about time. If they only new how the waiting parents have to suffer and wait to hold their little one and the sacrafices they have made to get them. We are on your side and so is the Lord, together with his help I have faith knowing that nothing is impossible with God. We are praying for you, so keep up the fight!!!! We love you.

Susana, if you can make the changes, at least trying your best to go that way, the orphans in Guatemala have found their champion, and you are giving so much hope to so many families around the world. Thank you for our future little daughter, for us, and for everybody who will be touched by your battle.

My daughter's case originally entered PGN on 1/17/06. Tomorrow, will mark the start of week #38 since my case entered PGN. I sincerely hope the messagethat has been given is true and PGN is held accountable for the delays. My little girl is now 20 months old. Her transition will be harder for her and our family. This is my second Guatemalan adoption. I had hoped it would go quicker than my first in 2003-2004. My oldest daughter's case was held up by a backlog of cases then. She was home at 12 months and her entire adoption start to finish was 16 months.
This adoption has been a very painful, emotionally wrenching one. At the end of October I will be starting the third year since this adoption began. I never dreamed that it would take this long and take such an emotional toll on me. Please do all that is possible to hold those accountable for their actions. Little children and their families waiting their arrival on the ones that are suffering. Let's end the suffering and infuse some joy at this point into everyone's lives!

THANK GOD! The last message came with the biggest sigh of relief heard round the US. It is hard to be at the mercy of others and special interest groups for a hope to have a child. My family and friends were upset, thousands of us and our families were upset.
People outside of adoption are completely dismayed and shocked that it is made so difficult to adopt a child THAT HAS NO PARENTS. Noone can understand why PGN makes not just the adoptive family wait so long, but the child. The most positive thing they can do for the good of the child is to quickly place them.

I was wondering if people could continue to post PGN timelines. I thought it may be interesting in light of the events of last week to see how things are progressing. Thanks.

We went in on 7/11 and are still in. We do have a minor birth mother and the interview was not done until 9/25. No news of any kickouts yet, and we're praying we don't get kicked out at this point after waiting this long.

PGN timeline:
Referral 11/03/05
in 3/10/06
K'o 5/3/06
back in 6/19/06
K'o 8/3/06
back in 8/10/06
Ko & back in 8/24/06
still waiting

Sammy,
There is a specific PGN form on this website where people discuss their timelines for PGN.Just scroll down on the home page of this site and you will see this thread.

PGN Moving Thread

You can find that the "PGN Moving" thread by clicking here:
http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000477.html

It really is helpful to hear feedback from others, so I hope people continue to post and share about their PGN experiences and questions on this thread.

In PGN 7/14
K/O 8/3
In PGN 8/24
K/O'd again?
In PGN 9/12

Needing my baby in my arms now

thanks so very much for all you have done and will continue to do for these children and families. God will bless you for keeping the faith and doing His work. We cant wait to get our daughter home! Amy

This message seems to be one that has been received very well by everyone. But, I don't understand what it means. Could someone explain it to me, please? does it mean that PGN will release all cases, guaranteed? Does it mean that PGN will DEFINITELY work faster. I hope someone can please explain. Thank you. I am looking forward from hearing from as many people who can respond.

This message seems to be one that has been received very well by everyone. But, I don't understand what it means. Could someone explain it to me, please? does it mean that PGN will release all cases, guaranteed? Does it mean that PGN will DEFINITELY work faster. I hope someone can please explain. Thank you. I am looking forward from hearing from as many people who can respond.

It is good news, but basically we (everyone) just "dodged a bullet" that would have certainly effected all adoptions.

No, this does NOT change PGN and anything they are currently doing. Although there hasn't been a lot written in regards to PGN, they continue to "stall" cases by issuing previos for virtually anything. Even the "best" agencies out there are experiencing difficulties getting the "cleanest" paperwork through PGN.

Guatemala has some "unwritten" rules for handling adoption cases when the First Lady and her "cronies" are soooooo against it. It is very disturbing that regardless of one's opinion of international adoption and all the ethical questions that go along with it, children are the "pawns" in a game that involves a tremendous amount of money for EVERYONE involved.

And to think, from what I have been told, Pres. Berger and his wife have adopted children in their immediate family. And, the irony of it all is that these children were adopted from Eastern Europe!!

tw

The JCIS is reporting on their website that the documents reported to be generated by Pres. Oscar Berger were fake. Has anyone else seen this? I don't see anything posted here or on any of the other Guatemala adoption sites.
Kathleen

Sorry! Here is the website for the JCICS:

http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.htm

Kathleen

Kathleen -

I don't have any verification that this happened. It came from DOS which I don't believe is trustworthy in the discussion of the Executive Order. There motive seems to be to sweep everything under the rug.

Let me summarize the events:
1 - I'm notified that there is an Executive Order that has been written which is intended to force an adoption law that has not been passed. We did not post this at that time because we thought it was a bit extreme and wanted to see if this was something he really thought about doing considering the implecations. This information came directly from Guatemala from ADA.
2 - US Embassy has a meeting with attorneys and tells them that they had better become Hague compliant or adoptions will end.
3 - President threatens to sign the Executive Order for Childrens Day within days of the Embassy meeting.
4 - The President is informed that this is a felony. We post the threat as we feel it *could* happen. We also feel that parents need to be aware of the tug-of-war going on with Hague related issues in Guatemala. Susana's post clearly outlines the repercussions.
5 - DOS responds by dismissing it as a rumor, but to cover themselves, addresses it as a "rumor that adoptions have been halted"....something we never posted. Who else smells...cover-up??? JCICS posted this too taking their cue from what DOS was feeding them.
6 - We add to our post that we have the documents proving that the threat was not a rumor. These came directly from the Presidents office. At no time did we state that it had gone into effect only that it was a threat that had been made by the President's office.
7 - DOS posts immediately that there is a rumor of "fake signed" documents that they are afraid are being used to solicit payments from families. I'm sure they couldn't produce an instance of this...they were apparently hoping that folks would think that this is what Guatadopt obtained or that somehow we were involved in it.

