I wonder what they mean by "contemplating"...those who haven't started the adoption process at all??

This is all so scary...

Unfortunately this proves that the actions of one, WILL have an impact on the majority. I'm concerrned that this will slow our cases down, but hopefully we'll all get our children home.

I am also praying that adoptions will continue for all of those children needing a home.

Lisa - Waiting for Maylin

While I applaud the DOS for looking into ethics violations, I am concerned about how that will hold up the process for everyone. Several people with my agency, myself included, have been waiting over a year to bring their child home. DOS needs to concentrate on known violations of ethics, but at the same time those of us who have been waiting a year or longer, and working with an ethical agency, shouldn't be held up with more scrutiny. We've already been scritinized enough!

Kevin (not guatadopt.com Kevin) - Which agency are you using? You can contact me directly at cavalierwoman2002@yahoo.com.
Thanks!

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't this the same statement that was issued earlier in the week???

Gail

Yesterday right after reading the Department of State posting regarding Guatemalan adoptions I wrote the following e-mail to them. I am not assuming that no violations ocurred at all. I just want some feeling from my government that they will support those in process that did their due diligence and are following all legal and ethical procedures. I'd also like a clearer assessment of just how widespread these problems are in Guatemala. Are we talking epidemic or rarer outbreak?

My e-mail to DOS (for what it's worth):

I read with great concern the notice titled, "Guatemala Status of Intercountry Adoptions." The report is most alarming in that it states facts but does not provide any data backing these accusations. My family is in the process of adopting from Guatemala. Our case has been in PGN since August. We did our research and have used a very respected and reputable attorney in the United States that had equally scrutinized legal partners in Guatemala. We have complete confidence in the ethics, legality and legitimacy of our case. And we are not alone.

It is my understanding that thousands of legal, above board adoptions have occurred over the years. There are entire communities (both virtual and actual) of adoptive parents and their Guatemalan children in this country. I would like to know statistically how many proven cases of fraud there have been and over what time period? I'd like to know the percentage of cases with documented unethical behavior. You write of birth mothers that are at times fraudulent -- we had the birth mother undergo a DNA analysis. Are you implying that these DNA tests are being manipulated?

The greatest concern I have now is that your notice said absolutely nothing about what the Department of State will do to help expedite those adoptions in process. What they will do on behalf of American families whose lives will be crushed should the politics of this situation cause a moratorium on adoptions from Guatemala? If a freeze must happen to work out the process then there must be clear communication and a date in which no new petitions for adoption will be accepted. In this way no child is left dangling while issues are investigated.

Your statement that you will no longer be able to process cases quickly is unacceptable. To add a further delay to a system that is already unbearably slow and keep children from the families that will ultimately raise and love them for their entire lives is unpardonable. It is, quite frankly, as unethical as the practices you are purporting to be so diligently trying to thwart.

Please let me know what assurances you have for parents that are deeply in the process as we are and who are not naïve and have done their due diligence and are certain that they are legally adopting a child who is in need of a home.

This is very scary, trying not to panic but it's obvious this is going to cause those in process more delays, right? We've been in PGN for 15 wks already. This is really upsetting.

Kevin, I wrote a letter to the DOS (not that they care! LOL!) I posted it in the DOS thread if you're interested.

Maybe if we ALL started pestering them, something would happen! Hormones raging just like pregnancy may be interfering with my brain, but maybe if we honorable, tax paying, law abiding US citizens UNITED, we could get something done, at least about our own government. (I am a social studies teacher--naturally idealistic.) LOL!

It makes me sick how a few people can ruin it for so many, and the children who suffer because of this. The U.S. should hire more people if they plan to scrutinize cases more so that there isn't a huge backlog of cases and children waiting to come home.

I wonder which part of the process will be affected the most? Whatever it is, I hope they have it figured out in advance, so the cases still move!

I agree with that email sent to the DOS and I also sent mine alone objecting to this situation!

FYI, I just went back to the DOS website and in the 2nd to last paragraph the wording has been changed and this comment has been added...

"However, the U.S. Department of State is not planning an immediate shutdown of adoptions at this time."

We have been in PGN almost a year. From what our attorney says he is very optimistic that our daughter's case will be released next week and we should have her home by Easter. I won't hold my breath.

