Dear Mr. President,

Thank you in advance for addressing the important issue of adoption with Presidente Berger.

My husband and I are within arm's reach of completing a process that has spanned the course of over a year. We have followed all of the steps necessary toward the completion of that process, and in good faith have a clear understanding that our case is not one that would cause any authorities concern. If our case becomes disrupted in any way, our family would be completely devastated. Our daughter in Guatemala, who we have visited twice already, is a part of our family.

Please ask that Presidente Berger ensure a smooth completion for those of us in process.

Yours truly,
Diana in PA

Dear President Bush,
We are one of those families currently in process of adopting a beautiful 9 month old baby boy from Guatemala. This is our first child. We have entered into a good faith agreement under the current legal systems to adopt our baby. We have been to visit him twice and our future together as a family now seems uncertain.
As United States citizens we are asking for your assitance to make sure we will be able to complete our adoption regardless of what the future holds for Guatemalan adoptions.
We need our governments help to ensure he will come home to his forever family. Please help.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Joao & Sharon Martins
New Jersey

I wish to add a hearty second to everything said. We have been in the process 15 months now and have a 7 month old baby boy in foster care waiting for us to bring him home. I pray that the right thing is done for these kids. Allow them to come home to the families that have already welcomed them into their hearts.

Mr. President,
If the process of international adoptions from Guatemala must change, (at the risk of sounding selfish) grandfathering current in-process adoptions would seem to be the most fair way of proceeding. The emotional attachment that we as adoptive parents already have with our child, if broken, would be unbearable. The unfortunate reality that our child and other children will endure if adoptions are stopped is, I feel, inhumane. And lastly, we are hard-working, honest, tax-paying Americans who have invested our life savings in this process. For many of us, this is our last chance to have children. It is truly unimaginable that an agreement entered into in good faith may not be honored.
If the system needs to be changed in order to fool-proof against unethical behaviors, that's fine. I think all of us agree on that. However, it seems as if the rules are changing. New prospective parents should be made aware of the process ahead of time so they can make an educated decision. Every day throughout the process we fear that our dream will not be fulfilled and our child will never come home. We respectfully ask that you contact Guatadopt.com to fully understand our position.
Thank you for your attention.

Our family eagerly awaits the homecoming of our son from Guatemala. We are in the final stages of this process as are many of other parents and we ask that our process continue under the current system so our children will not be held in limbo waiting for a new system to be implemented. Thank you for your help.

Dear President Bush,
I have two beautiful children from Guatemala. It is my firm belief that they were meant to be together. My faith tells me that something wonderful will happen because they are brother and sister, not by blood, but by love.

My thoughts lie with their birth mothers who both made the choice to relinquish their children to a better life in the United States. Will they have that choice again if they are in a similar situation?
Sincerely,
Cathy in WI

I besiege you Mr. President to insist upon mercy for the children currently awaiting their forever families. Jesus spoke of taking care of the orphans, he has made his provisions in families like myself ( Matthew Benjamin--8/2002 )
and other families willing to make the sacrifice
both emotionally and financially and he made provision in you Mr. President and our Congress when in your first Presidency you signed into law the permanent tax credit for all adoptions.
Please use your enormous influence to help the children of Guatemala and may God bless.

Our family is waiting to bring our daughter home. She is growing older and experiencing life without us and we without her. Please work with Guatemala to make this happen sonner than later.

Mr. President:
I recently brought home my 10 month old son from Guatemala. My family chose to adopt from Guatemala because we wanted to provide a loving home to a child who otherwise would go without this opportunity. He has brought immeasurable joy to our family.
There are many other families engaged in this same process, but more importantly, many more children awaiting a similar opportunity. I believe that it would be preferable for placed Guatemalan children to be raised in their country of birth. However, there is no infrastructure to support domestic adoption, much less government-run foster care or orphanage care. Until this infrastructure is in place, please advocate that President Berger allow American families to continue to adopt these children. It would be shameful for these children to go without while so many families are anxious to adopt them.
Thank you.

Dear Mr. President

I wanted to send a sincere Thank You to you for traveling to the beautiful country of Guatemala and addressing the issues of International Adoption. We are the proud parents of a charming 18 month old son from Guatemala, and have just begun the process of adding to our family a little girl who is currently 3 weeks old. Our little boy has brought so much joy to our lives and we are eternally grateful to everyone involved in the adoption process for helping us realize our dream. I, along with many others in the adoption community, realize that some questionable circumstances have recently arisen surrounding the adoption process in Guatemala; however this is only a TINY minority compared to the families who have been blessed by the beautiful children from a beautiful country. As you and your family want what is best for your children this is all we as adoptive parents want also. God bless you and enjoy your travels.

Sincerely

Stacy Lopez

Dear Mr. President:

We ask that you carefully consider the words of the National Council on Adoptions President Thomas Atwood’s letter to you:
“America is in a position to encourage the Berger government to maintain the benefits of Guatemala’s private system while creating a central authority and providing security and protections for children, as required by the Hague Convention, through greater regulations, accreditation, and best practice standards. Whatever policy reforms are made, for the sake of the children, we hope that adoptions will be able to continue to proceed during the transition period, with special attention to the “pipeline” cases where children have been matched with parents and the adoptions are in process.”

Mr. President, we are a “pipeline” family. Please help us bring our baby girl home to her two big brothers who wait everyday for the call they the can go pick up their sister. Please help our daughter, a baby that will surely be lost to us and possibly to the world if her adoption is not allowed to continue under the current system.

Steven and Holly Lione

Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for taking an interest in adoptions in Guatemala. My wife and I are on our 3rd. Our 5 yr old Isaac has been with us since he was 6 months old. Josh our 8 yr old has been here for a year and he has adjusted beautifully to life as an American. We are currently stuck in the US Embassy waiting the preapproval of the VISA for our 10 yr old daughter Thelma. We have met her bonded with her and cried with her over the death of her Mother. Her father is relinquishing her and her younger sister. The sister should be coming home soon to her new family. We have been waiting since May for our preapproval. It took 14 months to get our Joshua home and to us it seems unfair that these childrens lives are on hold. We too ask that adoptions that have been in the process be allowed to continue under the current system and that the two governments will work together to get our children home soon. It seems like a long wait for our family but we have each other. But our daughter is forced to wait patiently to join us. She has already lost both her parents and she needs to be with us so her life can flourish. God Bless You and your family. Safe travels Mr. President.
Sincerely, Mick and Julie Noteboom

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing to you today to ask for your help. After having found out over a year ago that due to previous illness we could not have our own biological children, we began the process of adoption, and after much deliberation we chose to adopt a Guatemalan child.

After navigating six difficult months of paperwork, red tape, and expense to complete the United States requirements for our I-600 (A) application, we finally were matched in November with a beautiful little girl when she was just ten days old. We have loved her since then and watched her grow via monthly photos and videos. Our case has moved along slowly in Guatemala, I am sure in no small part due to the tensions in Guatemala regarding fears about international adoption of Guatemalan children.

Until very recently, it was expected that as an existing case, ours would not be jeopardized by this coming summer’s US implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. It seems that this may no longer be the case. Also, the US Department of State has warned of unspecified significant delays in their own processing of active cases in Guatemala. Such events seriously threaten our hopes of one day bringing home our daughter. We urge you to allow all in process cases to continue.

We ask you for your help so that we can bring our first child into our home. We have already given our hearts to this little girl and are now waiting to give her a forever home.

Thank you,
Susan and Nathan
Pennsylvania

Mr. President,
I agree that Guatemala's system of adoption needs attention. It is no secret, in some instances, there is an abuse of powers and corruption at work. BUT..the fact remains there are thousands of families that have been formed by way of adoption from Guatemala. There are still thousands of us left and, if permitted, thousands more to come. Guatemalan orphaned children need adoptive families. There are many American families that desire children to make their home complete. It would be in the best interest of all humanity involved to keep these avenues open. My husband and I have been in process for 21 months to date. We are working towards bringing our son home to the United States from his birth country. He is the most wonderful child you will ever lay your eyes on. In our hearts we feel God has brought us to Guatemala to meet our son. During visits to spend time with him we have fallen in love with the country of "eternal spring". The landscape is breathtaking and the people friendly. It would break my heart to know a legislation in its purest form that was intended to protect the children from corrupt and greedy people, would actually condemn those same children to a life of deprivation. These children, if not allowed to be adopted to loving homes will suffer an existence void of the love and security you and I were fortunate enough to be born. I pray that you will have a hand in keeping adoptions open between Guatemala and the US. Please don't allow the children and their needs to go unheard. God Bless!

Dear Mr. President,
We are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. We, like others, are praying that adoptions stay an option for the children of Guatemala. We ask that while deciding what should be done for future cases those cases already in process, that have done everything legal and in good faith, do not halt . These children deserve to have a loving home with security and stability. They also deserve to come home as young as possible to avoid stress and to adapt to their new families faster. Please help us with this. Please help bring our babies home! God Bless You! Carrie & Damian Clements-Owensboro, Ky.

Dear Mr. President, My wife and I are on our 3rd Guatemalan adoption. Our youngest Isaac is 5 and been with us since he was 6 months. Our 8 yr old Josh has been here 1 year and is blossoming as a new American. We have been waiting for the Preappoval of our daughter Thelma's VISA since last May. We have met her, bonded with her and cried with her over the death of her Mother. Her Father is placing her and her younger sister up for adoption. Her sister should be coming home soon. We ask that adoptions that have already been in the process be allowed to continue under the current system. It took us 14 months to get Joshua home and it seems so unfair that these kids lives are put on hold. The wait is long for us and we try to be patient but, we have each other. Our Daughter Thelma is forced to wait patiently to be united with her new family. We also have a 15 yr old daughter and all of our childern are very anxious to get their sister here. Thank you so much for your concern in Guatemalan childern.
Sincerely, Mick and Julie Noteboom

Mr. President,

Both of our children are home forever, but we ask that you persuade President Berger to allow international adoptions to continue.

Our adoptions have brought so many tears of sadness but so many more tears of joy. We thank God every day for our beautiful Guatemalan blessings. We thank the Guatemalan Governement for allowing us to adopt one of their own and most importantly we thank our children's birth parents for their love and courage to reliquish their child.

Please, Mr. President, allow more US families like ours to be blessed and fullfilled through Guatemalan adoptions.

We all know unethical practices have slowed down many adoption process. We all agree certain steps need to be placed to ensure proper ethical adoptions continue, but please don't let in-process adoptions sit in limbo. Encourage President Berger to work with the US Embassy, adoption agencies and families to set up a ethical adoption system. Please don't take away a child's right to a loving family. Encourage, persuade President Berger to put the children of Guatemala in the best interest.

God Bless,
Jenny & Paul

Dr. President Bush,
Since I received the call on January 2nd that I had been matched with a beautiful baby girl, born to a 15 year old birthmother, my life has taken on meaning unlike anything I have every experienced. Nothing could have prepared me for the instant love and connection I felt when I met her for the first time and cared for her over a week long period just days later.Leaving her behind in Guatemala was without a doubt the most difficult thing I have ever done in my whole life. It felt like my heart was being ripped out of me. She consumes my thoughts and prayers and I get comfort from knowing she is receiving such care from the foster family I had the privilege of meeting during my visit. I should tell you that every aspect of my decision to adopt from this amazing country was considered with great care, every decision made with her best needs in mind. I live in Phoenix and teach at a school that is over 90% Hispanic. The population here, although mostly Mexican, will allow my daughter to be raised in a city where she can see herself in others around her. She will not look different or speak differently than those in her school and neighborhood. I purposely made this decision because I wanted to make the best choices for her. Before moving forward with the decision to proceed with adopting, I began to study Spanish and spent the summer in Guatemala so I would know my child's country, language and culture. I returned to teaching in the fall and located a daycare that will provide my daughter with a Spanish speaking Guatemalan family where she can continue to develop her native tongue. I spent months researching agencies with impeccable reputations of ethics and morality. I researched the agency as well as all those they work with. I interviewed previous clients, checked the BBB, and prayed. Despite living on a minimal teacher salary, I have devoted everyday off to refinishing furniture, painting, and sewing drapes, blankets, etc. to give her the type of bedroom I know her birthmother would be glad to know she sleeps in. She already has bookshelves filled with bilingual books waiting for her. Her pictures cover my walls, my desk in my classroom, and are pulled from my wallet at every opportunity. Fearing I wouldn't be able to start a college fund for her right away, I have dedicated myself to applying for National Board Certification because my district gives a $3000 incentive to those who pass (only about 30%). I have spent over 400 hours working on this...a distraction that has helped pass the time while I wait for my daughter to come home and hasn't felt like a burden because I have been doing it for her. I tell you these things not because I want sympathy or a reward, but because when you are in Guatemala, making decisions with President Berger, you will likely discuss those cases "in process" like mine. An adoptive parent doesn't become a parent on the day they bring their child home to the US. They become a parent the moment their decisions move from being their own, to being all about what is best for their child. I became a parent the moment I held my beautiful baby girl and began making choices to give her the very best life that I can. Please don't let that be taken away. Losing my daughter now would be no less pain than losing a child to death. Help Guatemala find solutions so adoptions can proceed in a way that guarantees the best for children and allows those of us who are already parents in our hearts and souls to fulfill our dreams and parents and begin spending our lives fulfilling the dreams of our children. I wish you safe travels and a wonderful trip to a beautiful country.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Smith

My wife and I have an 18 month old son we brought home from Guatamala nearly a year ago. As many families who choose to adopt, we have been unable to concieve on our own. We have just begun the process to adopt his biological sister who was born six weeks ago. We hope and pray that adoptions from Guatemala will remain open so we can unite our son with his sister as soon as possible. We urge you to encourage President Berger to allow intercountry adoptions to continue under ethical circumstances, so our and other families hopes may be fulfilled.

Hello, my name is Brenda. My husband, Mark, and I are in the process of adopting our second child from Guatemala. We are currently in PGN awaiting approval on our adoption. And we are looking to you, President Bush, to help us see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Our daughter, Isabella, was born June 20, 2006. The birth-mother, single, died of complications from the birth and left Isabella and four siblings orphans. Isabella's birth-father placed her for adoption with our attorney. No family member came forward wanting this precious little child.
I am asking for your help when speaking with the President in Guatemala. Please remember the families waiting to bring home a child that would be loved and cared for. Keep the families that are in-process to be to able to continue without any unnecessary interruptions or delays. Our daughter is now 8 months old and I just think of what a traumatic effect it would be on her to come home at such an older age, if such a delay were to happen.
As parents wanting to make a family, we have entered into this adoption on a good faith agreement and as citizens of the United States, we should be protected by our Government and President. Please help your people, by adding additional staff at the US Embassy in Guatemala to help to process our cases accurately and in a timely manner.
Thank you for your time and please remember the ones that look up to you to rule with a fair and strong hand.

Dear Mr. President,
I am another one of those families currently in process of adopting a beautiful little boy from Guatemala. He turned 1 in August of 2006 and he has been waiitng for me since December of 2005. I have entered into a good faith agreement under the current legal systems in Guatemala and the US to adopt my son. I have visited him twice and our future together as a family now seems uncertain.
As a United States citizen I am asking for your assistance to make sure I will be able to complete my adoption regardless of what the future holds for Guatemalan adoptions.
I need your help and the support of the US and Guatemalan governments to ensure he will come home to his forever family. Please help.
Thank you.

Deb Cole
Cincinnati, OH

Dear Mr. President,
We too are in the process of adopting a wonderful child from Guatemala. We have just recently received a referral and the legal process in Guatemala is just beginning. We are very concerned about the potential changes that could occur and how they could effect all adoptions, not just ours. We look forward to doing our part as proud United States citizens by opening our hearts and our home to a wonderful child who needs someone to help. We hope you understand what so many of us are going through right now and how the uncertain conditions have the potential to negatively impact so many lives, especially the children. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during your upcoming meeting with Presidente Berger. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Sharon and Don
Columbus, Ohio

Mr. President
My wife and I are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. We have tried other avenues for us to have a child with no luck. When we decided to adopt, we wanted our decision to have a positive impact on everyone involved. We have abided by all the rules and regulations set forth by both the US and Guatemalan governments. Now, the rules may be changed and our future is uncertain. Today, she turned three months old. We are hoping to bring her home, forever, before she turns 1 year old.
We elected you President to represent the interests of all US citizens, both current and future citizens. These children that we are adopting are coming home as US citizens. These children need your representation and help as much as we do. Please, represent and protect the rights of the parents and our soon to be adopted children.

Dear Mr. President and Mrs. Bush:
My husband and I adopted two boys from Guatemala. Our boys have thrived in the US and they have brought so much joy and love to our lives. It would be a tragedy to end adoptions between our country and Guatemala - not only for the countless number of orphans in need of a family but also for the many Americans hoping to experience the same happiness our boys have given us.
Sincerely, Lisa in New Jersey

Dear Mr. President,

We, too, are a family in the process of bringing our first child home. My husband is serving in Iraq with the US Army and looks every day at a picture of the son he hopes to meet when he comes home. I recently returned from a trip to Guatemala to meet our baby and immediately felt that motherly connection. We are hoping and praying that we will be able to bring our son home in a normal time period. We also entered into this process and legal system with good faith to bring a child into our home forever. Please, we ask that you will fight on our behalf as US citizens to continue with our adoption as we have followed every rule and law.

Thank you Mr. President,
Ben and Amy Grimsley,
Fort Hood, TX

Dear President Bush:

Our family as well is in the final stages of adopting our 11-month old daughter. We have been in this process for almost a year now and have already gone to visit our daughter. We would like to echo the above sentiments. We urge you to do everything possible to allow in-process cases to continue uninterrupted. Our whole family and all of our friends would be devestated if our daughter couldn't make it home. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Jason Smerz in WI

Dear President Bush:

We have made two trips to Guatemala. Our first son was born in 2003 and we got in the middle of the Hague slow down. We brought him home shortly after he turned one. That time of waiting was truly one of the most difficult times of our lives. You miss so much of your child's life when there are delays. Yes, there are problems in the process and it should be faster and smoother for these children. They are the victims.

In 2006 we brought home our second son. Both of our boys are so precious and have had no problems adjusting to their forever family.

Please keep these children at the top of your priority list when you meet with President Berger. These waiting families are struggling everyday.

Please don't let adoptions stop in Guatemala. The precious children there deserve a chance.

We know by personal experience that there are honest attorneys, translators and excellent foster families as well as well-run hogars in Guatemala.

David and Robin Prewitt
Parents to two wonderful sons.

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I are also in process to bring home a little sister to our previously adopted child. We have been waiting for her to be able to come live with us for 10 months. We understand the imperative to have intercountry adoptions monitored and conducted properly. As American citizens we are blessed with opportunites to research, learn and be careful with whom we place our trust.

While not saying that we are infallible, we have done our due diligence. We are absolutely certain of the legality and ethics of the people we have contracted to grow our family. That is the greater point of those of us here ... our overwhelming fear that perception of systemic problems will push policy changes that do not take into account the thousands that have conducted their adoptions legally and in good faith. That our children will not be able to come home. As a father and adoption advocate we ask that you please urge calmer heads to prevail and implement changes in a fair, humane and reasonable manner -- with grandfathering of all in process cases.

Thank you,
Sandy Gelpieryn
Dean Tomasula

Dear President Bush,
My wife and I cannot have children biologically. We took our first referral in March of 2006 and lost that referral in December of 2006 due to the fact that the birthmother disappeared. This was so devastating. We took our second referral in December of 2006 and our son is now 3 months old. We have put everything monetary in to make this work. Now we are so afraid that we may never be able to have a child. I know that with your help our dream could come true. The reason we chose international adoption was to give a child a chance that they may never have had in a country with opportunities and freedoms. Please make it happen for all of us that are waiting. I know that with your help and God's help it can happen. Thank you for your help.

Dear Mr. President,
We come before you in need sir. We have a 4 month old son in Guatemala that needs to come home to his forever family. Our daughter died last year and losing another child would be unbearable. We are finally in PGN and have followed all rules and have done everything asked of us. Now we ask that you, sir, take a stand not just for us parents - but for these littles ones who's future is beyond bleak if not given a chance for adoption. Thank you sir - we appreciate your attention to this very personal and urgent matter.

Sincerely,
Ed & Sheri Ziegler
Dad & Mom to Austin - 4 months old

Dear Mr. President,

We are in the last step, PGN, of the Guatemalan approval process for the adoption of 2 siblings, ages 5 years and 15 months. We did as much background checking as we could to choose an agency that was ethical, and have met every requirement asked of us. We have visited the children twice, and have formed a mutual bond. The psychologist that we have hired to help our 5 year old with the loss and the transition to her new life told us that she was amazed at how much Lilian opened up after her most recent 5 days with us. She recommended that what Lilian needs now is to be with our family, where she would receive the love and attention she needs.