What it boils down to is that JCICS and possibly ETHICA have unknowingly become the information puppet(s) of DOS in their attempts to become involved in the negotiations. Afterall, who would challenge DOS to produce evidence?? While I am disappointed in the positions certain agencies have taken, I recognize that the underlying reason for these positions....with exception to DOS...is for ethical adoptions.

I believe that DOS feels that information extended to families threatens their ability to push a Hague compliant law (even if it stops adoptions and leaves many children with no hope of ever having a family). Unfortunately, their responses have proved how far they will go to move their own agenda...they certainly don't want to be challenged.

In summary...my answer is NO, I do not give credence to their "story". I have no reliable evidence.

Kelly,
Just to play devil's advocate here...
From my perspective, I don't have evidence o substantiate either guatadopt, ADA, DOS, or JCICS' claims. Nobody is giving anything other than their word.
I *do* trust guatadopt, based on past experiences with the information found on this site. However, to be fair, you are not giving any more proof than DOS.
Since you claim to have a copy of the protocolo in question, it is simply a matter of scanning and posting it online. There will always be sceptics that say it is a fake (maybe DOS is calling it a fake because they assume you will post it). But for most of us, it would be reassuring to see the document that has caused so much controversy.

Actually, Suzanne...I certainly agree. I've asked someone to translate 2 of the documents that I have been sent, but these are sizable documents in PDF format and it takes time to go through them.

I planned on posting the translations WITH the documents when they were available along with the context with which they were presented....and I certainly want to verify that I am posting the correct documents before publishing anything.

I've posted Susanna's explanations about the possible repercussions of these EOs or laws being passed. However, once I have read the translation, I expect that I will post more about what *I THINK* that might mean.

Of course, proposed laws or EOs have NOT been enacted as of yet and technically do not meet the description DOS warned about. But I do believe DOS is very unhappy with parents getting the jist of what has been discussed....ie: we might organize and make their lives difficult if DOS lets a poor adoption law pass ;-)

The link to send your messages to UNICEF is: http://www.unicef.org/about/contact_contactusform.html

I am currently in PGN (8/29) and pray not just everyday, but every hour that our baby girl will come home before the holidays. Kelly - is there anything I can do as an "adoption activist" to help? Can we send letters, talk to our congress people, etc.? I want to do something...

Kelly,

I look forward to reading through the protocolo, although I'm sure I'll be fuming about it afterward.
I wonder what the DOS will have to say after you post a document they tried to dismiss as a mere rumor...

Thank you!
Suzanne

I am not a usual poster on this serve, but do read it everyday. My husband and I are waiting to enter the PGN. We cuurently are waiting on our USE pre-approval. I was under the impression that the PGn was moving again; now I hear it is not. Could someone please talk to me about the PGn and whats going on there?
Also, with everything going on with this hague thing....instead of re-hashing it all over again, I just want to know this: IN laymans terms: Are we in trouble..will our kids come home? And if not, why are they still handing out referrals????????
Please someone, respond.

thanks!

Mandy -

PGN is not "as" slow as it has been in the past. But it is like going to the grocery store. There are times when there is nobody in line and there are times when it backs up....With PGN, there are times when they seem to hang on some cases (for no reason)...but it does not mean that they have completely stalled (as of yet, anyway).

As far as the Hague: In layman terms...we think your children will come home and we'll fight to make sure they do. But that is as much as we *CAN* do.

Why do agencies still give referrals? Simple. Because there are children that need homes. It is a child-centric perspective (even if you consider your agency less than reliable!) Moreover, there have been various threats and proposed laws since 2002. If every agency stopped referrals at a mention of a threat, many of our children would not be home today (including mine!!!!). Most of us would agree that the hardship and the fears were a small price to pay for the addition to our families. But going back to being "in process", you are sponsoring the future of a child as best you can. Try to keep this in mind and it will help you deal with the ups and downs.

Quickly, lets talk about the side-effects of various restrictions/slowdowns. One such restriction is in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The court process is longer and temporarily shut down for a while. For the orphanages (called Baby houses)...it has meant that more children have been left in the homes. The caretakers are becoming depressed and overworked with so many children and none moving to forever families.

During the PGN slowdown, the private homes have had to deal with more children equaling less room to play and be children.

These conditions happened in a very short amount of time...so you can imagine what longterm slowdowns and beaurocratic redtape can do to the children who are supposed to be protected.

Mandy,
we too are waiting to enter PGN. we got the pre approval notice on Monday Oct,2nd.(I was in Guatemala) our daughter was born 4/12/06.

I was in Guatemala from 9/25-10/03 and was even in the same hotel at the same time as the president and reps from other countries (talk about security) this was my 2nd trip to visit and I was helping another mom bring her son home. I am so ready to bring our girl home. I pray that PGN will go smoothly and I pray that all families have their angels home soon.

Mandy
we got the call that we are in PGN (finally) hope you have recieved same news from your agency. keep in touch and keep us posted. pray we both have our angel babies home super soon.
Rebecca H
feel free to email me @ hernandezrands@aol.com