Sandy,

Bravo! What a great letter. I too wrote an email but I was not as eloquent as you. I asked them to be specific about the delays they predicted. I also asked if we could gather additiional information to help them with their investigations. I have not heard back.

FWIW I previously contacted them on Feb. 15 when they declared their support for the Protocol of Good Practices. That time the "Hague Implementation Staff U.S. Central Authority Department of State" responded to me the same day.

Jenn in PA

I want to start out by saying my prayers are with the children waiting for homes in Guatemala as well as the adopting families in the United States who will be impacted if the United States cannot process cases quickly because of the ongoing investigation. I hope and pray that the United States finds the resources necessary to process cases in a TIMELY manner and to expedite their investigation.

At the same time, I think everyone needs to keep in mind that the findings of this investigation could have serious ramifications, not only for Guatemalan adoptions, but for international relations between the United States and the world. If there is one thing people care about, it is children. If it turns out to be true that Guatemalan children were being smuggled into the United States, can you imagine the outrage in the international community? The DOS must proceed cautiously because of the political and social ramifications of the evidence found by the U.S. Immigration and Custom agents.

I also want everyone to remember that it is not necessarily just people who are in favor of Guatemalan adoptions who read this website and its posts. For that reason, some of the posts regarding Mary Bonn (that occurred earlier) caused me a great deal of alarm. If officials from the DOS were reading this website, the posts may have concerned them too. For instance, there was a post from a mother (of three adopted children) who insinuated that adopting parents would look the other way (legally speaking) when it came to bringing their children home. Additionally, there were posts in support of Mary Bonn's alleged actions. Finally, there were posts that stated that agencies and assistants who worked with Mary Bonn did not know there were problems with some of the things Mary Bonn was doing. If officials from the Department of State read these posts, then they have no choice but to exercise extreme vigilance when it comes to Guatemalan adoptions. If there are parents who will look the other way when adopting their children, people who believe what Mary Bonn is alleged to have done was okay, and ethical agencies who worked with Mary Bonn who just didn't know there were problems, how can our government do anything but carefully scrutinze ALL cases and urge reforms?

Excellent comments, Sandy. As Wendy commented, if we stay active and united they may listen to us. I would strongly recommend that we send our comments on this matter to our congressional reps as well as the DOS. Are they aware of what is going on and the vague messages coming out of the DOS?

I pray that all of us will be able to bring our children home in a timely manner.

Mary

these last few weeks has me really scared about our adoption and if it will be able to be completed since we are not even in family court yet.

i find it interesting how the DOS changed the one paragraph. it was not just to add the one sentence..

#####
Before when it was first released

The adoption situation in Guatemala is volatile and unpredictable. The United States, because of ongoing investigations that affect adoption cases, may be unable to process cases quickly and is likely to review all pending cases with more scrutiny. More detailed investigations may be warranted to determine that a child is truly eligible for adoption as an orphan, that any prospective adoptive parent(s) are eligible and suitable to adopt, and that the child is ultimately placed in the custody of parents who have been accurately identified and evaluated through the home study and petition process.

what is there now

The adoption situation in Guatemala is volatile and unpredictable. The United States, because of ongoing investigations that affect adoption cases, may be unable to process cases quickly and is likely to review all pending cases with more scrutiny. More detailed investigations may be warranted to determine that a child is truly eligible for adoption as an orphan. However, the U.S. Department of State is not planning an immediate shutdown of adoptions at this time.
#####

they removed any wording about the prospective adoptive parents.

i just hope and pray for the families and children already in the adoption process.. As well as all the Guatemalan children that will be effected by the up coming changes if the Prez and first lady of Gautemala get their way on making the changes that appear to be driven by UNICEF with no regards to the innocent children it will be affecting.

Pam

First of all, I really hope the DOS has better things to do than to read this website. Secondly Kathy, did you read any of the excerpts from the Mary Bonn case. The adoptive mother of the child that she illegally brought to the US was basically left in Guatemala by the adoptive mother because she thought she had some medical problems. I really have a problem with you passing blanket judgements over people. I am not in support of what she did, but there are two sides to every story.