We respectfully ask that the United States government support the continuation of legal and ethical adoptions from Guatemala and ask President Berger to ensure prompt completion of in-process adoptions.

Sincerely,
Beth and David

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I have what some call the "adoption gene". We have two biological sons, but adoption has been a first choice for us to grow our families from the beginning. We are waiting to bring home our precious 3 month-old daughter from Guatemala referred to us in January of this year. We are working with a Christian adoption agency with whom we are completely pleased--who have shown themselves to be trustworthy and above reproach in all matters working with phenomenal attorneys and facilitators in Guatemala. We have received approval from the United States of America in the form of our I-171H to bring our daughter home. In all respects, we have entered into the same good faith agreement all of the families posting here have entered as US citizens. The cry our our hearts is that Guatemalan adoptions be made as safe for the children as is possible through legislation that would allow the program between Guatemala and the US to continue, that the children already referred to families be able to come home quickly, and that there be more personnel at the US Embassy in Guatemala to aid in this expedition of cases in the most thorough and safe manner possible.

We began our adoption journey in the China program, but when we saw our daughter's face, we knew in our hearts that we had to do what it took to bring her home. The Lord has called us to adopt this child. We need the help of our country and you, Sir, to ensure that she can come home and grow in the faith, love, freedom, and opportunity of our family that the US has already declared we can give her by issuing our immigration approval. Please encourage President Berger to allow these children already in process to come home.

Thank you for being an honorable man and for being for us, as citizens of the United States of America, a trustworthy umbrella of authority. You honor the God you serve by protection of the innocent in advocating for orphans. We pray for you daily in our home. Please be our champion. Please protect us and our daughter, these other families, and all of the orphans of Guatemala.

With sincerest respect and gratitude,
Brian and Crista Merrell
Cypress, TX

Dear Mr President,
My husband and I are in the early stages of adopting our baby girl from Guatemala. We have visitied her for a week this past Februaury and bonded with her and fell completely in love with her. I can not imagine for a moment not being able to bring her home. PLEASE help us in bringing our babies home and allowing us to complete these adoptions. Thank you for taking the time in reading this.

Sincerely,
Terri Ebbs
Waiting for Abigail Mishel

Dear Mr. President,
In December, our family received a blessing from God with a referral of a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. She was born in July and we are anxiously waiting for the news for us to travel to Guatemala and bring her back to the United States. We entered into the adoption process in good faith and we completed the necessary legal paperwork. Along with thousands of American families, we are asking our President to represent us in Guatemala and save these children from poverty and abandonment. We need to unite them with their deserving loving families waiting for their arrival. Any sudden implementation of new policies in the Guatemala adoption process will disrupt adoptions already in process and devastate an unknown number of Guatemalan children and American families waiting for their children to come to their new home.
Sincerely,
Jeff and Natalie--Idaho
waiting for Journey

Dear Mr. President,
When you meet with Presidente Berger later this month, I (as well as the others who have written to you) respectfully ask that you use your best efforts to ensure that the Guatemalan adoptions currently in process continue. I recognize that reforms are needed in the Guatemalan process & I can personnally envision many ways to change the process. I recognize the value of the reforms Presidente Berger has advocated for and I hope that implementation of those changes can be done in an orderly process.

But I have already been matched with a beatiful 4-month old girl given the name of Jenifer by her birth mother. I agree with one of the other commenter that a child doesn't become adopted on the day he/she comes home but that is a process spread out over the months of an adoption. It is my sincere desire that Jenifer be able to become a American citizen and my daughter. Although it is a difficult, lengthy, and emotional process, I have followed all the steps necessary to allow her to be legally adopted in Guatemala and to legally emigrate to America. Can you please help me (and all the other prospective adoptive parents) who are in the process? I am certain that your mention of the need to continue the in-process cases to Presidente Berger would be helpful.

Thank you for your assistance,
Susan Nieser

Dear Mr. President,

First I appreciate that you will be discussing international adoptions with President Berger. I have received a referral for a beautiful little girl Karla Patricia that is currently 4 months old. The biological mother has been interviewed by a social worker to confirm that she willing placed her child for adoption. The DNA tests show that she is the biological mother. If the government of Guatemala takes control of the adoption process, I fear that Karla will be forced to live a life of poverty and abuse. These children should not suffer because a few people have abused the current system. Please urge President Berger, at least for the sake of the children, to complete the currently in process adoptions. Thank you, Cheryl

Dear Mr. President,
Adoption is a blessing. International adoption isn't for the faint of heart. We understood this going in to our second adoption from Guatemala. This is why we chose reputable people to represent us in Guatemala and crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" to make sure we followed all the rules to persue a legal adoption. To have the rules changed while whe are waiting for PGN approval would be unfair. I understand what a huge under taking this process is. We are changing a minor's parentage and their citizenship and removing them from a culture that is both rich and wonderful, we don't take this lightly. No process will ever be perfect and corruption is an unfortunate fact. I ask you to honor the wishes of our son's birth mother and allow us to continue the process to adopt him. Please protect the rights of people like my husband, myself and the woman who brought him into the world. We have played by the rules and just want to parent this wonderful little boy. He was born in Guatemala, but always meant to be our son. If changes to the adoption process must happen now please find a way to Grandfather in cases already underway.
Nancy

Dear President Bush,

We know that the present state of affairs regarding adoption issues in Guatemala is but one of many matters that have your attention in this present day. While many are concerned with world safety and homeland security in our great country, we recognize that you must also continue to serve the people of America in times of crisis such as the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and the recent tornado catastrophe in Alabama and in situations such as that which are now surrounding international Guatemalan adoptions.

The adoptive moms and dads in the USA and their extended families need your focused attention in the Guatemalan adoption matters-at-hand. I am confident that you will conduct appropriate conversations with Guatemalan officals and will strive to encourage and convince President Berger and his supporting agencies to consistently and expediently work through those cases currently in process.

We were introduced to our grandbaby Bella on her birthday on September 20, 2006 which happens to also be our seven year old grandson's birthday and we have been blessed to be able to see her grow over the past five months via photos while patiently and anxiously waiting for her to come "home". Our grandson Jake, traveled to Guatemala with his Mom and Dad last week and met his little sister Bella for the first time with expectaions that Bella would be home for Mother's Day and now we are faced with what could be unpredictable delays due to the recent announcing of the Protocolo.

Please proceed with all due speed and urge President Berger to allow those families who are well into the adoption process to move through the remaining processing without undue delay. Many thanks for your committment to conducting international business for the good of the American people and may the Lord stand with you and guide you in the coming days of your journey to Guatemala.

Thanks for all you do for the American people.

Best Regards,
Glenn and Deborah Landry
Baton Rouge, LA

Dear Mr. President,

We too are one of the many families whose adoption is in-process in Guatemala. Our young son Rafael, who just turned six months old, waits for us and our family anxiously waits for him. We hope and pray that you will help ensure that all in-process adoptions will be allowed to continue. We entered into a good faith agreement to bring a child home from Guatemala through the legal adoption process. We ask for your support and help Mr. President.

We agree that the Guatemalan government needs to enact laws to be Hague complient. We hope that your message of fairness and common sense will prevail. Also, as a businessman, we hope that your knowledge will help Mr. Berger understand what the loss of future adoptions will do to the economy of Guatemala. As a man of strong Christian faith, we know you can help explain the need for all children to have the opportunity for a loving family, whether by birth, through domestic adoption, or international adoption.

Thank you Mr. President for your time and attention to this serious and urgent situation.

Sincerely,
Jill and Peter Larson
Parents to Sam, Mia and waiting for Rafael

Dear President Bush,
We to are in the process of adopting our second child which we have already held in our hands and she is in her final steps of PGN. We have gone through inferitity and miscarriages and could not bear to not bring our daughter to be home. Please allow our precious angels to come home.

As Always thank you for all of your hard work.

We now lay this before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because he is the maker of all things and he know the outcome

Karen
Mom to be

Dear Mr. President Bush,

As your constituent, it is with great concern that we write to you regarding the current state of affairs that are now occuring in Guatemalan adoptions. We are in the process of adopting a 4 year old little girl from Guatemala. We adopted her full-biological brother 5 months ago, he is now 10 months old. This little girl arrived at the orphange malnourished and in need of medical attention, but also desperately in need of love and attention. We hope to have her in the U.S. very soon, where she can enjoy the rights and benefits that we are so blessed to have here in the United States of America, but also to be with her brother. Like the many families who have written to you, we would like to also see that in-process cases be completed. It would be an injustice not only to us as Americans, but also to the countless number of children left behind. Though we fully agree that changes in Guatemala's adoption system need to be made to be in compliance with the Hague later this year, we plea for your assistance in relaying these concerns to President Berger.

Cordially,
Dr. William and Marie Slattery
Oakwood, Ohio

I adopted my daughter from Guatemala in 2006. She has been the most precious gift and I can not imagine my life without her. My heart breaks for the children and families in process who may never be able to bring their children home. My heart aches for the children who are not yet in process and may never have an opportunity to experience a loving and permenent family. Currently there is no public system in Guatemala to support these children. Until this system can be developed I beg of you to use your influence and insist that President Berger continue to allow American adoptions to proceed.
Thank you,
Debbie in NC

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I have adopted four children from Guatemala. Two are biological siblings, but all four are now siblings through adoption!

We also adopted Guatemala as our country. It is truly a wonderful country where people care about families and children in a way that is foreign to some Americans. Yet it is the great love in their hearts for their own that has won us over! I'm sure you will experience some of this in your short visit.

While I am sure you must deal with illegal immigration and other issues, I respectfully ask that you keep an open mind regarding the legal immigrations that occur with adoptions. There are many more positive stories to tell than not. I have heard some of the negative stories, and am not oblivious to what problems exist within intercoutnry adoptions. However, we have always been a nation welcoming immigrants, and have always found ways to work through the problems to achieve the greater good of welcoming the stranger!

Blessings to you in your travels this week!
Respectfully,
Judy in WI

My husband and I are unable to have a child of our own and are anxiously awaiting our clearance so we can adopt a child. Please help us and the many others who are waiting to give loving care to a child.

Dear President Bush,

As your supporters and consituents, we respectfully request that you advocate for the completion of all adoptions that are already in process from Guatemala. As many others have stated, we are also adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. She is already our daughter in our hearts and the hearts of our two young boys. We cannot bear to think of her fate if the door to her chance at a life with a loving family is closed due to a hastily made political decision.

We also ask that you discuss with Presidente Berger the importance of designing a system for all the orphaned children of Guatemala that will not essentially deprive them of a loving family.

We trust that the Lord will use you to minister to the orphans of Guatemala!

Thomas and Natalie Curro
New York

Dear Mr. President,
We are in the process of adopting our first child, Laura Sophia-Ann. While we haven't been in the process long we are already in love with her and consider her our daughter. It's a very horrible, anxious feeling wondering if were are actually going to get to bring her home or if her referral photo is going to be placed in a album to be looked at as the daughter we lost. Please help us to bring Sofie home.
Sincerely,
Travis and Jessica Burnett

Dear Mr. President,

The words expressed by my fellow Americans in their plight to bring their children home literally brings tears to my eyes. I too have been blessed with an 11 month old angel from Guatemala, whom my wife and I brought home in January of this year after a number of trials and tribulations throughout the process. This was our second adoption, but the first from Guatemala. While the Guatemalan adoption process and system certainly has challenges that need to be addressed, I can assure you having adopted internationally from another country in the past, the process in Guatemala is far more ethical and provides greater assurances than do many other countries in the world. All children in the world need to be protected, but so too do the parents that are investing their time, effort, money, and mostly love to bring these children home as part of their family. As you address the topic of Guatemalan adoptions with President Berger, I respectfully urge you to keep in mind the plight of the waiting families and children whose lives will be forever changed by the blessing of adoption and ask that you do all that you can to ensure that "in-process" adoptions are completed.

Sincerely,
Lee Chapman
Eldersburg, Maryland

Dear Mr. President,

Our family has been blessed immeasurably by the adoption of a precious little girl from Guatemala. It is our hope that in your conversations with President Berger, you will encourage the implementations of the necessary reforms that will allow Guatemalan adoptions to continue. As a faithful Christian, I know that God calls us to to reach out to the needy.....He has called countless Americans to provide loving,caring homes to the orphans of Guatemala...
you are in a unique position to ensure that these
precious children continue to be embraced by loving families. Thank you for your service to the American people, and for those in need around the world.

Sincerely,
Mary VanderVeen
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Dear President Bush

Thank you in advance for helping us. We have two sons here at home with us and we have two more sons in Guatemala. They all share equal space in our hearts.

We have been to Guatemala twice to visit our little ones. When we are with them, we hold them in our arms, we kiss them, we tell them we will be back soon to bring them home forever.

When we are not with them, we hold them in our hearts. We pray for them every day, all day. We pray for their wonderful foster family. We pray for their wonderful country, full of incredibly, loving people.

We need your help to bring our children home. We will all stand behind you to “fix” the current system in Guatemala. We all care, we all want to help. Those here at guatadopt.com are a valuable resource. Use them!

When policies are being discussed, we pray that the welfare of our children is first and foremost in the thoughts of those discussing change.

God Bless and enjoy your travels. We hope that you, too will fall in love with Guatemala!

Donna and Gary
Virginia

Dear Mr. President,

We have a Guatemalan American child home with us and another child waiting near the end of the adoption process in Guatemala.

We are working with an ethical, wonderful agency here in the US who in turn has an ethical, wonderful team in Guatemala. Everyone working on behalf of the birthmother, child, and our family has met every letter of the Guatemalan and US law.

Within what we thought would be a couple months of bringing our new son home, it appears that everything could come grinding to a halt leaving no options for the child in Guatemala whom we have spent time with and so deeply love, severing the hopes his birthmother has for a life for him, and crushing our family's hopes for our new son's adoption--particularly the hopes and prayers of our 4 year old longing to have his baby brother home at last.

My prayer is that your visit with President Berger will be fruitful and a blessing to all the children who wait to begin their lives with their forever families. Please be a voice for the voiceless. President Berger may not hear us--families a thousand miles away--but he will listen to the President of the United States.

With hope and respect,
Amy (Michigan)

Dear President Bush and Mrs.Bush,

I want to thank you for taking time to visit with President Berger and adressing the problems in the Guatemalian adoptions. I'm sure like alot of other countries there are things that need to be worked on and new changes made with in the program. But what my family is asking you is to please encourage and plead with the President of Guatemala to let the adoptions continue if you have started. Starting means to our family at time of referral, when you see your little face or accept a child that you've longed for and opened your heart up. There are several stages in the process of adopting, a referral is just the beginning, but the beginning of a dream to many famlies. Please if there are changes made encourage the cases that have accepted a child from there beautiful country to finish there adoption process without interuptions. My daughter has a handsom little 16 month old adopted last year and now just starting the process of getting his little brother born last week. We have not even seen a picture yet but already have named him and fallen in love with his precious heart. Our daughters heart would be crushed if she could not bring her new arrival home to a forever family and friends in the big state of Texas. PLEASE, help our babies finish there journey home.

Thank You,
Grandmother Cindy

Mr. President, I am writing to you to plead for your help with completing our Guatemalan adoption. Many years ago when I lived in Texas you sat next to me at a Texas A&M football game. You were Governor then, and I was in awe at your demeanor , so friendly and such a powerful figure. Then when you became President I was so proud to have had the chance to have had that brief contact with you. I know you are a very caring person but more importantly a very powerful political figure. We adopted domesically in Virginia, where we now live, six years ago. After suffering through years of infertility we were finally blessed with a beautiful daughter. When we tried to adopt again we were dismayed that so many domestic agencies would not consider us because we had crossed that 40 year old threshold. We felt our only other option was an international adoption. We chose Guatemala for their rich culture and heritage. We are currently awaiting our embassy appointment to bring home our beautiful 7 month old baby girl. We have been to Guatemala to visit her, along with our six year old daughter. WE instantly bonded, and have been counting the days till we can bring her home. Unfortuneatly due to circumstances beyond our control we were not able to make our embassy appointment since we had less than 24 hours notice to get to Guatemala for it. It has been rescheduled for the end of March. We are devastated to think that we could lose our daughter, who we have loved and thought of everyday this past year, due to a communication glitch. Please, when you are in Guatemala, ask President Berger to "grandfather" in in-process adoptions. We would be devastated to lose our daughter when we were so close to having her in our forever family. I cannot imagine how I would tell my six year old that her sister is not coming home. While everyone acknowledges, there does need to be changes in the process, please ask that they be gradual, and to let adoptions continue. You can speak for our families like no one else can. We are counting on you to represent us and the interests of all the children who are waiting to find their forever homes. Thankyou.

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I are so close to completing the adoption of our beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. We have been in PGN for 3 months and are so very close. We ask that you support us and the thousands of others like us, by insisting that President Berger allow in-process adoptions to proceed. We only want what is best for our child and all the other children that could be affected by this decision. Our baby girl is 6 months old and each day that goes by is one less day we have to spend with her. We started the adoption process after losing a baby and this would be another tragic loss for us, all over again.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. Not only are you making thousands of parents happy but you may be saving the lives of thousands of children, and that is what really counts.
Kind Regards,
Katie (WI)

Dear Mr. President,

We were heartened to hear that the topic of international adoptions would be on your agenda when you meet later this week with Guatemala’s President Berger. Like many of the parents who have added their comments and personal stories here, we are also in the process of adopting from Guatemala. We champion reforms to the current system of adoption in Guatemala that will put the welfare of the children first and we believe that this entails assurances that the cases of children who are “in-process” be allowed to continue to completion in a timely manner. We firmly believe that halting adoptions altogether would not serve the best interests of any parties concerned, least of all the children in need of “forever families.” As the United States partners with Guatemala to bring their international adoption laws into compliance with those of the Hague Convention, it is our sincere hope that the “spirit” of this body of regulations is held foremost during the reform process and that any ensuing changes literally do not “through out the baby with the bathwater.”

We thank you sincerely for being a representative voice for so many of us who have entered into this process in good faith, who are working with reputable agencies in accordance with all US and Guatemalan laws and regulations, and who have been so willing to do whatever is necessary to provide a better future for these children.

Alex Phakos & Lisa Minter

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I are also extremely close to bringing our only daughter home from Guatemala. I ask that as you think about the families that have responded that you try to imagine what it would have been like to have one of your daughters ripped from your arms at 9 months old and to have someone tell you that you will never see her again. This is the prospect facing thousands of American families if these adoptions are stopped. Most of us have met our children and love them more than anything in the world. The loss of any of these children would be devastating. For many of us, myself included, this is our last chance to have any child. We have paid every penny we have to bring this child home. I am begging that you consider families like us and do anything you can to continue the adoptions in progress. Sincerely, Kristina and Aaron Smith of Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I are in the process of adopting our first child, Diana Isabel.We are not American citizens.We are Spanish and English however we are affected by the same issues with our little girl's adoption process.We haven't been in the process long but we are already in love with her and consider her our daughter. It's a very painful moment for us thinking about the future of this little soul without us.Please help us to bring her home.
Sincerely,
Mercedes and John

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I are in the process of adopting our first child, Diana Isabel.We are not American citizens.We are Spanish and English however we are affected by the same issues with our little girl's adoption process.We haven't been in the process long but we are already in love with her and consider her our daughter. It's a very painful moment for us thinking about the future of this little soul without us.Please help us to bring her home.
Sincerely,
Mercedes and John

Dear President Bush,
My husband John and I have also been in process for two years and a direct victim of the latest events involving the arrested US Facilitator. We have two biological children but have always dreamed of adoption. We plan to pursue another child and hope that is will be a smooth process. We are honest, hardworking middle class Americans that have alot of love to offer a child. We desperately hope that you can soften the heart of President Berger. These innocent precious childre's future is as stake.
Sincerely,
Kim and John McGee

Please, Mr. President ...

Help these children join their families!

Sincerely,
Karen and Dan Nelson

President Bush,

My wife and I are currently in the early stages of adopting a beautiful little girl from Guatemala. As you know, there are many changes looking to be instituted in the Guatemalan adoption process. We plead with you very selfishly to allow the in process cases to be completed. To allow these children, who are already placed with a loving family, to get lost in the transition would be worse than cruel. I understand your wife has been instrumental in championing for adoption in the United States including the Adoption Initiative. We could certainly use her expertise and compassion in helping Guatemala bridge the gap for implementation of the Hague treaty.

If you don't mind, I'd like to remind you what you said five years ago regarding adoption. Because it fits in just about all of our stories.

Erik and Nancy Snyder, Hopeful Parents of Blanca
Common sense and social science lead to the same conclusion: Children thrive in secure, loving and stable homes. Providing that kind of home through adoption can be a long and a time-consuming process. I understand that. Adopting a child can add to the normal challenges of one's daily life. I fully understand that, as well. Yet adoption changes a single life forever, and it brings countless blessings to the lives of parents… And every child deserves to be a part of a permanent, loving family. That's our hope. We live in a great country full of really loving and decent people. And there's no doubt in my mind, when people hear the call, they will respond to the needs of a lot of our children."
--George W. Bush, July 23, 2002

My husband and I adopted our daughter from Guatemala in 2003. She is now a loving and vivacious 4 year old who often asks us "When will my baby sister be here?" President Bush please give your support to the plight of the orphaned children of Guatemala so they can have a bright future of of familial love, in our land of opportunity.

Dear Mr. President,
I am the proud, happy mother of two. Our son came to us through adoption from Russia, and my little girl was adopted from Guatemala a little over a year ago. Both of our children have enriched our lives immeasurably. It’s a beautiful thing to unite children in need of parents with parents in need of children, and my wish is that this be allowed to continue.
While I understand Guatemalan adoption requires reform to meet the requirements of the Hague convention, I respectfully ask that you use your best efforts to ensure that the adoptions currently in process be allowed to continue. And I request that you work with the Guatemalan government to ensure a smooth transition to a reformed, Hague-compliant adoption process for future families.
Please do not break the hearts of families who are currently in the process of adopting Guatemalan children. And please do not deny these children, who are utterly helpless, a lifetime of love and care with their forever families.
We all understand it takes time to complete the checks necessary to ensure that adoptions are ethical and legal, but time is precious and expedience is necessary.
Thank you so much for visiting Guatemala and considering the issue of adoption.
Respectfully,
Suzanne Edmonson (Kansas)

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I are in the process of adopting our first child, Diana Isabel.We are not American citizens.We are Spanish and English however we are affected by the same issues with our little girl's adoption process.We haven't been in the process long but we are already in love with her and consider her our daughter. It's a very painful moment for us thinking about the future of this little soul without us.Please help us to bring her home.Many thanks!!!!
Sincerely,
Mercedes and John

Dear President Bush,

Together with literally thousands of other American families, including those who are posting messages here, my husband and I have entered into a good faith agreement to bring a child home from Guatemala through a legal adoption process. We and our licensed adoption agency have scrupulously followed every legal regulation of the U.S. and Guatemala governing adoptions, and we have received pre-approval of our adoption case from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala following a positive DNA match between the little girl who we are adopting and her birth mother. We have invested a very large percentage of our life savings in our adoption process, to say nothing of our powerful emotional investment in the little girl to whom we were referred days after her birth, and who is now four months old.

If our case is significantly delayed by abrupt changes to adoption procedures in Guatemala, this little girl will be at increased risk of attachment problems, as well as other potentially serious psychological and developmental issues that are associated with being placed in a permanent home at an older age. If our adoption is completely terminated due to a shutdown of the current system of international adoptions in Guatemala, she will be at risk of living out her life in extreme poverty and deprivation.

The vast majority of American adoptive families have made good faith efforts to comply with U.S. and Guatemalan law at every stage of the adoption process. We do not deserve to be left without the children whom we already love, and potentially also without the financial resources to try to adopt again after suffering such a devastating loss.

As citizens of the United States, we should be protected until the adoption process is finalized. I would ask that all in-process Guatemalan adoption cases be allowed to continue without interruption or excessive delay, while of course ensuring that all aspects of the adoptions are within the law. I would also ask that you strongly encourage President Berger to commit to a smooth transition to a Hague-compliant and functional system that will allow Guatemalan children to continue to be united with loving families through international adoption in the future.

Please take whatever action you can to help protect the children of Guatemala and their prospective adoptive parents.

Sincerely,
Gina Peirce
Pittsburgh, PA

Hello! We understand the President is getting ready to make a trip to
Guatemala. Right now..there are a lot of changes going on regarding
international adoption from Guatemala as the U.S. is close to Hague
Convention implementation.

We have a 4 year old daughter adopted from Guatemala in 2003. We hope
the U.S. continues to encourage Guatemala to take the necessary steps to
pass implementing legislation that is consistent with the Hague Convention
but does not remove the chance for orphans to join a permanent family.

We also agree with the DOS statement that “any sudden halt to adoption
processing would be problematic and hurt both the children and adoptive
parents because children would be caught in the process with no system
through which they could be placed internationally with a permanent
family.”

We realize there have been problems with adoptions from Guatemala but that
is not the case with all adoptions. We have established contact with our
daughter's birthfamily, and we know there was no coercion or any such
thing involved. Our daughter's birthmother was simply a child herself,
who wanted to find a good loving home for her daughter where she would
have what she needed. We have provided that and her birthmother is
grateful for that. This is not very different than the needs of the
various parties involved in domestic U.S. adoptions. We have regular
contact with the birthfamily and plan to meet them next year in Guatemala.
Although we agree being raised within her Mayan heritage would be the
best, as that was not possible in her case, at least she is well loved,
has good access to medical care and an education, and will go on to be a
prosperous and loving adult who honors her Mayan heritage. When these
things can be provided to all the rural Mayan children in Guatemala...then
perhaps there will be no need for international adoptions.

Sincerely,

Robert and Susan Ryan
McCall, Idaho

Dear Mr President
My husband and I are in the process of adopting a child from Guatemala. Mario is 7 months old and lives in a hogar in Guatemala City, Guatemala. We have just entered Family Court and are awaiting DNA. Just this past week Guatemala began taking steps to become compliant with the Hague Treaty, with the announcement of the Manual of Good Practices. This manual threatens adoptions in process as well at future adoptions in Guatemala. I ask that you contact the Department of State and urge them to encourage Guatemala to pass legislation that will not only be Hague compliant but allow adoptions to continue. We entered into this adoption legally and as citizens of the United States we ask that you do whatever is necessary to guard our adoption and ensure that Mario is brought home in a timely manner.

Mario will be our second child adopted from Guatemala. We have been very blessed by our first child Jacob and know without ever having held Mario he will be blessing too. We were first told about Mario in September of 2006. Since then we have been actively pursuing his adoption. It is his birthmother’s wish that he be placed for adoption and go to the United States. Please remember that if adoptions are stopped or delayed that it will be the children that will suffer most. Mark and I know the joy of adoption and ask that you do what is necessary to continue to unite children with their parents.

We thank you for your time

Mark, Carol, & Jacob Unrine

Dear President Bush,

Your upcoming meeting with President Berger gives the adoption community hope that the two countries will work together to establish necessary reforms and protect the orphaned children who so desperately need loving homes.

We are currently in the PGN phase of our adoption, waiting for our precious son who is now 6 months old and already so much a part of our family. During a visit trip in January, we immediately bonded with him and love him beyond words. Our 7-year-old daughter is so excited to meet her brother and to visit his birthcountry once our adoption progresses and we can bring him home. Yet, we now have growing concern that our dream of bringing this baby boy home may be shattered if the two governments do not find a way to build in new safeguards to the system while still honoring the cases already in-process. We certainly support any kind of actions made in the best interest of the children of Guatemala, but fear that the delays that could result will only harm them and their chance to be placed in loving homes. We know God would not have led us to adopt from Guatemala only to abandon us when we are so close to bringing our son home. And, Mr. President, we also have faith in your goodness and ability to guide this process and ensure protections for the children and the families (the birth, foster and adoptive families) who will be affected by the potential delays that may come.

Godspeed!
Sara and Daryl, Wis.

Es verdaderamente preocupante el saber que el gobierno quiere la Secretaría de Bienestar de la Presidencia se haga cargo de las adopciones en Guatemala, cuando es bien sabido la forma que que se manejan esos temas aquí en Guatemala. Para muestra, los hogares temporales donde se cuida a menores de edad mientras sus padres trabajan. En esos lugares se les da mala atención, no se les da la alimentación adecuada, y las personas que los cuidan son muy pocas comparadas con la cantidad de niños que se deja a su cuidado.

El las guarderías estatales, a los niños se les asigna a un grupo insuficiente de cuidadoras, hay veces que son cuatro o cinco personas para cuidar a unos 20 ó 30 niños, no tienen los fondos suficientes para darles una alimentación y vestido adecuado, y no hay un pediatra capacitado que lleve su control de vacunas y los asista en sus enfermedades. Cada año mueren muchos niños en esos “centros de cuidado”, por la falta de asistencia médica y una persona que los cuide de manera amorosa.

No es así con los niños que esperan ser adoptados y que son dados en custodia a madres foster por parte de abogados particulares. Estos niños (no más de dos por madre foster), reciben el amor y cuidado que recibiría cualquier niño en su propia familia, es más, ese niño pasa a ser parte de la familia foster mientras se terminan todos los trámites de adopción. Estos niños tienen control mensual de vacunas, desarrollo físico e intelectual, asistencia médica en caso de tener cualquier trastorno médico y el tratamiento especializado para algunos niños que padecen de algún tipo de enfermedad que requiera de cuidades médico profesionales.

No creo que la Secretaría de Bienestar de la Presidencia tenga la capacidad de brindar a cada infante ese tipo de cuidado. Es necesario ver no solamente el tema económico del que tanto hablan los representantes del gobierno, quienes dicen que los abogados se enriquecen a costa de las adopciones, pero no ven que los niños están mucho mejor si las adopciones son manejadas por abogados particulares, siendo supervisados por la Procuraduría General de la Nación, quien vela que todos los trámites sean realizados con la mayor legalidad. Eso ampara que los niños verdaderamente sean dados en adopción por sus verdaderos padres, por medio de la prueba de ADN, que no sean robados, como han dicho en algunos casos, y que las personas que los adoptan sean personas honorables y dignas de tener en el seno de su hogar a un niño o niña que necesita del cuidado y amor que les ha sido negado de parte de su familia biológica.

No permitan que el estado se haga cargo del tema de las adopciones, ya que los que sufrirán las consecuencias serán los niños, quienes han sido rechazados por diversas razones de sus hogares biológicos, y que vayan a pasar a sufrir a esas instituciones donde no recibirán el cuidado y amor que tanto necesitan y que por el momento están recibiendo en los hogares foster.

Mr President

Like so many others I am in the process of bringing my daughter home froma Guatemala. I am in the final stages of PGN and hope to bring her hope soon. Please help us bring our children home.

Thank you
Brenda
Colorado

Dear Mr. President,
I am a 44 year old single female who has longed to be a Mom. On January 30 of this year my dream came true when I finally received my referral for a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. As a single person Guatemala is my only logical option for adoption as both China and Korea do not allow singles to adopt. I cannot imagine the heartbreak of finding out I canoot bring my beautiful baby girl home. Please help myself and all the families anxiously awaiting the completion of our adoptions. Thanking you in advance for your help.
MaryBeth, Queensbury NY
Waiting for Nora Elizabeth

Dear Mr. President:
My husband and I recently brought home our daughter from Guatemala. She is the best thing that has ever happened to our family. I cannot fathom life without her. She came into the United States of America as a permanent resident and we recently received her Certificate of Citizenship. We were very proud the day that the Certificate arrived along with a letter from you. The letter is now in her life book and I'm sure she will treasure it when she is older. She is an American citizen and one that I am sure will love both her birth country and the United States equally.

I pray that adoptions in Guatemala can continue and respectfully ask for your help in doing so. Not only do I wish for adoptions from Guatemala to continue, but to not put both the children and their parents through any unnecessary delays in their adoption process. I fully understand and endorse all agencies performing due diligence to ensure that our children are placed into our families ethically and honestly.

Our adoption was a wonderful experience. One that brought our daughter to us and we hope and pray that other families will be able to continue to experience the joy that being an adoptive parent to a child born in Guatemala can bring.
Thank You!
Sincerly,
The Richters

Dear Mr. President,

We have great concerns for the welfare of the children of Guatemala. We have already adopted two beautiful children from Guatemala and have the utmost respect and admiration for the birth mothers of our children, as we met them both and know the struggles they face and how much they want their children to have a brighter future that they cannot provide.

Our third adoption is in process with our case being in PGN for some time and hopefully coming out soon for finalization of the adoption process.
We have met and visited with our daughter in Guatemala and she is a part of our family and our hearts and we ache without her and wish for her to come home soon.

We respectfully implore you to please speak to President Berger regarding the in process adoption cases that they may continue without interuption while his administration moves toward Hague compliance regarding international adoption.
Please also read and carefully consider your letter from Thomas Atwood, President and CEO of the National Council For Adoption. In his letter, he proposes finding middle ground to maintain the benefits of Guatemala's private system while creating central authority and providing security and protections for children,as required by the Hague Convention.
It is my opionion that the foster care system and the private orphanages in Guatemala are without a doubt, the best care for any orphaned child-I hope it may be maintained as part of the Hague reforms.

Thank you for your time, attention, and consideration regarding these serious matters.
As I type this to you I am watching my children playing and laughing and joyfully enjoying life!
We pray that our daughter in Guatemala may come home to join us and have a happy, heathy future. We also pray for the future of Guatemalan children that they may also enjoy the opportunities for a better life.

Respectfully,
Laura and Gregory
Pennsylvania

Dear President Bush,
Thank you for being an advocate for children and families around the world. We would ask you to address the important issue of adoption with Guatemalan government officials during your upcoming visit to that country so dear to our hearts.

I hope you would agree that it should be a parent's right to decide the future for their child. If birth families cannot provide for their child because of the extreme poverty they find themselves in, they need the freedom to make an adoption plan for their child. They should be protected not only from those who would take advantage of them for financial gain, but from government regulations which would forbid them from giving their child hope and a future.

My husband and I are currently in the process of adopting our fourth child from Guatemala. All of our children lived in the same private orphanage in Guatemala City where, for decades, children have received loving care and eventually, through ethical adoption practices, found their forever families in the United States and beyond. We started the process to adopt an eight year old daughter from Guatemala in 2002, but because of the confusing and hurried efforts to implement the Hague in Guatemala in 2003, her adoption was held up for a very long time. She eventually joined our family in 2005 at the age of ten.

We are currently waiting for another ten year old daughter to join our family. Our case is now in PGN, the final court in Guatemala. Once again, efforts to implement the Hague may potentially effect our case. We fear yet another very long wait, if Guatemala rushes to or feels forced to make quick decisions concerning their adoption laws. While we believe there are issues to address and things to fix in the Guatemalan adoption process, ethical adoptions have long taken place in that country and should be allowed to continue.

We ask that you please encourage all parties to help the children already in process to join their adoptive families in a timely manner. It would only hurt birth families, orphaned or relinquished children, adoptive families, and the future of Guatemala, to allow these cases to either halt or languish in the courts.

Please also be aware that there those in power in Guatemala may be feeling great pressure by a well known international relief organization to quickly adopt laws and regulations in order to receive a large amount of funding for the country. In the past, where this organization has entered into adoption issues in other countries, adoptions have virtually halted. Can this truly be in the best interest of children, or do certain organizations have much to gain by halting adoptions?

Dear Mr. President,

I echo the sentiments of my friends in the Guatemalan adoption community. We are a tight knit group that rely heavily on each other to get through this stressful process. I have read each of their posts and have been touched deeply by their pleas for help. I am also writing to ask for your assistance.

My husband and I have been involved with a Guatemalan adoption for almost one year now and have a six month old angel waiting for us. We have been to Guatemala twice and bonded with our son. We believe that it is our responsibility as his parents to advocate on his behalf.

I pray that your visit with President Berger is productive and that you will discuss a strategy that will safeguard Guatemalan adoptions for the future. Please be mindful that most adoptive parents have invested every dime we have and every corner of our hearts into this adoption process and that the pain of leaving our children behind to a life of poverty would be not only heart breaking, but unacceptable.

I appreciate your time and hope that your visit to the beautiful country of Guatemala is productive.

Respectfully,
Lee Anne and John
Berlin, New Jersey

Dear Mr. President:

I write to you on behalf of my sister and her husband who are pursuing the adoption of a baby boy in Guatemala. She met her son for the first time in August, 2005 when he was five weeks old. He is now twenty months old. She has visited him thirteen times and will be in Guatemala visiting him again when you arrive for your meeting with President Berger. If the proposed Protocol of Good Practices is implemented soon, he could be taken from our loving family forever to be raised in an orphanage without the love of a family or the proper nutrition or medical care that every child deserves. Please act on behalf of my nephew and the thousands of other children like him.

I strongly agree with the United States Department of State’s statement that “any sudden halt to adoption processing would be problematic and hurt both the children and adoptive parents because children would be caught in the process with no system through which they could be placed internationally with a permanent family.”

Adoptive parents have entered into a good faith agreement to bring a child home from Guatemala through a legal adoption process and should be allowed to continue. As citizens of the United States they should be protected until the adoption process is finalized. I would ask that all in-process Guatemalan adoption cases be allowed to continue without unnecessary interruption or delay while of course ensuring that all aspects of the adoption are within the law. Whatever policy reforms are made, for the sake of the children, we hope that adoptions will be able to continue to proceed during the transition period, with special attention to the "pipeline" cases where children have been matched with parents and the adoptions are in process. There is much concern regarding the recent announcement of the Protocol of Good Practices, which is said to be implemented in the next few weeks. The Protocol indicates that all adoptions, even those adoptions in-process, would be suspended.

Please address the issues with President Berger and other Guatemalan officials and encourage all parties to work together to implement the Hague Convention. Your adoption advocacy in other parts of the world, such as in Russia, has had a very positive effect. Thank you very much for considering extending your advocacy to Guatemala.

Dear Mr. President,

Our family has been in the adoption process now for two years. We are still waiting for our 17 month old son to join his forever family here in the United States. We would greatly appreciate if you would address this issue with President Berger and please help to bring our children home from this beautiful country. Our family would be devastated if adoptions would be halted and our son never got the chance to be with his forever family.

Sincerely, The O'Connell's
Pennsylvania

Dear Mr. President,

We have a 3 year old biological daughter and are in the process of adopting our 9 month old baby girl from Guatemala. We began our adoption process in November of 2005 after we both felt the Lord was calling us to expand our family through international adoption. After careful research & much prayer, we decided on the country of Guatemala and we chose a highly ethical Christian agency to facilitate our adoption. Our agency works with a Christian attorney in Guatemala and we have the utmost respect and faith in our attorney's reputation as an advocate for Guatemalan children & their birth families.

We have joined together to follow God's call to care for the orphans of this world. We know that God has a special plan for our daughter's life and that He knew before the beginning of time that she would be a part of our family. We have already visited her in Guatemala and are anxiously awaiting approval from PGN so we can bring her home. We have been waiting patiently in faith and prayer and ask that you consider all of the families and children who God has destined to join together through the miracle of adoption.

We look forward to the day when we can bring our daughter home forever and we will give all the praise & the glory to God for allowing us to experience a miracle!

May God bless you and your family the way He has blessed ours. We pray that you have a safe journey to Guatemala and that God will continue to guide you and direct your steps.

Sincerely,

Trevor & Keely from Arizona

Dear President Bush,
My husband and I waiting for our baby girl to come home from Guatemala. We have been waiting for 3 1/2 years to have our first child and we are now hopefully only months away from seeing that dream become a reality. We are completely in love with her already and would be totally devastated if something happened that would keep her from coming home. It breaks my heart to think about what would happen to her, as well as all the other children, if adoptions were to close in Guatemala.

We ask that you will speak to President Berger about adoption in Guatemala. And we pray that the situation will work out that we may bring our little girl home soon, and that all the parents and children out there waiting to be brought together will be united soon as well. Thank you!

Dear Mr President Bush,
I hope with all my heart that you will personally read these letters to you or at least some of them. Only then will you really feel what we are trying to say to you.
My husband and I are in the process of adopting a little girl, now 21 months, whom was given up by her mother at 17 months with anemia and malnutrition. She is already our daughter in our hearts.
I know you are a very busy man with numerous political items on your agenda, but please do not forget these innocent children.
I pray that Gods will is with you. That it gives you the words you need to express concern to President Berger about the adoptions in progress and future of the Guatemalan children. God Bless.

Sincerely,
Doug and Correen Jones
Washinton

Dear Mr. President,

In January 2006, I brought home my 5 month old son. He is now a healthy 19 month old toddler who is active and happy. You can't help but smile when you see him.