I also wrote in and have not gotten a response (posted below). In respect to families "looking the other" that is just ignorant. While I am not foolish to believe everyone in the process is ethical, I can't believe it is the norm. I would be sick to find out that the birthmom was not in the favor of the adoption, I could never do that to my daughter. My agency already sent me info on her and were happy for me to meet her. There are good agencies and the need for adoptions will not wane regardless of the slow downs. The US needs to find a way to be more critical while at the same time, expediting the process. They need to protect their citizens. I for one and thankful everyday I was born here (problems and all) but when I read this I was sick. If their ultimate goal is protecting the children, then they should not hold up the process. In fact, they should be questioning the PGN reviewers that hold up children coming home for two months because a comma is missing or the ink on the paper doesn't look quite right. How is that helpful? I have only had my referral a short time but not a day has passed that I have not shed a tear because I have no idea when we will be a forever family.

Here is what I wrote, I am glad others wrote as well, I hope it makes an impact, this is the US we are now dealing with:

I am in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. While I completely applaud the efforts made by both the US and the ethical Guatemalan Officials to protect the children, I worry that the families (and potential adoptive children) that go through the proper channels, get the proper DNA clearances and get the proper authorizations from birth parents will suffer. Ultimately, bringing a child home to a family that has passed all the appropriate channels in the US as early as possible is certainly in the best interest of the child, no one can deny that. My agency informs me that the post on your website today indicates that the adoption process will most likely slow down (on the US side) and I will probably be bringing home my baby home much later than expected. Is this true? If so, how is that most beneficial to the children? I ultimately took the risk knowing that the Guatemalan officials could delay and halt things at any time, but to now have to worry about my own government scares me to death.

Please advise what this means to me and other (good) families in the process of adopting children from Guatemala. As you can imagine we are all very concerned. As with any family worthy of adoption, you have to know how very worried we are about our children living so far from us.

Kathy, I think you raise some very valid points, and the DOS folks may well see it that way. However, the one thing that I can't quite agree with is agencies and others who worked with Mary Bonn necessarily knowing there was a problem.

I think we see this in the regular world all the time. For example, today in my city, I read a front-page newspaper article about the arrest of a middle school principal for--get this--buying crack cocaine AT SCHOOL! He was a popular and respected principal! I am sure many that worked with him were completely shocked and caught off guard by his arrest.

People tend to trust the people they work with unless given obvious reason not to. I still don't know all the facts about what Mary Bonn did, but I imagine if it involved smuggling children, it was done with the greatest secrecy and attempt to hide what she was doing.

I think there have been plenty of cases in the world where good, ethical people, organizations, agencies etc have been shocked by the actions of people they trusted. Reading about stories of embezzlement, trusted accountants slipping away with fortunes, etc. is a similar thing.

Hindsight is always 20-20. I think most of us are pretty intelligent folks, but we have probably all been ripped off by someone in our lives. The signs aren't always there. People can be amazingly sneaky.

I honestly don't remember a post about parents "looking the other way," but the reality, I think, is that most of us would be HORRIFIED to even consider adopting a child taken from its rightful parents without their informed consent.

Sadly, there are always some people in the world who "look the other way," and it's not unique to Guatemalan adoption. We hear about plenty of domestic adoptions in which some fraud is perpetrated by someone. There's corruption everywhere. Unfortunately, it's the horror stories that make the headlines and the routine, successful adoptions that don't.

I don't think even one stolen baby/fraudulent adoption case is acceptable! I guess I am just worried about all the legitimate placements. My son-to-be's birthmom was a 19 year old unmarried student. I am sure she felt tremendous relief knowing her baby was going to be cared for by loving adoptive parents, since she could not care for him herself. I feel sad and worried for birthparents who place their children in good faith, believing they're going to loving homes.

I totally understand the need for scrutiny, caution, and great care to be taken on behalf of children. However, it's a terrible problem when innocent children have to wait SO much longer for permanency.

If the US needs to increase scrutiny, fine! But I think they should do so by increasing staff to handle this--not by sticking the 90% parents/children who ARE legitimate into a terrible limbo. That hurts us parents, but worst of all, it hurts the children by causing potential attachment and grief/loss issues.