I never planned on a sibling, but when I received the call that my son had a 5 day old sister, of course I said yes. She is now 5 months old. Her case is out of Family Court and heading to PGN. I travel to visit her on 3/13.

I pray that the your administration will influence President Berger to continue international adoption. The children need homes.

Respectfully,
Jim Benney, Foster City, CA

Dear President Bush,

I will be visiting my six-month-old son for the first time when you are in Guatemala. What should be a trip of complete joy is tainted by the fear that if adoptions stop in Guatemala, I may never see my son again and he will never meet his brother, who I adopted from Guatemala in 2005. For thousands of Americans, Guatemala provides an avenue by which they can fulfill their dreams of having a family. Every child deserves to be loved and have the stability of a family. Unfortunately, for many children in Guatemala, this is not their reality. Please help us in making our dreams come true. Thank you.

Dear President Bush,

My family has been dedicated to financially supporting needy children in Central America (as well as charities in the USA). Three years ago, we made the decision to adopt from Guatemala. And, two full years ago, we accepted a referral for a 22 month old girl (Zayda).

Unexpected issues (with the birth-mother) made it so that we had to RESTART the entire process a year later. This June, Zayda will be four years old, and still might not be home with us.

Please do not let them close the doors to our bringing this little girl into our home as our daughter.

Respectfully,
John and Lisa Fox
Ohio

President Bush,
I know that there are 101 million more important issues that you have to deal with, however this one is important to so many future mom and dads.

I am not really expecting for you personally to read this, but maybe this writing exercise will at least help our spirit and give us some hope.

Our Story:

My husband, Pete Leyden and myself, Kristina Leyden decided to adopt a child so we could have a family. There is no other option for us, but adoption and we long to raise our family together. We have been trying almost for 5 years now to start our family, first my husband was called to duty, he spent our first 15 months of marriage in Iraq. Then we spent a little over a year with infertility clinics and then 2 years ago we started the adoption process. WE HAVE BEEN PATIENT and have jumped through every possible regulation, hoop etc to try and complete the adoption process in the most lawful way set forth by both Guatemala and the United States. We have been stuck in PGN (Guatemala's Attorney Generals Office) for over 21 weeks now with our daughter. We have visited our daughter 4 times, we go to Guatemala every other month for 5 days. We fell in love with this child and now her brother. Yes, in December (on our third visit) we were approached by the birth mom herself requesting that we consider our daughter's brother for adoption so they could be together. We started this process with just wanting ONE child, but were lucky and blessed to have the opportunity to adopt TWO children. The birth mother is 18 years old, she was homeless and didn't have the opportunity to complete her education. The adoption agency in Guatemala has helped with managing money, job skills, housing and helping her with finishing her education and making better choices for the future. That is a good thing.

My husband and I are average Americans. We live in an average house, make an average living but we are very good kind people. We both serve our community/country. My husband is a Civil Affairs Solider, and has been in the military for 13 years, he is also on a Special Weapons Team for BWI airport as a full time Police Officer. And I am a licensed Social Worker and give to the elderly/homeless/ill/addicted everyday. We have fell in love with "our" children, and we see other good Americans doing the same during our visits to Guatemala.

Please, help us in fighting for our protection in allowing current adoptions that have already gone through DNA testing and I-600 approval to be continued and finalized during this process of restructuring adoptions in Guatemala.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

All the best to you and your family,

Peter and Kristina Leyden

future parents to Katherine Marie and Andrew Peter

Mr. President, I am encouraged that you are speaking with President Berger. I pray that you are able to work together to provide the children of Guatemala the opportunities that every child deserves. Unless and until Guatemala can effectively provide care for all of its children, international adoption is the only hope for many "chapines". Please consider deeply the implications of any steps going forward. Remember that, while many of our hearts ache as we wait to complete our adoptions, it is truly the children that are aching for a loving, pemanent home.

Dear Mr. President,

First of all I would like to thank you for visiting Guatemala, our daughter's birth country.
We are curently waiting for our U.S. embassy appointment in Guatemala so that we can bring our daugher home with us forever.
Adoption is a beautiful way for a family to grow.
Please help others families share this blessing by helping to keep adoptions open.
Please help to ensure that not only is it done legally, but that the process is consistent and benefits the child(ren).

Dear President Bush,

We too second everything said. We are dossier ready and waiting on immigration to issue our 171H. We have two beautiful bio boys and cannot wait to have our beautiful guatemalan daughter. Please do what you can to keep guatemala from closing during their Hague compliancy. This children need us and you their leader to keep them coming home to us safely. This children are America's future. Mr. & Mrs. Guy Turi

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I, like so many others, cannot have biological children. When we decided to adopt a baby from Guatemala, we felt totally at peace with the decision. We are both in our early thirties and were matched on November 2, 2006 with a beautiful baby girl. She just turned 4 months old and with each day we only love her more. She has our heart and her pictures practically wallpaper our home and office. The only thing that keeps us going through this very difficult process is the thought of bringing our beautiful daughter home. We have followed all the rules and have a completely “clean” case. We expect to enter PGN in about a week. We entered the adoption process under the good faith agreement. We come to you humbly and ask for your help with this situation. I pray for all the children of Guatemala and realize that the adoption process needs work. But, please sir, please, do not allow the cases already in process to be derailed. I can’t imagine life without my daughter. Thank you for your attention in this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Robert & Amy Romans, KY

Dear President Bush,
Having just recently returned to the USA with my beautiful 9 month old daughter from Guatemala, I wish to only tell you that international adoptions absolutely need to continue with this country. So many beautiful children have been adopted and continue to need homes that will love them and nurture them into adulthood. I adopted from Guatemala because of the good loving care the children receive particularly in the Foster Home program. Having done alot of research on adopted children these children are the most charming, laid back, well adjusted children you would ever want to have in your life. Please President Bush, as you travel to Guatemala keep your heart open when it comes to the well being and life of all these children in need of a good home in the USA.

Sincerely,
Claire Couillard
Lowell Massachusetts

Dear President Bush,

As adoptive parents with a case currently in-process in Guatemala, my husband and I have great concern for the welfare of our son and the thousands of other children waiting for permanent, loving families. We strongly support the efforts of those in the U.S. and in Guatemala who are fighting for the welfare of these children and recognize that reforms are needed.

In order for the children of Guatemala to be protected, it is essential that international adoptions be allowed to continue. We ask that you encourage the Guatemalan government to work toward a smooth trasition to the Hague Convention that puts the necessary reforms in place with minimal disruption to in-process adoptions.

Thank you for your consideration of this manner and for all the work you do for children around the world.

Sincerely,

Chris & Kristen Gorski

Dear Mr. President,

I thank you in advance for your attention to the adoption situation in Guatemala. I am in the process of adopting a newborn infant. I am invested in Guatemala both emotionally and financially. I see the need for change in the Guatemalan process however this change must be gradual and not cause adoptions to halt altogether. There is no safety net for the children of Guatemala. Adoptive parents such as myself may lose money and a child we have come to love but ultimately the children will lose the most.

Thank You and Kind Regards,
Katie Geis

Mr. President,

We have been matched with our son since August and have been following a legal adoption process in Guatemala. My wife visited him over Thanksgiving, and we both feel very attached to him and that he is meant to be our son. A suspension of adoptions in process would probably mean that we would lose our son. Please don't let that happen!

Dear President Bush,

In 2003 we brought home our beautiful little girl from Guatemala. Her name is Jaclyn. We were delayed in our referral due to Hague issues at the time but it all worked out and we brought our little girl home at 5 month's. Our agency in PA was very good and we knew we were in good hands. My husband and I are now hoping to bring home a sibling for Jaclyn. We are using the same agency as before and have no doubt in our minds that they are ethical and honest. We received our 171-H and are currently awaiting a referral. I keep telling myself if this is meant to be it will happen. I hope your visit to Guatemala will help all the families waiting to bring home there children and to hopefully keep this wonderful program in place.

Dear Mr. President -
My wife and I are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Guatemala, and we are so close to obtaining the approval from PGN. We would like your help to ensure President Berger does not try to delay or suspend any adoption in process. Like so many other families, we are watching our babies grow up in pictures and medical reports, and we want our babies to come home so we can watch them grow up in person. Please help anyway you can.
Thank You!
Dan
WI

Dear Mr. President,
Thank you so much for discussing the issue of international adoption during your meeting with President Berger. We would like to add our voices to second the statement prepared by Guatadopt.

We are in the end stages of the process to adopt a little boy, who turns 8 at the end of this month. Throughout the process our highest concern has been having an ethical process. We researched our agency very carefully, and have carefully and gladly complied with all the requirements designed to ensure that adoptions are conducted ethically. We are motivated, as are the overwhelming majority of prospective adoptive parents, by the desire to provide a home for a child who would not otherwise have one, as well as by the desire to parent. Any fraud in this process is unconscionable, and we are very glad that the US and Guatemalan governments are working to eliminate unethical practices and adoption service providers.

We recently had a wonderful visit with the almost-8-year-old boy we are adopting. He bonded immediately with us and our 4 children (2 biological, 2 adopted), and really cannot wait to come home with us and have a family to take care of him and protect him. He is such a sweet little boy, so ready to love despite the tough life he's had. We cannot bear to think of what will happen to him should adoption be shut down.

We would ask you and President Berger to please take steps that will help to eliminate unethical adoption practices, but to please do it in such a way that children and their birth families are genuinely helped. There are many deeply caring, very ethical people working for adoption agencies in the US, and there are also people (for example, those who run Guatadopt) who are quite knowledgeable about international adoption, but do not have any financial stake in it. Please consider their input about ways to reform the adoption process.

And please, please, PLEASE, do not stop the thousands of perfectly legitimate, ethical adoptions that are in process. To do so would be absolutely devastating to the adopting families, and probably quite literally destroy the lives of the children being adopted.

Thank you very much.
Ken Cohen and Leslie Root

Dear Mr. President and First Lady Bush:

Last year after celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary, we were blessed with two beautiful boys adopted from Guatemala. We can't imagine our lives without these wonderful children who have given us so much love and joy.

We will be forever grateful to the people we met during our sons' adoption process including our dedicated, honest and inspiring US and Guatemalan attorneys, the excellent and loving foster family who nurtured our boys to health, the caring social services workers, the kind and supportive Guatemalan hotel staff, and the hard-working officials at the Guatemalan Embassy in NY as well as those at the US Embassy in Guatemala. Work colleagues, neighbors, friends, family, and countless others supported us in our dream of having a family.

Children unite the world in a way that nothing else ever can.

All of these people from so many different walks of life shared the same goal - to give these orphans a FAMILY.

Please work with Guatemala to keep intercountry adoptions open. Every child deserves a loving family. Children give meaning to all of our lives and they are the world's future.

Respectfully,
Lisa and Michael Drew
(New York)

Dear President Bush,
My husband and I adopted our daughter from Guatemala last February 2006. We most definitely would like to add to our family again from Guatemala but are not sure if we can with the impending changes. It is hard enough to come up with the funds necessary for an adoption let alone deal with the recent changes that the Hague Treaty may bring to the process. While we believe the Hague has very good intentions, please do not allow the Hague Treaty to halt adoptions between Guatemala and the U.S. The waiting children and their forever families are the ones hurt in this process. Surely. there must be a way to continue the adoption process and work toward achieving the Hague requirements in a spirit of mutual co-operation between both countries. Thank you for listening to our concerns.

Dear Mr. President,

I have been fortunate in being able to adopt a wonderful baby girl from Guatemala in 2005. She is my pride and joy and brings me happiness every day. I was very honored that the good people of Guatemala would grant me such a privilege and I hope that I can instill in my daughter a true sense of pride in her heritage and help her understand what a wonderful culture, nation and people she comes from and at the same time, what a wonderful country she has become a citizen of. Just recently, and knowing that changes were coming, I did accept a referral of a baby boy from Guatemala. Some would say, I should have waited until the process was "final" before I began, but I am putting my faith in both governments that it will be worked out in the best way possible, because I believe the needs of the children are the ultimate driving forces behind these upcoming changes.

Like many of the families writing to you through this forum, we all have put much faith in the U.S. and Guatemalan adoption processes. Our desire to bring these children home to our country, to our families and to our hearts has basically put us at both governments' mercy. We have to trust and believe that both countries' desires to protect these children, are what will make the process fair and "safe". Many of us recognize that while, unfortunately, some people from both countries have abused the process for their own gain, the vast majority of us (adopting families, agencies, government employees and facilitators on both sides) follow the rules and laws our governments have put in place because we do truly want what is best for these children. We understand that our government is well on its way to being fully Hague compliant and that Guatemala is beginning to address the issue as well.

We understand that both sovereigns will do it their own way as all sovereign nations do and should. While our government has implemented laws which protect adopting families from abrupt changes in this implementation process (basically "grandfathering in those with an I-171 already), we adopting families, that are putting our trust in both governments, are very worried about the upcoming changes on the Guatemalan side.

We ask you to speak to President Berger on our behalfs and to voice our concerns and our fears, that the process on the Guatemalan side please take into consideration the families already "in process", who have already accepted a referral child on paper and in our hearts, whether through abandonment or relinquishment, and help ensure that our adoptions do not get disrupted. I, at least, and many others I am sure, would welcome extra scrutiny and a slightly longer wait if that is what it takes to ensure that the adoption is totally legal and "above the board". My biggest fear, and I daresay, the fear of all adopting parents who have put so much trust in both governments' current adoption systems is that our adoptions will be disrupted or stalled for such a long time, that serious emotional harm could come to the children we are waiting for... especially if these children are forced to wait out the changes in a foster home or orphanage longer than what has become the norm, as the adoption process changes while we are mid-adoption. Could you please address this issue with President Berger and ask that our concerns be heard and addressed. We are not attempting to dictate what Guatemala does, we are humbly asking only that our concerns, and those of all prospective parents, that are attempting to adopt by the"rules" be considered and heard as the rules change. We are not Guatemalan citizens, and true, our adopted children will become American citizens, but their ties to Guatemala will be a part of them all their lives and thus, through our children, a part of ours as well. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Tina M. Farrenkopf
Colorado

Dear President Bush,
Our family is currently adopting two beautiful children from Guatemala. Their future lies in the decisions being made at this time. Uncertainty in ever giving them the home they deserve is at the point of this letter. Please consider the children who are in process at this time. They are the ones who will suffer with an immediate shut down or a long delay. Please give them every chance to come home in a timely manner. Please don't allow a few who abuse the system to dictate to the rest of us a new system that could cause us to completely lose our children in the name of protecting them. With no structure in place to fund or care for the children in process they will most definitely suffer the most. Please don't allow this to happen to my children or the other approx. 4000 children who will be coming to the US this year.
Respectfully,
Lisa
Oklahoma

Dear President Bush,

My wife and I brought our beautiful girl home in October of 2005 from Guatemala. Her birth mother, faced with extreme poverty and a set of twin boys (who are now 5 years old), has now created a birth plan for our daughter's younger sister and we are in the process of adopting her. It is simply amazing that we have this oportunity to raise and nurture these siblings together. My heart melts each and every time I look at the picture of our angel in Guatemala.

Please, Mr. President, while visiting Guatemala ask their President to allow the adoptions that are in process to continue under the good faith ageement in which they were entered upon. I do not believe it would be in anyone's best interest to have the current adoptions that are in process be delayed while a new Hague compliant system is implemented in Guatemala. Furthermore, it would be devastating if these adoptions were terminated altogther. Especially to the children.

We love our girls and want them to be united as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
April and Jason

Dear Mr. President,

We are adopting 2 amazing children from Guatemala. 7 month old Jose and 9 month old Ana. Words can't describe how excited we are to bring these children home.
My husband and I entered into this adoption knowing we could encounter "bumps" but never in my wildest dreams did I think our children could not come home.
I could go into all the reasons why adoption should continue. I could also carry on about how I understand that the Guatemala adoption process needs to change. All that is well and good, but the bottom line is that we desperately want to bring our children home. If things must change, why must the in process adoptions be affected?
Mr. President I have trusted and supported you for over 6 years now. Please, please consider these children and families when you visit Guatemala. Please remember our family and the two children that we can't wait to bring home.

Thank you and God bless!

Julie and Ryan Cole

Dear Mr Bush, a precious 7 year old girl is waiting in Guatemala for me to come get her. It's been a long adoption process - 16 months so far -plenty of time for visits, letters, presents, pictures, and love. I can't imagine loosing her now. Please do what you can to help all of us who are waiting to bring children home.

President and Mrs Bush
As parents, imagine the devistation your would feel if you daughters were taken from you. By not allowing adoptions in process to be completed is taking our children away from us. These adoptions have been entered into by good faith by both the adoptive and birth families. Please voice our concerns to President Berger. We all recognize that reform is needed but to halt adoptions while that reform is intiated is not the answer. Thank you and God Bless.
Tracy

Dear President Bush-
My husband Don and myself are in the final stages of adopting a beautiful 9 month old baby girl from Guatemala. This is our first child and have been in the process (paperwork) for over a year now. Our daughter, who we are naming Lola, is so very precious to us, even though we have only seen her through pictures. Please President Bush,if you get the opportunity to discuss Guatemalan adoption with President Berger, please be the voice of 1,000's of adoptive parents in the U.S. It would certainly not benefit the children in Guatemala to have the adoption process delayed.
Thank you very much.
Don and Teri Fitzpatrick-Denver, CO

Dear President Bush,
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. My husband and I are in the process of adopting Edras, who is almost three months old, from Guatemala. He will be our first child. We have not been "in process" very long, and the recent events in Guatemala have me terrified that we are going to lose him before we ever get to hold him. We fell in love with him the moment we saw him, and the thought of him not coming home is unbearable.
I ask that you will do everything in your power to support the parents of the United States and the children in Guatemala who are waiting to come home. We have done everything by the book, everything that the United States has asked us to do so that we could adopt a child and start a family.
I know that family is important to you and that you will not let us down. God Bless you and your family.
Sincerely,
Kristen Bond
Rhode Island

Dear Mr. President:

Our family, along with thousands of other American families, was formed through international adoption. We brought our son home from Guatemala in 2005 and are mid-way through the process with a beautiful young girl who we pray will one day become our daughter.

We have grave concerns about the future of the thousands of orphans and street children in Guatemala if proposed adoption reforms become law. We also realize that there are limits to the impact that we as citizens of another nation can have on the policymaking of a foreign government. However, the pending adoption policy of the Guatemalan government may have a serious financial and emotional impact on many citizens of the United States, and we implore you to please express concern on our behalf during your upcoming visit to Guatemala.

Those who hold public office and adoptive parents have something in common –every aspect of our lives is exposed to tremendous scrutiny if there is any hope of our dreams becoming reality. Parents hoping to adopt internationally open our homes up to strangers to determine if they are suitable environments for children. We must clear local, state and federal background checks, and the FBI fingerprints prospective parents to see if we are in their database of offenders. Our finances, marriages, employment histories, extended family relationships, and much more are bared for examination. People must come forth and swear under oath that we have good and honorable characters. We are evaluated medically and psychologically to determine if we can handle the rigors of parenting. And all of this is done before we are even allowed to apply for the opportunity to adopt an orphan living outside of the United States.

Families willingly, even gladly, spend thousands of dollars to be scrutinized in this manner because we know that no matter how cumbersome the requirements, they serve the very important purpose of protecting children. We also know that no matter how much effort goes into being approved as prospective parents, it is nothing compared to the hardships that are the sad reality of daily life for so many orphans in Guatemala and around the world.

No matter how many photos we have of the little girl we are waiting for, no matter how often we visit, we know that she will not officially be our daughter until the governments of the United States and Guatemala give their approval. We have willingly and in good faith entered into contracts with an agency in the United States and an attorney in Guatemala, based on the existing legal framework for intercountry adoption between the two nations.

The United States has for some time indicated that they intend to ratify the multi-lateral treaty known as the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The United States has also, as any reasonable government would, given plenty of advance notice prior to implementation of this new policy and also has developed a plan which would allow for ‘grandfathering’ of in- process cases.

The government of Guatemala recently announced a Protocol of Good Adoption Practices, designed to address many of the perceived flaws in their existing process. The Guatemalan government announced the Protocol on March 1, 2007 and has thus far been silent as to the effect it will have on in-process cases, although there is legal interpretation, based on the language of the document, which indicates that in-process cases will be suspended or even discontinued entirely as the new rules take effect.

Although our family has no legal claim to the little girl we hope will one day become our daughter, we have invested a considerable sum financially, in good faith, based on Guatemala’s existing legal framework for adoption. We are approximately halfway through the adoption process, and our fees in the United States (home study, forms and filings) and Guatemala (legal plus visit expenses) to date total approximately $20,000. (the total if the adoption is finalized will be more than $35,000) In 2006, over 4000 US families brought home children from Guatemala. Assuming half that number of families are currently in-process (allowing for carryover of pending adoptions from the last half of 2006, plus families who initiated adoptions in 2007) it is entirely possible that American families have good-faith investments totaling at least $40 million at present that the Guatemalan government could disrupt without penalty. Further, the financial losses are negligible compared to the heartache families in-process will suffer if their adoptions are disrupted abruptly and the fate of their hoped-for children is taken out of their hands.

Mr. President, please appeal to Presidente Berger on behalf of the thousands of families who are in-process, meaning they have Power of Attorney already registered in Guatemala, who entered into contracts in good-faith based on the current system. Please let him know that the government of the United States is concerned about the legal, financial and emotional consequences abrupt implementation of radically different policy could have on its citizens.

Thank you very much for your consideration and thank you for your service to the people of our nation. Finally, dedicated public servants and families formed through international adoption share something else. We know that the toughest roads are often the most rewarding.

Very Sincerely,

Douglas and Amy
Wisconsin

Dear President Bush,

We are the proud parents of a 3 year old boy adopted from Guatemala in 2004. Because of the love and kindness of a wonderful foster family, he has been healthy, happy and a pure joy from the minute we laid eyes on him. We are now in the process of adopting our son's biological sister who is now 2 months old. Her birthmother wants her to be raised with her brother and a part of a nurturing, loving family. We are just as devoted to her as we are to her brother. Our son knows his sister is in Guatemala and he's very excited to bring her home. It is such a blessing to be given the opportunity to adopt our son's sister. Please work with President Berger to allow adoptions in process to continue. This is the only chance she has for a future full of love, hope and opportunity.

Thank you,
Tim and Rebecca

Mr. President,

I want to thank you for your consideration of all our comments. I am an adoptive parent and a volunteer in humanitarian projects. I have traveled many times to Guatemala with medical teams and have witnessed the poverty and dire conditions which families endure in the rural areas of Guatemala. On numerous trips, I have seen dying children whose mothers did not have enough breast milk to keep them nourished and who could not afford formula. We have seen many other illnesses which could be prevented or treated but were not because the family had no money for the most basic medicine. I have been to government orphanages as well as privately-sponsored orphanages. One institution had 53 children with 3 adults tending to them; one of those adults was the cook, one was the administrator who was out on medical leave, and there was one dormitory supervisor. The sleeping quarters for the children had no electricity; the plumbing emptied out onto the lawn area where the children played. The montly income was not sufficient to cover the costs to care for the children. This kind of living deprives children of their birthright; a loving, secure home and family.

International adoption offers one option for the children who would otherwise have nothing. In addition, child-welfare programs need to be implemented in Guatemala which will ensure that chidlren receive the basics; food, shelter and love. These programs need to be ethically managed, and they need to be held accountable in their delivery of services to the children.

Thank you for your consideration.

I am pleading for the children of Guatemala; without the benefit of in-country child welfare services, supportive help for families, and the option of international adoption which literally offers life and a future to the children, these little ones will continue to die or be denied a healthy, happy future.

Mr. President:
My husband and I are in the process of adopting through Guatemala. We are what you might call a second generation adoptive family. Along with 3 biological brothers and sisters, I also have two adopted siblings. I have seen personally the power of adoption for children who need loving homes with resources and security. My brother and sister are now both in their thirties and are successful contributing members of our American society. They are a testimonial that internationally adopted children not only fill dreams of children and families, they are beneficial to our American society. The personal benefit to my own family is beyond measure. I cannot imagine life in our family without my younger brother and sister.

My husband and I currently have two biological children and are waiting for our son from Guatemala to join us in the US. I ask that you work to assist Guatemalan leadership in resolving current adoption issues in a cooperative manner that is ethical for all parties involved - especially the children. I also ask that along with making long term changes that you work especially for those children who are already in orphanages or foster care. If we do not allow them to join families who are waiting for them, what is planned for their future?

Sincerely,
Megan Marshall
Cincinnati, Ohio

Dear Mr. President,

We are the proud parents of a 2 year old boy from Guatemala and are currently in the process of adding a daughter (who is 5 months old) to our family.

In his recent letter to you, Thomas Atwood, the President of the National Council on Adoption said:

"America is in a position to encourage the Berger government to maintain the benefits of Guatemala’s private system while creating a central authority and providing security and protections for children, as required by the Hague Convention, through greater regulations, accreditation, and best practice standards.

We agree wholeheartedly and hereby request, Mr. President, that you use your influence to help the children of Guatemala. Our soon-to-be daughter and all the other children in Guatemala, both born and unborn, are counting on you!

Very respectfully,
Kris and Derek Huey
Philadelphia, PA

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I are adopting our first child. We are at the end of our process. It has taken a year and a half to get to this point. A year ago, in March, we were given a referral of a baby boy. In June they did DNA testing and it came back negative. It was hard on us but we realized that, that step was in place to protect the children and biological parents. I know that the system is not perfect and that changes need to be done. I just ask that you help us and all the other families in process complete there adoption so that we can live our dreams of being parents. Of helping children have a better life then what they would have had if not adopted.

I pray you enjoy your trip and fall in love with Guatemala and it's people. For I have done just that and it would be heart breaking to know I could not share my experiences there with a little boy I am waiting to adopt.

Sincerely,
Heather and James in Oklahoma

Dear President Bush,

Thank you very much for discussing international adoption during your visit with President Berger.

Our family is in the process of adopting from Guatemala and would be devastated if something were to happen to close adoptions in this country. We have fallen inlove with Guatemala and the generous people that call it home. We have done everything that has been requested of us to complete this adoption. We have three biological children already and this adoption process has taken us longer than any pregnancy ever had. We have already fallen inlove with our fourth child and we haven't even seen her face.

We understand that there have recently been some very unethical practices involving adoptions from Guatemala and that saddens us to no end. Unfortunately, whenever children are involed there seems to always be people there to exploit them and abuse them. I assure you, Mr. President, that this is not the norm with prospective adoptive parents. We have all been brought together through various circumstances with one common goal, to add to our family.

My husband served our country proudly while in the U.S. Navy. We are a very patriotic, loving family.....a family that is not yet complete.

Please, when you meet with President Berger, please take the necessary steps that will eiminate unethical adoption practices. But in doing so, please do not do it at the expense of the thousands of waiting parents and waiting children.

If adoptions were to be stopped in Guatemala, my family and I would have no choice but to abandon any hope of adding to our family. It is no secret that adoptions cost a lot of money. For my family, we have exhausted our savings already and would not be able to afford to "start all over" with another country. Guatemala is in our hearts already.

Thank you,
Scott and Linda Ferrell

Dear President Bush:

I am hoping that your meeting with President Berger goes well and that you are able to discuss the extremely urgent topic of international adoptions.

Currently, I am one of those Americans who is in the middle of the adoption process in Guatemala. I have longed to bring my daughter home and have been working diligently to do so for almost a year now. I have spent my life savings in hope that my dream of building a family would come true.

It is in the best interest of the children to allow those adoptions which are in process to conclude. If Guatemala abruptly suspends adoptions until they are Hague compliant the only people who will truly suffer are the children.

I am all for scrutinizing adoption agencies and adoptive parents to ensure the safety and welfare of the children. But to allow thousands of children and hopeful parents-to-be to suffer due to political changes is horrifying.

I respectfully request that you use your immense political persuasiveness to encourage President Berger to incrementally adopt the Hague by allowing those in process to complete their adoptions and to discontinue taking new adoption applications until a better system is in place.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide to the thousands of Americans, who are trying to fulfill their dreams of a family and a special thanks for keeping the children foremost in everyone's minds.

Respectfully yours -
Barbara Whitman
adoptive Mom to be from NJ

Dear Mr. President Bush,

We have a son named Dorian that was adopted from Guatemala and came home in Jan. of 2005. We are now starting the process of adopting our daughter. Nanci is not yet in our home, but in our hearts as part of our family. Please do not hault the adoptions in process. That would only delay the homecoming to their forever home. The best thing we can do for these children is get them to their families in the best way possible. Please do not let them suffer as that is what a shut down would do to them. These are God's children that need our help, please help us answer to their needs.

Thank you and God bless you and keep you safe,
David & Jennifer Thorne of Dupo, IL

Dear Mr. President,

Please add me to the long list of Americans with a personal stake in the future of Guatemalan adoptions. I, too, have been in process for months, submitting to all legal requirements, having entered into a good faith contract to complete an adoption of a Guatemalan baby.

At this very minute, there is a 7 month old Guatemalan child whose future is dependent on the outcome of current events. She resides with a loving foster family. She has met her forever-mother-to-be. She has no home to go to in the event that her adoption is not allowed to proceed. Her best chance at a smooth transition to my loving home would be for her adoption to be completed without further delay. As each day passes, and she becomes more and more aware of the world around her, the likelihood increases that she will suffer from the transition from her foster family to mine. Yet she is one of the lucky ones. Her adoption is likely to occur. What of the future babies of Guatemala, those with few options for a healthy or happy future?

Please keep the babies and children of Guatemala in mind in the next days and weeks. They are dependent on our good decision-making. Please keep the families in process in mind as well. There is no reason to destroy families already in the making, families already families in their hearts, where legal processes have been diligently followed.

Thank you.

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I adopted two beautiful children from Guatemala in 2002. They are both the lights of our lives and we simply cannot imagine life without them.
Having a biological child as well, I can attest to the fact that regardless of how one builds their family, the love is the same.
From the day we first saw just their pictures, we were hopelessly in love. Our lives were consumed with nothing but getting our children home. We lived on pins and needles until they were safely in our arms.
I cannot even comprehend what the parents in process or the hope to be parents are feeling right now. For many this is their only dream.
I will always hold my chilrens biological mothers in my heart for the amazing courage, selflessness and love they showed by allowing their children have what they felt a better life.
If these adoptions were to halt, everyone will be hurt.

Dear President Bush,

I am greatful you are having the chance to visit Guatemala on your tour of South/Central American nations. We were just in Guatemala City last month. My husband, daughter and I traveled there to meet our soon-to-be daughters/sisters. Emily Nicoll is a beautiful, intelligent, vivacious 3 year old. Her birth mother has tried to keep her but, being as she was born as the result of her mother being raped, the family which she was in would not include or accept her. She was rejected and with out a father who will recognize her she would have no one to call her own. In her person there is nothing that reflects the horrific circumstances under which she was conceived. After having spent 4 days and 3 nights with her, we are delighted to have her join our family.

Her little sister, Katherine, is only 8 months old. She is a lovely, well developed baby who seems to have an inqisitive peace about her. She also does not have a father and her single mother cannot raise her. She is left alone with out anyone to call her family. We have wanted another little girl in our family for 6 years now. We had planned to name our next daughter Katherine. I do beleive that it is by no accident we have found our little Katherine.

These children are so sweet and innocent. I am greatful for the prospect we have of bringing them into our family. It is apparent to me that they will be a great blessing to our lives.

Some feel that htese children are lost by Guatemala. Others may feel that because of they were born into another nation, that they belong there. I can tell you that these children are niether lost by Guatemala nor a burden in the coutry to which they come. The children born on earth are not property of a nation. They are children of God, our almighty creator. They belong to Him. They deserve families. They need mothers and fathers who can love, support, guide, and direct them. Each child holds a promise for the future. An uncharted coarse awaiting discovery.

I hope and pray that as meetings are held and desicions made that those making decions will remember the worth of souls and our great responsibility to each other as sons and daughter of our Almighty Loving God to not only help one another. but, to truly LOVE one another. It is one thing to help children survive and live. It is another to allow them the best that life can offer to help them THRIVE and become responsible, contributing members of our world-wide society. I know that there are many for whom Guatemala adoption has been heart-wrenching. The current system is not without problems. Changes probably are in order. Just please know, that there are families and children waiting to be united together under the current system. Please be sure that those who have worked and waited will be able to be together without delay as changes are made.

SIncerely, Alyssa DeHart

Dear Mr. President:

I can only add my plea to the thousands you will undoubtedly receive re: the process of adoption in Guatemala. Without an adequate infrastructure to care for abandoned children, these children will suffer...they will suffer mentally, physically and emotionally. Some of them will die. All of them will be denied the basic human right to grow up in a loving, permanent family. As the mother to a beautiful and precious baby boy from Guatemala, I know critical it is for these children to be raised with love, permanency, and protection.

Please, Mr. President, use your influence as the greatest man in our country to encourage President Berger to consider the most important people in this situation....the birthmothers and the children. Encourage President Berger to provide a workable solution for all the mothers AND their children who have no where to turn in a country racked by poverty. Encourage him to recognize the extreme importance of INFORMED consent for mothers and a loving, stable home as early as possible for these children. Encourage him to implement policies that minimize emotional trauma for mothers and their children during what may well be the most vulnerable time of their lives.

With respect,

Tisha and Michael Guenther
Captivated parents to our Zachary Luis

Dear Mr. President,

For more than a year my wife and I have been engaged in the very long and stressful process of attempting to adopt a child from Guatemala. Just several weeks ago we had finally completed our dossier with all the required documents. Then we received the wonderful news that a beautiful three week old baby was waiting for us--Juan Francisco.

Now we are faced with the devastating possibility that Guatemala might change its adoption protocols and that our lovely Juan might slip from our lives. We write this after many tears and frantic calls to our adoption agency. We may have no one to turn to but you for help and compassion.

Please encourage President Berger to continue the processes that allow adoptions between parents in the U.S. and Guatemalan children to create loving, enriched family.

We have a son waiting. We have more than a year of preparation. We have our savings wrapped up in trying to get Juan. It will be a tragedy for us and for Juan if this does not go through.

We can not express the policy implications as well as Mr. Atwood of the National Council on Adoption did in his letter to you. We can only emphasize for you the personal dimension—the extreme difficulty of this uncertainty and the pain if we lose Juan. Even more, we always think about what is likely to happen to Juan and other children who, if not adopted, will have very little chance in life.

We are very much in favor of all measures necessary for the protection of these children to ensure that they are adopted by trustworthy, loving families. But we sincerely ask you to help us and all other families involved in this and to ensure that, at the very least, adoptions where referrals have been accepted be allowed to continue while the other provisions of Guatemala protocols and conventions are worked out.

Thank you very much.

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I grew up watching your family every Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Midland, TX. In fact we were both married by Dr. Charles Lutrick. You served on the finance committee with my now father-in-law, Tom Cook. We always sat a few rows behind you and your family. I was in high school then and remember well your precious twin daughters. I remember thinking what a beautiful family you had. Even now, I enjoy seeing how they've grown. Today I'm writing to you because I am awaiting my own beautiful twin girls from Guatemala. We desire more than anything to be a family. Please don't forget that we're real people in this process and not just stacks of impersonal papers. We all agree that it is time to help Guatemala reform their adoption process but any sudden stop or slowing down of adoptions already in progress would be unjust and only harm children and families who entered into this process with good faith in both governments. The focus must remain on the welfare of the children. A hault in adoptions from Guatemala would create a humanitarian aid night-mare. Surely our leaders can create solutions which will improve rather than hamper the long standing, intercountry adoption relationship between our two countries. The most vulnerable of all, our children, are counting on us.
Warm Regards,
Kyle and Amber Cook

Dear Mr. President,

These are the words that spoke to my husband and me, and we want to accept and carry out the call to do them. Please help us!

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." James 1:7 NIV

We will be praying for you. May God grant you His wisdom.

Blessings,
Lyle and Jill
Iowa

Dear Mr. President,

In this time, when forces are at work to lessen the importance of life, there is a wonderful event happening. Families, for many reasons, are opening their doors to children from their own backyard and around the world. We happen to be one of those families working for the past three years to add to our family. My wife and I diligently searched throughout the world to find a country to adopt from, including our own. We choose Guatemala for many reasons. The primary reason being the children are in greatest need. The Guatemalan adoption program is by no means perfect, but having tried to adopt domestically I can attest to the fact that neither is our own. That being said we do not want to throw the baby out with the bath water. I do mean that figuratively and literally.

There are many people in the process of an adoption as I write this. Every one of these parents’ battles sleepless nights dealing with infertility, how to pay for an adoption, and dealing with new parent worries. Now they are faced with an even greater worry. Being stopped in their tracks and having their babies taken away from them. Many of these families, myself included, have already flown to Guatemala to visit our soon to be child. It is amazing how one bonds to a child so quickly and cherish every email pertaining to that child as the months wear on.

Please help facilitate the adoption process for current parents whom are in process. A grandfathering of current adoptions if you will. My wife and I can not think of losing our son, Joseph, to the system. He was lucky to make it this far. There are a of total 30.94 deaths/1,000 live births in Guatemala.

Mr. President you have proven over the years that you are a man for life. You have been an outspoken critic of abortion. Let’s just take your roll a step further. These women of Guatemala did not have that abortion, thank God, and chose life. Let’s complete the cycle of life and allow the children to flourish in the greatest country on God’s green earth, the United States of America. Thank you in advance for you support.

With fondest regards,

John and LeeAnne Clark

Dear President Bush,

I am the mother of a soon to be three-year-old girl from Guatemala. Katie is the joy of my life. From the moment I saw her picture when she was two days old, I knew she was going to be my daughter. We bonded very easily when I picked her up to bring her home with me, just before she was six months old.

Please use your influence with President Berger. We need adoptions to continue in Guatemala! I know and realize there needs to be changes made, but to stop the adoptions abruptly would not help the children who are already in process. I am very worried about the older children who have already met their forever families and are just waiting to get through the system. To these children, I would fear it would be similar to being relinguished or abandoned for a second time. No child deserves that.

I am also concerned due to the fact that there is not a plan or system in place to take care of these children if adoptions would be stopped. These children are still going to need the basic necessities.....who is going to provide for them? With a country as poor as Guatemala, I don't see where they have the resources to help these children adequately.

While I am not in the active process of adopting again at this time, I hope to in the future. I would love to bring home another child from Guatemala. I pray that adoptions will still be open there.

The children of Guatemala and we as adoptive parents and soon-to-be adoptive parents are counting on your support.

Thank you.

Lisa Treacy, Decatur, Illinois

I have two beautiful granddaughters....both adopted from Guatemala. My son and daughter-in-law are currently starting the process to adopt a third child from there. I pray that nothing will happen to stop this process both for my son and his family and all of the other wonderful families who have or are in the process of adopting Guatemalan children. cle

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I are in the middle of the process of adopting a precious baby boy from Guatemala. We have been blessed with 5 biological children, and God just laid adoption on our hearts. Our baby has his own unique story, as does each one of these children going through the process. Each adoptive family has poured their emotions, their finances, their time, and most of all, their love into these little ones that they have not been able to bring home yet. We all agree that thorough guidelines need to be put into place to protect the children, while at the same time assuring a timely system. We urge you to speak to President Berger on our behalf and encourage him to allow those adoptions currently in process to proceed without unusual and unnecessary delay.

Thank you so much for your time and we pray for a productive and safe trip for you.

Hal and Kristen Bolter Lakeland, Florida

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for giving your attention to the great and urgent needs of the orphaned, abandoned, and relinquished children of Guatemala. They are beautiful and deserve everything that all of the world's children deserve.

I am in the process of adopting two dear baby girls from Guatemala. Their birth mothers, single and unable to care for them, made the difficult choice to relinquish them, so that the babies could have a better life through intercountry adoption. They are living in a caring foster home while many steps are taken to ensure that their adoptions are legal and ethical. I hope that we will be together as a family later this year.

The future of the laws that provide for my daughters' current care and eventual adoption is in question. I am aware that in Guatemala, like in any country, problems can and do happen with some adoptions, and I believe these problems should be prevented. I believe it is possible to reform the current system without delaying the adoptions in process or halting intercountry adoptions. Guatemalan adoption lawyers and advocates are working hard to promote viable proposals to make this happen. Until Guatemala builds a real safety net for poor parents and their children, ethical intercountry adoptions are the best opportunity for many children such as my daughters.

I hope that you will consider the great need of the children of Guatemala, and in particular those who have been abandoned, orphaned, or relinquished, and encourage the Guatemalan government to adopt a solution that helps to meet this need both now and in the future.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I recently visited our baby girl in Guatemala. We received her referral on December 7, 2006 after many years of trying to conceive a child naturally. We are now in Family Court awaiting approval to move on to PGN.