JMHO

Wendy

Regarding the DOS statement: "because of ongoing investigations that affect adoption cases, may be unable to process cases quickly and is likely to review all pending cases with more scrutiny. More detailed investigations may be warranted to determine that a child is truly eligible for adoption as an orphan." Let's think about this...Dossier review is most likely to occur and be scrutinized when first received and prior to entering PGN. Family Court determines eligiblity of the child to be adopted and after exiting PGN it stands to reason, that the GT govt. has OK all documents and what is left is the issuance of a visa to be again reviewed that all necessary paperwork in relation to the issuance of a visa are legit.
There is no mention if this is going to occur with new or pending cases, or both. Marie

The pre-approval process is the part of the process that will be delayed at this point. Expect more birth mother interviews and more requests for documents. PA could take a very long time now.

Kevin or Kelly,
Do you have an information about the information some agencies are giving their clients about a March 1 deadline for POA's to be filed, as well as information about the Protocol of Good Practices supposedly being on the Congressional agenda for this coming Friday, March 2nd? I've talked to three families with 2 agencies who got this type of information over the weekend and we're trying to figure out what is rumor/fact. Thanks!

~Piper

Would you mind sharing your sources. Erik

I don't know where these websites from these agencies got their information from, but just to let you know as of noon today, they have deleted that from their websites. Neither the Guatemalan newspapers nor the Congresso de la Republica Nacional website have made any indication that the Protocolo was on the agenda for this coming Friday. Of course, this may change by the time you are reading this. Hope this helps, Marie

Wendy,

I think my earlier post was less than articulate. I didn't intend to imply that the agencies and people who were working with Mary Bonn knew there were these problems. I don't believe that agencies who worked with Mary Bonn could even have imagined the allegations that are now being suggested -- children smuggling, fraudulent documents regarding adoptions, and misprepresentations regarding health. In fact, the postings suggest that agencies and individuals who worked with Mary Bonn did not know anything along these lines could have possibly been occurring. To me, that's a problem. If the DOS believes Mary Bonn did engage in these type of activities then the DOS has to consider what else she may have done. And if all the people who worked closely with Mary Bonn didn't know any of this was occurring (as the posts say), then the DOS has to be concered about the scope of the problem because these agencies might not have known if Mary Bonn was not acting on the up and up (i.e. legally and ethically) on a particular case.

Unfortunately, my own adoption experience leads me to believe that the U.S. Embassy does need to increase scrutiny. Once a child is home, no parent should have to worry about the legitimacy of the adoption of his or her child. Greater scrutiny by the U.S. Embassy may well prevent this from happening. This does not mean the U.S. Embassy gets carte blanche to let things slow to halt. Quite frankly, I think the U.S. Embassy should increase staff. At this point, given the implications of the evidence that has been found, it seems to the wise choice.

In any event, the whole point of my post was that we as a community should not be upset by increased scrutiny but should embrace it. The DOS is trying to do what is best for Guatemalan adoption in the long run by exercising extreme caution. We also need to be careful about what we post (myself included as apparently my post was not very articulate). While I know there are people who disagree with me, I don't think it is wise to post that a parent may look the other way when it comes to adopting their child. And I certainaly don't think its wise to post that even if Mary Bonn broke the law (i.e. all of these allegations are true), it was okay because she loves Guatemalan children and was doing what was best for them. If she broke the law, it was NOT okay regardless of what her motives were. Her actions have clearly created problems and heartache for others.

My adoption agency was RAI, which is now being investigated in Minnesota. As such, I did talk to individuals involved in that investigation. For that reason, I know at least one state official looked at the Guatadopt website to obtain some background information on Guatemalan adoptions. (I have no idea if that person read the posts.) I also know that an article in the Pioneer Press (a Minnesota newspaper) regarding the Mary Bonn situation specifically mentioned this website and the "buzz" surrounding her arrest. Finally, I know that prosecutors sometimes read media accounts regarding cases they are trying because they want to know what their jury may have read or seen. Does this mean that the DOS or anyone else besides the adoption cummunity will ever read the posts on this website? No. However,it seems that this is at least within the realm of possibilities. And if others are looking to the adoption coummunity to see our reaction, I want the message from the community to be that unethical behavior on the part of those involved in Guatemalan adoptions is not something that is tolerated on any level and we are grateful for those who are willing to take steps to prevent it.

New DOS statement up dated March 2nd...