Our decision to adopt from Guatemala was easy. We fell in love with the people and their culture. We were drawn to the fact that our baby would be cared for in foster care getting the loving attention that every child needs. Emma is three and a half months old. We are fortunate that we were able to visit her. We were able to hold her, comfort her, cry and giggle with her. She has brought so much joy to our lives. She consumes our thoughts every day and we are preparing every day for her arrival when we can share her joy with our loved ones.

I cannot imagine our lives without Emma. Not only have my husband and I fallen in love with her, but her entire family has as well. I cannot see how it could benefit any child to be taken out of foster care and taken away from a family who so desparetly wants to love and take care of that child and put her into an institution. Loosing Emma this way would be nothing short of loosing her to death. I pray every day that our Emma will come home to us.

Please persuade Guatemala's president to find a solution that will benefit all the children of Guatemala and to allow those children who have found loving homes proceed on to finalize their adoption and be united with their families.

Thank you,
Laura and James Turpin

Dear President Bush,

I have been waiting for 25 months for my adoption to come to fruition. I was due to make my first visit this week and hoping to have my baby home by summer. It would be a great tragedy for the actions of a few to hurt the many who have followed all required procedures to the letter and have been working with reputable agencies. My life has been devoted over the last 25 months to nothing but getting that baby home. Many lives would be shattered in both countries if these adoptions were to halt.

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I are in the process of adopting through Guatemala. Although we have a biological daughter we are adding a beutiful 8 month old baby girl named Elissa. We have already visited with her once for a week and she is as much our daughter as the daughter I gave birth to. We would be lost with out her. We all are on pin and needles just waiting for the call to say we can come to bring her home. We are within arm's reach of completing a process that has spanned the course of over a year. We have entered into a good faith agreement under the current legal systems to adopt our baby. Please do what you can to ensure that our case as well as many many other cases like ours won't become disrupted in any way. So many families as well as ours would be completely devastated were this to happen. Our daughter in Guatemala, who we have so much love for needs a loving home and we are waiting to provide it, for she is already a part of our family.
As United States citizens we are asking for your assitance to make sure we will be able to complete our adoption regardless of what the future holds for Guatemalan adoptions.
Please ask that Presidente Berger ensure a smooth completion for those of us in process.

Thank you and God Bless you and keep you safe always,
Debbie Blackmon in AL

Folks,

These are absolutely wonderful letters!! It is your voice that will be "felt" in the end. Please encourage others who are struggling through these uncertain times to join the "open letter" campaign. We can't give you details, but YOUR voices are being heard!!

Troy
guatadopt

Mr. President,

We know that you are a great supporter of adoption, as is evident by the wonderful adoption tax credit you have imposed during your term.

My husband and I married late in life (early 40s). This is the first marriage for both of us. We have both wanted children all of our lives, but because of some medical situations, we cannot have biological children. We turned to international adoption, beginning with Russia. However, they were not open to our situation and we then focused our attention on Guatemala which seemed at the time (April 2006) to be very accommodating to us. We were referred a beautiful baby boy in July, only weeks after his birth. We fell in love with him right away and KNOW that he belongs with us - HE IS OUR SON. We moved along in the process quite smoothly, but it now seems to have come to a halt in the last several weeks culminating with Guatemala's new Protocol of Good Practice announcement last week. Our son is almost 9 months old now. He will soon be at the age (if he is not there already) that he will begin having attachment issues.

We need him home with us now.

This is what is in the best interest of this child and many, MANY other children that are in the process of waiting to be with their forever families.

Please convey your concerns to President Berger about all these adoptions that are in progress. It would be devasting to the families and detrimental to the well beings of these children to disrupt these cases.

Thank you for your time.

Gary and Patricia Clark of Massachusetts

Dear Mr. President,

I write to you with tears in my eyes as I fear that because of the current problems in Guatemala our son will be lost forever in red tap…. My husband and I have been married for 10 years and last year we decided to peruse adoption. We have entered into the adoption in good faith and have completed the process in a legal manner under the current laws of the United States and Guatemala. Our son was born on 8/2/2006 and he is so much a huge part of our lives and as I am sure you understand, there is nothing like the love for your child. We entered PGN on 12/7/2006 and are still waiting. I cannot begin to comprehend what we would do if we could not bring him home. Our hearts break every time something else arises.

I can only pray that you would take time in your trip to help resolve the problems and bring all of our precious children home. I am sure that there are changes that could be made, but I plead with you to please allow our children the loving homes that they so deserve. We hope you understand that we need for you to protect our children and our families….God Bless you and your family.

Jason & Kristi
Georgia

Dear Mr. President:

We, too, are writing to you today regarding Guatemalan adoptions. We are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby boy from Guatemala who just turned 7 months old.

We simply ask that you can do all that you can to ensure that our "in process" adoption can be completed in a timely manner. It is certainly in the best interest of our son - and of all of Guatemala's children currently in the adoption process - to have an efficient completion of the adoption process. Please do not allow our son - or any child who deserves a loving home - to be a child left behind.

Thank you,
Keith and Kristina Wondra

Dear Mr. President,

I am in the process of adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. I and thousands of other adoptive parents and families are very concerned about the status of future adoptions in Guatemala,
and the welfare of all of the Guatemalan children who may be in great jeopardy should laws be changed there that are not in the ultimate interest of these children. Adoptive parents are put through heavy scrutiny to be found able to adopt and statistically
are shown to spend more time with their adopted children, in part because we so greatly wish to be parents. As a group we are well rounded, broad thinking and productive, tax-paying citizens. We are able to raise children who can reach a much higher potential for themselves and for society by providing them with opportunities
they would not have in their birth countries.

Should legal changes that are not well thought out be put into effect resulting in a termination of adoptions in progress, thousands of children would be dropped from the process, abandoned with no care plan, and similarly thousands of families waiting for these children will be heartbroken. Everyone will lose; and the heartbreak will be immeasurable.

I ask that this be considered as the monumentally life changing issue that it is, and please for our government to work hard to ensure that a fair adoption process is enabled for the children of Guatemala and their American families who so anxiously
await them. We are counting on you to do what is right.

Dear Mr. President,

Please help us to bring home our son. If you were to help ensure a speedy process, you would be helping thousands of parents hold their son or daughter forever. If these adoptions were to be halted it would be devastating to so many families and the children who are waiting for them.
Please, whatever you could do to help us as....as you can see will be more than appreciated

Thankyou
The Santomauro's
Greenlawn, NY

Dear President and First Lady Bush,
The seeds of adoption were planted in my heart when I was just a child. My sisters joined our family through international adoption, and even today I marvel at how they perfectly completed us. I have longed to embark on this journey for most of my life.

Today my husband and I feel something so much stronger than a simple desire to adopt -- we feel a calling. We pray that, as our country's leading man and woman, you will continue to advocate for adoptive families... particularly those of us who have been matched with children in Guatemala, where nothing is certain and the course remains a mystery.

We pray for your safe travel, for a meaningful visit, and for abundant wisdom.

Blessings,
Heather and Joe
Iowa

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I are also extremely close to bringing our only daughter home from Guatemala. I ask that as you think about the families that have responded that you try to imagine what it would have been like to have one of your daughters ripped from your arms at 9 months old and to have someone tell you that you will never see her again. This is the prospect facing thousands of American families if these adoptions are stopped. Most of us have met our children and love them more than anything in the world. The loss of any of these children would be devastating. For many of us, myself included, this is our last chance to have any child. We have paid every penny we have to bring this child home. I am begging that you consider families like us and do anything you can to continue the adoptions in progress. Sincerely, Kristina and Aaron Smith of Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I are currently in the early stages of adopting from Guatemala. We cannot have children of our own and desperatly want to bring a child into our home. Although things are uncertain right now I know in my heart my child is in Guatemala. I have prayed for many years for a child and now I am this close to have my dream come true. Please do whatever you can to help all of us to bring a beautiful child into our homes and give them the life they are so in need of. America is the best country in the world. These children will have things they have only dreamed of. Schools, food, clothing, and a home they can call their own. My prayers are with you.
Nancy and Eric McGee

Dear Mr. President:

Our family has been blessed with two beautiful boys, both adopted from Guatemala. Although our adoptions are complete, our hearts remain forever tied to international adoptions, as well as to the country of Guatemala.

Please take all of these letters to heart, and do what you can to advocate on behalf of all the families and the children that are involved in the process of an adoption from Guatemala, as well as the birthmothers who may need the opportunity to make an adoption plan for their unborn children in the future.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Dale and Darci Middaugh
Wisconsin

Dear Mr. President,

I join the many other adoptive and prospective adoptive parents of Guatemalan children. I have been in the process of adoption a child for over a year. In that timeframe I have carefully fulfilled each step that the legal systems in the United States and and now in the later stages in Guatemala. Like many other families in the same process, I have a high regard for the children of Guatemala. Hauge compliant laws that protect the children, birthfamilies and all other parties are certainly in need, but I do plead for a smooth transition to the new system.

Each family had endeavored to follow all the requirements to legally adopt and immigrate a child into the United States. We have entered this process in good faith and spent countless time and money to do so. While the money is not important...it is usually all that we have...there is no other source for another avenue. For myself and many others the money expended is of small consequence compared to the love and joy of this child and the daily struggles with not knowing whether or not we will be able to bring "our" child home. We are already bonded to these children. Many of us have already seen and held these children and are hopelessly in love...we desire to be good parents and ensure a good future for these children.

Please speak about this situation with President Berger. I hope that you can convey how much we respect the Guatemalan people and care about their future. We will be forever linked to them in a very special way. While adopting Hauge compliant adoption program is certainly a goal that we all support, there should be a clear and expedient transition for all inprocess cases that started under the notarial process. We understand that each case must be considered and review throughally reviewed, such things should be given priority and done in a timely manner. Adding more delays to a process that sees more delays each week that passes is not in the best interest of the Guatemalan people, adoptive parents or the children that we all hope to protect.

Regards,

Lora

Dear Mr. President
My husband and I are adopting from Guatemala. We started this process in 07/06 and received her referral in 11/06 of a beautiful Guatemala princess named Sofia. this is our first child and we are already so attached to her and think of her as our child. Please let all of our children come home to there forever family. We submitted to all legal requirements to complete our adoption of our baby girl. Please if there is anything that you can do to help these children come home we all will be very blessed. Thank you for taking your time in reading this.

Dear Mr. President and Mrs. Bush:
We are so thankful for your compassionate leadership. We are turning to you now, as you travel to Guatemala, to ask for your intervention in the lives of so many children who are dear to the hearts of your constituents.

In our case, we have been working through the Guatemalan adoption process for over two years now. In May 2005 we met our precious adoptees - a brother and sister - who were longing for a forever family. Today they are 9 and 11 years old - and still have not realized their dream. We have visited them twice and call them almost weekly. They have truly become part of our family - but they are still in the final stages of their adoption (in the Guatemalan PGN).

We ask for your assistance in forming a bridge with President Berger toward amicable US-Guatemalan relations so that our children - as well as those of so many other families - may finally come HOME!

Sincerely,
Jon & Jodi
Wisconsin

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I are currently in the process of adopting our daughter from Guatemala, we have entered into a good faith agreement under the current legal system. This is our first child and we are in the final stages of the adoption process. We have been able to visit our daughter and we hope and pray that she will be home soon. She means absolutley everything to us and the thought of her not being able to come home to her family is completely devistating. We are asking for your assistance to make sure that our adoption process and others in the same situation will be completed. We need your help to ensure that she will be able to come home to her family. Please speak to President Berger about the current situation.
Thank you,
Jason and Melissa Rowe

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I are writing you in a plea for help. As a couple that has been trying to become parents for over 5 years, and now, just as we begin to believe that we can bring our little boy home in a few months, we are scared beyond belief. We have been matched up with a baby boy who is now 3 months old and we have already fallen in love with him. But our first concern is not for our possible broken heart, but for the children of Guatemala that are already in the adoption process. What will happen to them if adoptions are stopped? Assuming that the “Protocol of Good Practices,” is well intended and that the President has only the best interest of Guatemalan children in mind, the net result would be the complete antithesis of the protection that these children need. As lawmakers work to amend, and improve adoption law in Guatemala, we hope that the children in need do not get lost in the shuffle. Mr. President, we know that you value family, and we know that you understand that life is precious. Please, do whatever you can to help protect these children and keep the process of adoption in Guatemala open.

With Gratitude,

Lorinda and Scott Jandron

Dear Mr. President,
I am on the verge of receiving a referral of an infant from Guatemala. Although I am not as far in the process as many families, I have still come to love the country of Guatemala and the idea of completing my family by adopting from there. The children of Guatemala and the families who are waiting for them in the U.S. deserve as smooth a transition as possible during this time. Please work with the government of Guatemala to ensure that the children are protected and allowed to become members of loving forever families. Thank you for representing our interests in this matter.

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for taking the time to read our letters and to visit the beautiful country of Guatemala. My husband and I are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby boy from Guatemala. We are asking that a smooth transition be made to any new adoption process and that in-process cases not be stopped. If current adoptions are stopped it would be so devastating to many of us. My husband and I are already in love with the baby who we have met through pictures and medical reports, and will visit in person next month. We are good people who work hard, pay our bills, and go to church every week. We have a loving home that we can provide to this child. Please, our prayers are with you as you journey to Guatemala, that you will speak for us, the people of your country, to support our future families.

Thank you,
Laurie & Damian Canuto
New Hampshire

Dear Mr. President,
I am writing this letter today regarding adoptions in Guatemala. I am in the process of adopting a
gorgeous 5 month old baby girl. Please discuss with President Berger the need to continue in
process adoptions, and may they be completed in a timely matter.
If the adoptions are not allowed to be completed the consequences
to the waiting children are unimaginable. We are counting on your support with this matter.

Thank You.

Kathleen, New Jersey

Dear Mr. President,

My daughter and her husband are adopting two children from Guatemala. The process started in November of 2005. There little girl was taken from them, becuase her DNA was not a match. We have been told she is in an orphnage. I cannot describe the pain they are going through. We are so in love with her, and worry about her daily. As I write this, there are tears. There little boy is in need of medical help. He needs brain surgery, and have been told by Doctors there, that he can only have it done in the states. I don't understand the system, but I trust in God and knows that he has a plan. I beg of you President Bush that you take our letters to President Berger.

God Bless You,
Dorina L. Tisbury

We ask that you keep adoption in Guatemala open so that many more families can find a child to love.

Dear Mr. President,
I hope that trip to Guatemala will be a successful one as far as International adoptions for all of us here in the United States who are trying to bring our children home.

My personal story began in August of 2005. I received my referral of my precious baby girl who was only two weeks old. For 8 months I was told everything was going fine but one delay after another in PGN, I was finally told that this adoption would not proceed due to some document that was never requested prior. I went to Guatemala to spend my dauther's first birthday with her. You have two daughters, could you imagine spending time with them when they were born, then having to leave them and then see them placed into an orphanage when they were 20 months old not knowing what would happen to them? This is what happened to my daughter. I was given a second referral while I wait for the abandonment procedure to hopefully be completed and then I hope to adopt her as well. Heidi is now 5 months old and there have been delays there as well. But now with everything we hear, things could come to a halt at any time.

Please Mr. President, make the President of Guatemala understand that any abrupt halt to adoptions is not going to be the best thing for these poor babies nor their country. The Guatemala city economy has a huge interest from travelers from the United States going there for adoptions. What if this stops, their economy will also suffer. If they will not look at it from the child's point of view, just wanting and needing a forever family to love, cherish and take care of them, then put it in terms they will understand. There won't be the traffic in the airports, taxis, hotels, restaurants, shops etc.

Please come back to the US with good news for all of us that the President will continue adoptions insuring that procedures are done properly, quickly and add staff to the US Embassy to help them with the back up and get these babies home.
Thank you.
Pamella
Milton, PA

Dear President Bush,

I wish I could put into words how much I love my daughter...but words simply cannot express the depth of my love for this little girl who waits in Guatemala to join her forever family. Losing her now would be losing a part of my heart forever.

I have one request of you, asked with the deepest respect: that you provide great leadership so the USA and Guatemala can work together to continue adoptions and reform a system so that it protects all children. Yes, I desperately want my daughter to come home and I want the 900 other children waiting right now to come home to their forever families... and the generations of children to come.

"An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet...that thread may stretch or tangle but will never break."

May God continue to give you the wisdom, leadership and grace to protect all the families counting on you...and the children who need your advocacy so desperately.

-K. Porter

Dear Mr. President,

We are in the process of adopting two children from Guatemala. A little over a year ago God laid this on our hearts and after visiting Guatemala we returned with a sincere passion in our hearts for the children there. We know that there needs to be a system in place that will protect the children as well as the birth parents however, we have already started the process along with many others and we would love to bring our precious children home. We are asking that you would discuss the matter of adoption with President Berger and encourage him to move forward with the cases that are already in progress.
Thank you so much for your time and for caring about our children. We pray you will have a safe trip.
Sincerely,
Jeff and Tara Childress

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I wanted to share a little of our Guatemalan adoption story with you. Like so many parents whose letters you have read, we are "in process" for two children. Our beautiful son is nearly one year old. We accepted his referral at 4 months of age and his case has been in PGN since October, 2006. Our darling daughter turned one on February 28. Due to numerous delays on the Guatemala side, her process is just beginning. She has been diagnosed with failure to thrive of unknown etiology and weighs 11 pounds at one year of age. We want nothing more than to bring her to the US to be a part of our family and to get her the medical treatment she so desperately needs.

We are nervous about the ramifications of the Hague Convention and the Protocolo of Good Practices. Please discuss with President Berger the very real families that all of our babies have waiting for them in the US. Please share with him that we have entered into a Good Faith agreement with the government and want nothing more than to bring our babies home. To face the prospect of never bringing our children into their forever homes is simply to great a sorrow to bear.

Thank you for representing all of our families.

With gratitude, Janet and Ramon Renda

Dear President Bush,

It is with much dismay that I write you this letter. You see, I am in the beginning stages of an international adoption through Guatemala. It is my understanding that due to a recent unethical and unlawful event and the impending Hague Convention, the President of Guatemala, Mr. Berger, intends to implement procedures outlined in the “Manual of Good Practices”. After reading the translated version of this manual and the official announcement, I am appalled at what is being suggested. To add to my fear, I am faced with a statement issued by the Department of State that says; “In light of a number of problems with Guatemala’s inter-country adoption process, the U.S. Department of State strongly cautions American prospective adoptive parents contemplating adoption in Guatemala to carefully consider their options at this time.” Mr. President, I have no options. After months of gathering legal documents, being fingerprinted numerous times, and having a home study completed I received my I-171H…a legal document stating I was approved to adopt from Guatemala. On the 13th day of February, I received the email that will forever change my life, the referral of a beautiful baby boy born in Guatemala. A little boy who will be named Gavin David, a little boy who will become my son. While I encourage the steps needing to take place in order to enter the Hague Convention, and comply with “Good Practices” any unnecessary delay or sudden halt would prove to be horrendous not only to the children in Guatemala, but also to the families that have opened their hearts and call this child their own. Any significant delays placing these children in a permanent home will put them at risk for attachment disorders, along with physical and emotional issues. They will be forced to live a life of poverty, malnutrition, with little hope of a future. I beg of you to hear my cries and encourage the President of Guatemala to allow all in- process adoptions that have legally complied with both the US and Guatemalan laws, continue without delay. I also ask that DOS honor their statement in processing all I-600A applications. I also ask that you provide additional staff at the Embassy to process these cases accurately and in a timely manner. As a United States Citizen I ask that you do everything within your power to protect your people who have entered into this commitment with good faith and allow our children to come home. It amazes me how you can fall in love with a picture. How a little boy you have never met, can completely have your heart. This little boy consumes my thoughts, invades my dreams and I ache to hold him. I have not only invested my life’s savings in this adoption but my entire being, losing him now would be a complete devastation. While you are in Guatemala this week speaking with President Berger, I ask you remember me and the thousands of other family’s that are going through this emotional and painful journey. I ask that you a strong and fair man be our voice!

Respectfully Yours,

Julie Oliver
Praying for Gavin In Guatemala, Waiting For His Mommy.

Dear Mr. President,

There is a baby girl in Guatemala who hasn't even been born yet, but is already loved by my husband and I. We are very early in this process and urge you to work with the government of Guatemala to ensure that the children are protected and adoptions between the US and Guatemala are kept open.

Thank you so much...wishing all of you safe travels.

Sincerely,
Craig & Jennifer Torres

Dear Mr. President,

We are adopting our second child from Guatemala. We are near completion of the process to bring home another handsome 8 month old boy. We have been in love with him since he a week old and we accepted his referal.

Now the legal process in Guatemala appears to be changing and the threat of not bringing our little boy home has brought us to our knees before God to pray for him and all the orphans of Guatemala. We pray that Guatemala can legislate a just law to protect the childern of Guatemala from abuses and also protect the childerns right to a loving family.

Please encourge President Berger to not stop current adoptions in process and to make sure any new laws protect the right of Guatemalans to choose to place their children into international families.

Thank you,
Mike and Stacey
Michigan

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I have been married almost ten years. After years of heartbreak and disappointment trying to conceive a child we made the choice to adopt. We were matched with our beautiful baby girl in December of 2006 - two years after our first adoption meeting. She is now 3 months old and thriving under the care of her wonderful foster mother. We are waiting for approval so we can make our first visit. We love and adore our baby girl already with all our hearts. To lose her now would be devastating to both of us. We ask you to please do all you can to keep the adoption process moving ahead - especially for those of us so close to bringing our babies home. Please help us to continue to build beautiful and loving families. We are counting on your help.

Respectfully,
Marie and Vince

Mr. President-

I have been in the process of adopting a child for two and a half years. I have visited my beautiful baby girl twice and hope to complete the adoption and bring her home in a couple of months. During this time I have grown to respect her native land and am so eager to introduce her to the United States of America.

I have entered into a good faith agreement under the current legal systems to adopt my baby which now seems in question. As a citizen of the United States citizens I am asking for your assitance to make sure the adoption will be completed. I hope that all government, regardless of the changes yet to come for Guatemalan adoptions, recognize the justness in grandfathering in prospective families like me.
Please help.
Thank you.

Dear Mr President,

My wife and I have recently started the adoption process. We do not have any children and have always wanted them. They just have not come into our lives. We have decided to adopt and when researching a country to adopt from we found Gautemala. We were drawn to Gautemala due to the needs of the children. We want to adopt to start a family, to give a child the love we have been given and to give the child an opportunity to have freedom. We have prayed very hard on adoption and have felt led to Guatemala as well.

Please Mr President discuss with President Berger the love we have for the children. Also, the opportunity we will be able to give them to grow.

We just ask the USA and Gautemala will work it out so couples will be able to start their famiies now and in the future. We are in the beginning and want a successful end and you are able to help provide this wish.

Thank you,

Dear Mr. President,

Please help adoptions continue with Guatemala. We have adopted a son from there who is now 12 and now are in the process of adopting a little 4 year old who has been abandoned since birth. She has already met us and receives cards, photos, stickers from us every week. She already calls us Mama and Papa. I get sick when I think about our adoption being stopped because of the political issues. How could we explain that to her? We pray that adoptions can continue between these two countries.

Thank you. God Bless.

Dear Mr. President,
I trust that your visit to Guatemala will be a safe and productive one. Please know that there are a tremendous number of people who hope that the children of Guatemala and their best interest will be kept in mind as you meet with President Berger.

Sincerely,
Aaron Marshall

Dear Mr. President,

While you are in Guatemala please address adoption law changes with their leadership. I am writing this on behalf of a family member with a Guatemalan child adoption currently underway. Some recent legal activity within Guatemala has placed her adoption (and many others) in jeopardy. The child's mother willingly gave up the child, but under the revised law the adoption might be cancelled. The changes appear to be the result of lobbyist influences on the Guatemalan leadership. For me, one of the important values of the Republican party has always been the ideal of less government regulations on people's lives. I think leaving a child in an orphanage when there is a couple in the US waiting for him is a grave mistake.

Dear Mr. President,

I am a single woman who longs to become a mother, and I thought Guatemala would be the country that provided my child(ren). With all the uncertainty, I am now uneasy about moving forward with my plans. If I choose to stop my adoption process in Guatemala, I will forfeit thousands of dollars and have to re-evaluate my dream of becoming a mother. It's frustrating and unsettling to see that the children of Guatemala may be the ones who suffer the most as a result of governmental delays. Please encourage Guatemala to do what needs to be done without interference from UNICEF.

Blessings and peace to you & your family,
Lucinda

Mr.President,

Please help all of us bring home our children from Guatemala. President Berger is making changes which is threating to cease all adoptions, even those that are in process. We are at the end of the adoption process waiting to get our son out of the PGN. We are so in love with him & can not even imagin the thought of losing him. We are honest hard working people that just want a child to complete are family. Please think of these children & how their future would be if they were not able to come to America. We all want to give a child a loving, secure home with a chance at a great education, a better life. Please listen to us & talk to President Berger to allow the inprocess cases to continue & continue adoptions of the guatemalan children that are waiting for a family. There are so many families still hoping to adopt in the future from Guatemala. Help us to help the children come home to America..
Thank you..

New York

Dear Mr. President,

We are currently in the process of adopting two beautiful children from Guatemala. We just returned last night from our second visit to see our 10 week old baby girl and 5 year old little boy. Our trip was overwhelming. We are so in love with our children; we can't imagine our lives without them. Because they are already in our hearts, we are horrified by the thought of not being able to bring them home. They are our family.

As prospective adoptive parents, we have entered into a good faith agreement to bring our children home through a legal adoption process. We simply ask that our in-process adoptions, along with the thousands of other adoptions currently in process, be completed in a timely manner. Please do what is in the best interest of the children of Guatemala who are waiting to come home.

Mr. President

I urge to work for the continuation of adoptions between Guatemala and the US. As a family who recently adopted a four year old from Guatemala we are truly grateful that the program was available. We also know that there are many other children who need loving homes. It would be a shame if these programs had to end.
Tahnk you.
Bill

Dear Mr. President,
We are in the process of our 2nd adoption from Guatemala. Thank you for addressing some of the issues in Guatemala.
The enforcement of ethical practices and accountability from all parties (US and Guatemalan alike) is so important for everyone involved in adoptions from Guatemala. We hope that proposed legislation will continue to enable the placement of children in a suitable. It is our hope that the US Gov't work with the Guatemalan authorities to ensure that the families who have entered into good faith agreements under a legal system be permitted to complete their adoptions regardless of what the future holds for Guatemalan adoptions. We personally have already received "pre-approval" from the US Government and hope that this gives us hope that our adoption will go through smoothly.
Sincerely,
Patricia and Geoffrey Tischbein
Michigan

Dear Mr. President,
Like the other parents we two are adopting from Guatemala. We adopted our son in 2001 from Guatemala. We are now in the process of adopting a boy (he is going to be 2 in May) and a baby girl who is 4 months. We have been in the final stage (PGN) for our son since Feb. 5th and have been waiting over 45 days for our pre-approval to enter PGN for our daughter. These children are already in our hearts and souls. Our 5 year old has been waiting so long to have a brother and a sister who he would say, " looks just like me". He looks at their pictures daily and wants to know when we can bring them home. He really thought Santa was going to put them under the tree for him and was very dissapointed when they weren't here Christmas morning. Please help our family and all the adoptive families in process to bring their children home and complete their forever families.
Thanks for your help and God bless you and your family.
Sincerely,
Craig and Pam Weger

Dear Mr. President,
I am currently in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. The waiting is the worst part of the process and then to have uncertainty about being able to bring your baby home is a very unsettling feeling. If you can give any assistance so our babies can come home soon.
Thank you for all your help,
Bonnie

Mr. President:
I am writing to you today to express my distress about the situation in Guatemala as regards international adoption, and specifically, the ability of US Citizens to adopt children born in Guatemala.

I have adopted both my daughter and son from Guatemala. As recorded in the social worker report from Guatemala, the situations of both my children's birth mothers are horrendous. I would be happy to share their stories with you during a phone conversation.

BACKGROUND: WHY I NEED YOUR HELP
As you may know, the US will likely ratify the Hague Convention this year. The US Department of State has expressed a desire to keep adoptions open between our country and that of Guatemala, while the Guatemala Government puts forth efforts to implement procedures compliant with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

After rumors and cancellations and changes and with no official seals and/or signatures, President Berger of Guatemala introduced the "Manual of Good Practice of Local and International Adoptions in Guatemala" earlier this month. A similar Protocol was introduced in 2003 and was eventually ruled to be unconstitutional. It appears to me the worst of the Protocol is that it does not establish funds to support either the relinquished or abandoned children currently in foster care or in private orphanages.

ACTION REQUESTED: WHAT I NEED YOU TO DO
I am asking that you strongly encourage President Berger to keep adoptions open between Guatemala and the US. As importantly, I ask that you encourage President Berger to work with his Congress and all interested parties (including hogar directors) to develop practices in compliance with the Hagues.

There are millions of orphaned and abandoned children in the world. While you and I cannot save them all, we can plead to keep inter-country adoptions open for the children of Guatemala while Hague-compliant changes to the current processes are legally made. These children need a voice. I need your voice.

Best regards,

Monica Grilliot
Ohio

Dear Mr. President,

I would like to ask for your sincere help. My wife and I are in the process of completing our adoption of a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. We are currently in Family Court awaiting PGN and feel that the recent situation in Guatemala may stop our dream of having a family come true. We, along with the many other families out there, need your help and influence.

My wife and I have been married for almost eleven years. we have always hoped and prayed for a family. After several years of trying for a child and failed attempts at fertility treatments. We came to the decision that adoption was what we had been called to do.

It didn't take long for us to decide on Guatemala being the country from which we would adopt our baby. We fell in love with the people and culture of Guatemala. We were ultimately chosen to be the parents of a beautiful baby girl borm in Novemver of 2006.

We have traveled to be with our baby, Emma. We have held her, breathed with her, laughed and cried with her. We were also able to see the extreme poverty that she could have faced had her birthmother not CHOSEN for her to be adopted. It was important to us that our child's birthmother had the opportunity to choose. We know that God has greater plans for us leading us to Emma!

We are like many other adoptive families. Many of us have been fortunate that we have been able to travel and hold our babies in our arms. This has given us the hope that soon all of our dreams are coming true. We have now learned that because of the Manual of Good Practices created by the Guatemalan President that dream of having our Emma home with us may not come true after all.

We all understand that a better system needs to be implemented, but for the families already in progress who have entered in good faith and have invested countless hours, life savings and emotions it would be cruel and inhumane to the families and the children to suspend these adoptions.

I ask you to use your influence to help President Berger to allow these in progress adoptions and those children who already have chosen families preceed with no interuption.

Mr. President, I am pleading with you as a US citizen, a devoted Christian, and as a loving human being in hopes of sharing our love with our chosen child. Please use your influence in helping all of our families and the children of Guatemala who have been put in this situation.

Sincerely,
James Turpin, IN

Dear Mr. President,

I just want to add my voice to the other prospective parents waiting to adopt a child from Guatemala. Please stand by us and relay the important information to President Berger that the Guatadopt team expressed in their letter to you.

gratefully yours,
Pamela

Dear Mr. President,

I understand, through our daughter and son-in-law, Julie and Joe Lutz, that you will be traveling to Guatemala this week, hopefully to address the adoption crisis that has arisen in that country. Julie and Joe, while biologically capable of having their own children, have chosen, instead, to give two needy and otherwise unwanted children in Guatemala a chance to enjoy the standard of life that we in America have often taken for granted. They have exhausted themselves financially and physically in this noble pursuit, and are well along in the adoption process. The disheartening news they shared with my wife and me upon their return just yesterday from Guatemala is devastating--the many thousands of families in the United States that have already initiated legal adoptions in Guatemala stand to lose everything. What's worse--far worse--is that the myriad of children that had been given the hope of a better life through adoption to loving, caring American families are about to have this dream snatched from them by the strokes of legislative and executive pens. I join the many petitioners flooding your desk at this time with my request that you intercede on behalf of both the prospective new parents in America and the waiting, needy children of Guatemala to avert this travesty. Many lives are literally at stake, and we believe that you, as President, can make the difference. Thank you in advance for your careful, Godly consideration of our request.

Respectfully,

Tom Steidel
10 Westbrooke Circle
Shrewsbury, PA 17361

Dear Mr. President,

I am physically disabled and wheelchair-bound. Because of my disability I am very petite which does not allow me to have biological children. However, because of the wonderful people of Guatemala, my husband and I are now the VERY proud parents of two beautiful boys, ages 3 and 1.

In my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would be a mother. But because of Guatemala, I am now HONORED and PRIVILEGED to be raising two children. Other countries such as Korea would not allow me to adopt because of my disability, Russia and Ukraine require too much travel and China also requires a long travel, and just recently, has now banished disabled people such as myself from adopting.

Please help to keep Guatemalan adoptions a viable option for all families, but closer to my heart, for disabled adoptive parents....so that their dreams may come true as well.

Respectfully submitted,
Nadia H. Ortiz

Dear Mr. President,

Listen to your heart and do the next right thing.
Every person who has completed an adoption or is in the process of adopting truly want what is best for the children, many of who are in need. One life touches many others............may your decisions be guided.

Judi Ruppel
Whitefish Bay, WI

Dear Mr. President,
We trust God completely that we will soon bring our 9 month old Gracie home from Guatemala. We have visited her in Guatemala twice and cannot wait for her to be home with us here in Michigan. We ask that you please remember all these little children and their fore-ever families when you meet with President Berger. Please be a willing instrument in God's hand to help bring our children home.
We wish you a safe and wonderful trip!
Respectfully
Jim and Elena,waiting for Gracie.

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I have a 4 year old son and are in the process of adopting our 3 month old daughter from Guatemala. After a few years of trying unsuccessfully to have another child of our own, we decided to adopt and in January received our referral of our beautiful daughter. Even though we have only seen her through pictures, we have fallen in love with her and can't imagine the pain of not being able to bring her home. Our son asks about her all the time and asks when he will be able to see his "little sister".

We are asking for your help to ensure that all inprocess adoption cases be allowed to continue without any sudden halt or lengthy delays and to ensure that future adoptions between Guatemala and the US are kept open. Please help us to bring home our children (and siblings) we have grown to love.

Thank you for your time.

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I are in the process of adopting twin boys from Guatemala. Our boys are 8 months old and we had hoped to have them home by now. I am leaving next week to foster them until the adoption is complete. I could not stand to miss another moment of their young life.

While I fully appreciate that there are real and serious problems occurring with some of the people and practices in Guatemala, I ask you to keep the children foremost in your mind.

As Guatemala moves forward to implement The Hague, we should consider and emphasize the quality of life these children will have under the new policies. I understand the United Nations belief that children are a nation’s greatest resource. But I also strongly feel the United Nations has lost sight of how devastating those policies can be if a government does not dedicate its resources to caring for the most vulnerable of its society.

Guatemala's President has not shown a real willingness to help abandoned and unwanted children. Nor has he committed any funding to help the homeless street children or change the severe poverty that leads many women to give up their children. I fear for all of these children if international adoptions stop or dramatically slow down in Guatemala. Who will care for them?

As you meet with President Berger, please keep the children in your thoughts!

Thank you.

Helen Meager
West Hills, CA

Dear President Bush,
My daughter has been trying to adopt a Guatemalan
boy since his birth. He is now two years old and we seem to be further from completing the adoption than we were a year ago. My daughter cannot have children of her own and the adoption procedures here practically prohibit local adoptions. Only good things will come out of the completion of this adoption. My daughter will gain a much loved and welcomed son, I (at age 70)
will get my first grandson and Benjamin will gain a family in the land of opportunity that will love and cherish him forevermore. You have an opportunity to help the many american families who are seeking to adopt from Guatemala. Please
give it your most sincere consideration and make this a serious topic for discussion.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim and Phyllis George

Dear Mr. President,

My husband is an Armed Service member, I am a stay at home mom, and we have two beautiful daughters whom we adopted from Guatemala. They are the absolute loves of our lives. We ask you to find a way to work with the Guatemalan govenment to contimue finding homes for these children in need. There are so many wonderful families in the United States who could offer the children a bright futures. I will keep you in my prayers that you feel convicted towards allowing these Inter-country adoptions to continue.

Sincerely,
Daphne Edwards

Dear President Bush

Like all the other parents who have written, we are pleading with you to help us bring our baby home!! We are fortunate to have an 8 year old biological daughter. We know how wonderful and amazing the love for a child is, as we know you do. Being a parent is the best job in the world. We are already in love with a beautiful baby boy in Guatemala. Our son is now 2 months old and we can't wait to hold him and have him home with us. Even our daughter is in love with her baby brother, carrying his pictures to school with her every day!

As US citizens, who work hard, abide by the rules, pay taxes...and we are going through this process legally, with a reputable agency, we beg of you to speak with President Berger regarding in-process adoptions. We have done what we have needed to do...all of the paperwork that had to be notarized, state certified and authenticated, fingerprints, criminal record checks, etc, etc....and now we need you to do your part. We need you to help us bring our baby home!!

May you have a safe and successful visit in Guatemala. When you are there, remember all those babies that need to come home to their forever families!!

Julie and Scott
New Hampshire

Dear Mr. President,

We are a family that has successfully adopted through the Guatemalan program. We just want to let you know that the current process has worked beautifully for many legitimately adopted orphans. OUr daughter thrived in the foster system that Guatemala has implemented and is an intelligent healthy child. I want to encourage you to help us to continue to bring these beautiful children into our families and into the US where their future is bright. These children will truly be an asset to the US as American's who are proud of their Guatemalan background. We are proud of them and where they have come from. Please allow the families currently in process and others who dream of growing their families through adoption in Guatemala to complete the process and bring their babies home...Thanks you...Deanna in NC

Dear Pres Bush, I hope some1 in your administration has taken the time to read these posts.We all have very wonderful personal experiences to share. I brought my son home when he was 1 yr old. We love him as if were our bio.son. Our families love & adore him. He loves us & brings an unexplainable joy to all of us.
It saddens me to think that there is a possibility that this beautiful gift can b halted by politicians that r not in tune to what the adoption experience is all about.
There are alot more scams in local US adoptions than Guate adoptions, . In my opinion the adfoption sys in the US has failed us & our children.
There is talk that some birth mothers are paid to help them w there expenses. Granted , if they r paid, it's alot less than what surgate mothers are paid in the US. I have heard horror stories in regards to the surgate sys in the US. Yet surgacy is legal in the US. Explain that , please. That is why we have had to look outside of our country.
PLEASE DON'T LET THEM TAKE THIS AWAY FROM US!! Many innocent children will suffer, & future adoptive parents will b denied the most beautiful JOY & LOVE they will ever experience.
Thanks for your support, Dr Teri Hernandez
Adoptive parents have much love to share w Guate children!!

Please bring our child home. We received his referral before he was born. He already turned one & is not home with us. This has been a long & emotional 2 years for me, my wife & our child who is waiting for her baby brother to come home. We are paying back a loan to cover adoption fees for a child who we still do not yet have home with us. Please help us & the countless others whom have unselfishly put all they got on the line to help a child in need. Thank you!

Mr. President,
My husband and I have been married for 6.5 years. We have tried every means available to have biological children for almost 4 years. After a year of prayer, we started our journey to adopt a child from Guatemala. In October 2006 we were matched with a baby boy from Mixco, his biological mother is 19 years old and this is her 4th child.
We are half way through the adoption process and Alexanders birth mother has signed documents in family court to relinquish her child for adoption.
It seems almost criminal that he may never sleep in the nursery prepared for him, may never be held like he deserves to be held, and we may never be the parents we've dreamed so long of becoming.
Please, I beg that you consider the families who are so eagerly waiting to become parents and assist in anyway to make these adoption come to completion.
Sincerely,
J. Meyers
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for taking the time on your extremely busy Latin American trip to discuss an issue so important to so many American citizens--international adoption from Guatemala. We truly appreciate having a voice in our government and being able to voice our concerns to our elected leaders.

We ask that you encourage both Presidente Berger of Guatemala AND the US Department of State to work together to ensure a smooth transition in adoptions between our two countries. While some serious issues have been raised with Guatemalan adoptions, the truth is that thousands of legitimate orphans/abandoned children receive loving homes in America because of Guatemala's adoption program.

While our son-to-be is one of these children, we are also concerned about the thousands of children who will wait for permanency for far too long if there are any abrupt changes or unnecessary delays in the Guatemalan program. Every day of waiting makes a difference in the lives of these children. These are children who will grow up to be American citizens and add to the wonderfully diverse mosaic of American culture, becoming valued members of our society.

As the leader of the free world, you have the power to influence the outcome of this situation through your leadership. We appeal to you on behalf of all the waiting children of Guatemala, both present and future.

Sincerely,
Delaney and Wendy Faircloth
Florida

Dear Mr. President,

I want to thank you in advance for discussing international adoptions issues with Presidente Berger. We are among the many families who have dreamed of expanding our family through the miracle of adoption. I urge you to think of the welfare of Guatemalan children in need of loving and secure families whose future would be greatly impacted if they could no longer be placed in forever homes. I will be praying for you on Thursday. Please pray for us.

Sincerely,
Kenny and Karen Thayer

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you so much for visiting Latin America and taking the time to discuss Guatemalan adoptions with the President Berger. I urge you to work with President Berger to reform Guatemalan adoptions without stopping them!

My husband and I are in the process of adopting from Guatemala. We are very close to getting a referral. We are afraid to receive the referral and send our first installment of $10,000 to our Guatemalan attorneys because of the possiblity of a stopage of Guatemalan adoptions.
Furthermore, we want to give an innocent child from Guatemala an opportunity to live in a loving home that promises him a bright future.

Please allow these children to have a bright future by keeping Guatemalan adoptions alive. Please allow me and so many others to build and/or complete our families by allowing us to complete our adoptions.

President Bush:

Our family is whole, now that we have completed an adoption in the nation of Guatemala. Our family realizes that there may be a number of things that need to be changed, internally, in the sovereign nation of Guatemala, so as to prevent fraud and abuses in the adoption process. We sincerely hope that you take a few moments to discuss the important topic of international adoption with President Berger while you are in Guatemala. We trust that an open dialog will help ensure that international adoptions from Guatemala continue unabated, and that the thousands of orphaned and abandoned Guatemalan babies and children are provided with what they need and deserve.

Sincerely,

Gregg, Esperanza, and Marilu Smith, Milwaukee, Wisconsin --- direct, marital, and adoptive descendants of immigrant Thomas Smith, a weaver (and his wife Rebecca) who arrived from England in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635

Dear Mr. President,

I cannot think of a more perfect way to celebrate the "culture of life" than by creating families through adoption. My wife and I are the proud parents of a beautiful daughter that we've adopted from Guatemala. We are truly blessed to have her and I cannot imagine life without her. During our experience in Guatemala, we had the priceless opportunity to share our lives with other families going through their own experiences, as well as meet some of the finest people in Guatemala. While I am relieved that our adoption journey is over and we can now enjoy the rest of our lives together, my heart goes out to those families who are still on that journey. Please Sir, help these families come home with their children and help keep hope alive for the many children who have yet to find a happy, loving home. I offer my best wishes to both you and President Berger that our countries will continue to fight in the best interests of the children and families.

Very Respectfully,
Joseph Lalicata

Dear Mr. President,

I hope and pray that while on your visit to Guatemala, you are able to help see the continued legal adoption channels remain open, so that all who are in process may bring the children they love, home. These are the lives of children, babies, and teenagers who need to go HOME to their forever families and experience all the love and devotion they deserve.

This process is near and dear to my heart as literally four days ago, I brought home my precious daughter from Guatemala and I honestly don't know what I would have done had she not been able to come live with me. So many families have their entire lives, their whole hearts and often every saved penny invested in bringing home the dream of a life time...a child.

Please help our country to maintain the adoption process with Guatemala.

Thank you,
Carrie Higuera
Mom to Grace (Maria Guadalupe) Higuera

Dear Mr. President,

We have adopted two great boys from Guatemala, and hope that the process will continue and other families can be built through legal and ethical adoption protocols. Please urge President Berger to work to continue these adoptions.

Respectfully,

Andrea and Jim Stavosky
Burlingame, CA

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I are also in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala, whom we have named Olivia Grace. We were blessed with our daughter’s referral on August 14, 2006 when she was about one week old, the day after our own wedding anniversary. What an incredible gift. We have also been blessed with a biological daughter, Julianna, who is eleven years old, and eagerly waiting for her little sister. Our case has been in PGN since February 14 and our family has recently returned from visiting Olivia in the beautiful country of Guatemala. We were so amazed by the beauty and sweetness of this little baby. I can honestly say that we had already bonded with this angel from her pictures, but being able to hold and care for her was an incredible joy and cemented our relationship forever. Our daughter, Julianna was in heaven, holding her little sister. We also met the entire foster family who has been caring for her. They are a very loving and caring family and it was evident that they have become attached to Olivia as well. We will be sure to continue this relationship in the future. Olivia just turned 7 months yesterday and our hearts are aching with the thought that we have many months of waiting ahead of us, or possibly, will never be able to bring our daughter home.

President Bush, I also have a mother who is in the advanced stages of cervical cancer and has been home under hospice care for about four months now. The nurses say that despite her cancer, all her vitals are good. My mother has been waiting patiently for her new grandchild since we started the entire adoption process in June of 2005, through months of external and internal radiation therapy and a few months of painful remission. We are all praying that my mother will remain with us long enough to hold her new granddaughter. My father died three weeks before our daughter Julianna was born, which was devastating. Only our faith in God is keeping us from thinking that this could happen again.

We implore you to please contact the United States Department of State and ask them to encourage Guatemala to pass legislation that is not only consistent with the Hague Convention but allows adoptions to continue. We entered into this adoption legally and as citizens of the United States we ask that you do whatever is possible to ensure that all in-process Guatemalan adoption cases be allowed to continue without unnecessary interruption or delay while of course ensuring that all aspects of the adoption are within the law.

May God be with all the families affected by these recent events and give us the strength to keep hoping for a resolution that is just and fair to all parties concerned in this issue.
God bless you.

Respectfully,
Josephine and Rob Peacock
Ridgewood, NJ

Dear Mr. President
My husband and I are in the process of adopting a child from Guatemala. Paulo is 2.5 months old and lives in a foster home in Guatemala City, Guatemala. We have just gotten a positive DNA match and are currently waiting for Pre approval from the US Embassy. Just this past week Guatemala began taking steps to become compliant with the Hague Treaty, with the announcement of the Manual of Good Practices. This manual threatens adoptions in process as well at future adoptions in Guatemala. I ask that you contact the Department of State and urge them to encourage to allow adoptions to continue. We entered into this adoption legally and as citizens of the United States we ask that you do whatever is necessary to guard our adoption and ensure us that our son is brought home in a timely manner.
I pray that adoptions in Guatemala can continue and respectfully ask for your help in doing so. Not only do I wish for adoptions from Guatemala to continue, but to not put both the children and their parents through any unnecessary delays in their adoption process. I fully understand and endorse all agencies performing due diligence to ensure that our children are placed into our families ethically and honestly.

The Ragan’s
Williamstown, NJ

Mr. President,

My son is home. However, I know the anxiety that all of those in waiting experience. Even though it was four years ago, it could have been yesterday. All I ask is that you get the facts, not what UNICEF is telling, not what the Guatemala government is telling. Ask people like Susana Luarca, ask parents with children home, ask the families who have had to place their children for adoption. It's not just about me being a Mom, it's about my son having a life ahead of him. I've been to Guatemala, I've seen the children standing in the middle of six lanes of traffic juggling for money to buy food. I've seen the houses carved in the sides of hills where people live. I've seen things I never knew existed. Again, please learn the facts, not just what the powers that be are trying to make truths.

Thank you for your time,
Daena Wilds

Dear Mr. President:

My husband and I are currently in the process of adopting a child from Guatemala. We are able to have biological children, but felt that God was calling us to be a family for already-born children who needed a family to take care of them. We are well aware of the unethical practices which occur when some parents are too eager to bring a child home and are not careful enough about how that child comes to their family; as a result we chose our agency with great care and are consistently pleased that it continues to hold itself to highly ethical practices in Guatemala. Because not all agencies are so careful or ethical, we understand the need to change international adoption practices in Guatemala to close the loopholes that allow unethical practices to continue, and we are glad that the Guatemalan Congress is developing legislation to do so.

However, we are concerned for our son, Gustavo, whose first family was unable to care for him and who is now four months old. It is known that children adjust better when they are united with their adoptive family sooner rather than later. We are worried that the new legislation will require us to begin our paperwork again or will cause considerable delay in bringing our child home. We have already painstakingly navigated many months of the international adoption process into which we entered in good faith with both the American and Guatemalan governments, and have conducted ourselves ethically throughout. We feel that it is not fair for our son to suffer adverse effects because of the passage of new legislation.

We ask that you intercede on our behalf with President Berger of Guatemala, and encourage him to grandfather in adoption cases that are already in process. Insisting that these cases be processed under the new, not yet developed, system would slow down the implementation of that system and cause emotional difficulties for many children who are waiting to join their families in America. It is our hope that these children, who will be both Guatemalan and American, will be good citizens of both the countries of their hearts, and tie our two countries ever closer together.

Sincerely,
William and Rebekah O’Donnell

Dear President Bush,

Please safeuard adoption in Guatemala by Americans. Please stress to President Berger that adoption is a wonderful process which not only helps build families, but helps bring countries together. Please recognize that it is possible to implement the Hague and keep adoptions open. The children of Guatemala and their forever families in the United States will thank you.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Erskine
Richmond, VA

Dear President Bush,
We are asking you to be the voice for the thousands of United States Citizens who are currently waiting to bring their children home.
My husband and I brought our son home in Oct 2005. He has been the miracle we had prayed for for so long. We are now in the PGN stage of the adoption of our daughter. We can not wait to bring our daughter home and complete our family.
We ask that you stress your concerns when you meet President Berger. We truly want what is best for all the children and pray that as Guatemala becomes Hague complient, "No child is left behind."
Please help to keep the current adoptions moving and to keep new adoptions available under the new laws. Thank you for your time and assistance.

Kelly & Antonio Caruso
Pittsburgh, PA

Dear President Bush,

After doing missionary work in Guatemala, God lead us to adopt from Guatemala. It is hard to believe that beautiful Ana has been home for almost two years. We have a biological son and believe me when I say that Ana was God's will. Our agency was completely ethical in every step of the adoption process. We as Christians have a duty before God to help these orphans. President Bush, we believe in you and stand behind you in your meeting with President Berger. Please encourage and work with President Berger to "fix" the system so that these little angels can have happy, loving homes. Thank you for protecting and leading our great country!

Respectfully,
Robert and Lori Baids
Orland Park, IL

Dear President Bush,

My husband and I (also our three daughters) are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. We are hopefully about to complete the long journey. I wish we could see that light at the end of the tunnel but it seems everything is so undetermined at this point. Please President Bush speak for these children who have no voices and get them home. Guatemala cannot possibly raise all of these children. So many families have been waiting for so long to bring their children home. Everday I trust in God that we will get that "Magical" call and finally see that light at the end of the tunnel.

Sincerely,

Dulcey Mashburn
Michigan

Dear President Bush,
As you can see we are one of the many families who are attempting to adopt from Guatemala. After many years of infertility, and now so close to adding a child to our family...
Please discuss during your upcoming trip the continuation of legal adoptions between the US and Guatemala.
Linda
Pennsylvania

Dear President Bush:

Our plea is not only for the safe arrival of our son Luke, who was referred to us in November and turned 5 months old yesterday, but for all of the other adoptive parents who are going through this now and who will be in the future. We have done everything 'by the book' for this adoption and would not ever think of doing it any differently. Ethically we, as adults and young adults, owe it to those whom we are seeking to adopt to have a system in place that is in the best interest of the adoptive parents and most of all the adoptees. Changes need to be made to weed out the wrong. We hope that these changes are not made to where those of us who have done right will be penalized. We were referred twins and Sophie, our daughter, died December 3rd. The further loss of another child is not comprehendable to us. Our family loves Luke. Luke is blessed with grandparents who have already started a college fund for him so that he can receive the best education possible. His nursery is ready and his adoptive father just finished building a rocking chair so we can hold him and rock him to sleep. This child is already loved more than any child I personally could have given birth to. Luke's neices and nephews are ready for beach trips and ready to teach him how to play baseball and lacrosse. He is a part of us. Sophie is a part of us as well and her picture will remain in our home forever and a part of our hearts will always be empty for the space that she filled. We realize how impossible it is to appease everyone but we plea that for those who are in the process and abiding by the rules, that our hearts not be ripped apart by any drastic changes. Our hearts were as swollen as our eyes for a long time after the loosing Sophie. Even though we never held her we mourned her and mourned the fact that she was never home with us. We still mourn. Adoption is the route for us to have a family. We can not imagine our lives being complete without having a family and are thankful that adoption is an option. We pray for the arrival of not only our son but for all the other adoptive parents who are going through the same things as us to be granted additional patience and strength. Unless one has gone through this, they have no idea the agony it can be. We know it will be worth it but it's the unnknown that is often self defeating. Safe travels to Guatemala and we wish you a productive meeting with President Berger. Thank you for your interest in our concerns.

Dear President Bush: My daughter and son-in-law are in the processing of adopting a beuatiful little girl named Audrina Victoria from Guatemala. I am praying that when you are meeting with President Berger that you will be able to insure that the children that are being adopted by American families are very much loved and wanted by their adoptive families. I pray every day that there will be new informaiton on my grandaughter's adoption, which means that she will be one step closer to coming home to her new family. I hope with all my heart that the adoption process for all the families waiting to bring home their precious children will continue without any delays.

A loveing grandmother and grandfather waitin for their new granddaughter.

Carol Duley
Floyds Knobs, Indiana

Dear President Bush,

I am writing today because I am very concerned about a developing situation in Guatemala. I see that you will be meeting with President Berger during your upcoming trip and hoped you might bring to his attention a matter of great concern to a number of Americans.

We are currently adopting a baby boy from Guatemala. Bobby is ten months old and he became a member of our family when we accepted his referral in October. He was born to a young, unmarried Guatemalan woman who could not keep him and wanted him to be adopted by a good American family.

We have been waiting for him to come home for four months and until now hoped that he would be home by April or May. We visited him in Guatemala in January and are currently planning another trip for March. We are head over heels in love with him and cannot wait until he is in our arms forever. His sister, our three year old daughter, cannot wait to meet him. She loves to show off his picture.

Based on recent events, we are now desperately afraid that we might lose Bobby. We are afraid that he will be removed from the wonderful foster home he is now living in and he’ll be put, along with hundreds of other babies, into chronically under funded hogares or children's homes. Since domestic adoption is not popular in Guatemala, we're terrified that he'll languish there for years. We can't have this happen. He is our son!

President Berger, in an effort to bring the country into compliance with the Hague Treaty, is trying to implement a Protocol of Good Practices. This protocol threatens to disrupt adoptions that are currently in process. I am begging for your assistance in assuring that this does not happen. Please President Bush, convince President Berger that it truly is in the best interest of those Guatemalan children currently in process to come home to their families. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Robert and Cindy Lord
Westminster, MD

DEAR PRESIDENT BUSH

I AM WRITTING YOU IN REGARDS TO YOUR TRIP TO GUATEMALA AND YOUR MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BERGER.
I AM NOT TRYING TO TELL THE COUNTRY OF GUATEMALA
HOW THEY SHOULD RUN THEIR ADOPTION PROGRAM BUT WHAT I DO KNOW IS A CHILD IN AN ORPHANAGE AND A CHILD IN A LOVING HOME ARE TOO VERY DIFFRENT CHILDREN ONE IS HAPPY AND LOVED AND CARED FOR AND THE OTHER IS PLAIN AND SIMPLY NOT CARED FOR AND NOT LOVED VERY SAD FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. WHEN THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF GOOD FAMILIES THAT WOULD LOVE TO HAVE CHILDREN. I WOULD NOT PUT A DOG IN AN ORPHANAGE HOW IT COULD EVEN BE CONSIDERED PUTTING CHILDREN IN ONE IS BEYOND ME. I HEARD YOU SAY IN A SPEECH ONCE "IF NOT FOR THE LOVE OF MY MOTHER AND FATHER I WOULD NOT BE HERE TODAY" JUST THINK IF NOT FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR PARENTS.WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN THAT WILL NEVER GET TO SAY THAT.OH GOD THAT IS SO SAD. PLEASE IN TALKING WITH PRESIDENT BERGER URGE HIM TO NOT STOP THE ADOPTION IN PROGRESS AND TO ALLOW FAMILIES TO GIVE THESE CHILDREN A GOOD HOME AND NOT A LONELY LIFE OF GRIEF AND SUFFERING.

Dear Mr. President,

We support governmental oversight and improvements to the Guatemalan adoption system. Please remember the innocent children caught in the middle. Please do not deny them a permanent family. Do not leave them caught in legal limbo. Encourage President Berger to gradually implement changes and always put the children first.

Sincerely,

The Iannitti Family

Dear President Bush,

Wilson Ernesto was born in Guatemala in July '06. I urge you to be a positive influence in my adoption process. For me, adoption is more than a choice- it's about faith and feeling that this was meant to be. I have a biological son (who is almost 5 and so anxious to teach brother how to walk, ride a bike, read...), but I know that Wilson is a part of my life and family for reasons that I may never fully know. My family is in God's hands. I hope that you can convey some of the emotion of the parents represented by guatadopt.com to President Berger and the people of Guatemala to whom we are forever linked. Practically speaking, it would also be helpful to increase staffing to aid adoptions and offer other support as Guatemala becomes Hague compliant. This would enhance the good faith actions and intentions that define parents who are in this process. Because you are a father and a Christian, I know that you value the family above all. Those of us in this process do as well- we could not have endured this process otherwise. Thanks for your thoughtful consideration and Godspeed!

Lauren B, mom to Jackson E and Wilson E

Dear Mr. President,
We too have placed our hopes, dreams, and finances into our adoption of a little 5 year old girl in Guatemala. Please appeal to President Berger to allow adoptions to continue so that those who need homes and families can be taken into the arms of those who beg to love and care for them.

Respectfully,
Amy and David Schoeneck
Morris, Illinois

Dear President Bush,

My husband David and I are in the final stages of adopting our son David. Now the waiting really begins - we are so close yet so far away.
We just returned from Guatemala 3 weeks ago to meet our son. It truly was the best day of our lives the day they handed us our son to hold. Our prayers were answered. We spent 4 wonderful days together. Leaving was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life - not knowing when you will ever see him again or if we will ever see him again. Missing out on all the important time when they are infants.

I ask you President Bush to PLEASE help families like Dave and I who have become one step closer to the American dream of a family.

HELP bring my son David home.

Thank you,
Karen Gugliotti
Connecticut

I'm writing on behalf of friends of mine that are in the process of adopting a child from Guatemala. I want to ask President Busch to represent all families with ongoing adoption processes to the Guatemalan government. They have put in a lot of time and effort for these children and in my opinion will make the best possible parents for that same reason. Please make President Berger aware of their circumstances and let his government know that these people are willing to give the best possible care to children who deserve it. Thank you.

Dear Mr. President:

I am the mother of an amazing 17 month old son who was born in Guatemala and has been home for 11 months today. While I understand that the adoption process does need some improvement, it should not be at the expense of the children. Please encourage President Berger to not make any changes in the current system until provisions are met to care for these precious children who need homes. My heart breaks for the families now in process who fear that they will lose their children. I hope that in process adoptions will be allowed to continue. I have great respect for my son's birthmother and for his birth country which I will impart on him as he grows. He will be as proud of his Guatemalan heritage as he is of his American citizenship.

Thank you for your help.

Kathy Regan - Massachusetts

Dear President Bush,

I am writing to today on behalf of the many parents trying to bring the adoptive children home from Guatemala.

The love of a parent for their child (children)is unmatched by anything on this earth.

My friends Gayle and Paul were matched for life with their son Benjamin, born in Guatemala on July 9, 2005 and forever etched into their hearts on July 29, 2005. They have been working diligently for 21 months to bring their son home. The case entered PGN (final court) in February 2006, where it still remains.

The implmementation of the Hague Convention may jeopardize all Guatemala/US adoptions.

I pray that your meeting with President Berger will address our concerns, hopes and fears. Together our two Presidents will bring these children home to the loving arms of their parents.

May God Bless you and your family.

Dear Mr. Bush,

I am a proud parent of a beautiful 22 month old daughter, Ella, that was born in Guatemala. She has been a blessing in so many more ways than I can put into words. I desire to adopt in the future from Guatemala again.

I am asking, that when you meet with President Berger that international adoption be a topic of discussion, and encouragement is given to President Berger that international adoption continue, and that those that are currently in the process of adopting be able to continue to do so.

These children are loved whole heartedly, and deserve to have a family to call their own.

Sincerely,

Tonya Randall, Michigan

Dear Mr. President,

We join the thousands of other parents with Guatemalan children in asking you to advocate for us and our children during your visit with President Berger. We are the proud parents of an incredible 20 month old boy, Jonah, and are in the final stages of adopting our 3 month old daughter, Isabel - both born in Guatemala. They have brought so much joy to our lives. While we have no legal rights to Isabel at this moment, we have entered into a good faith agreement to be her parents and have her permanently join our family. In our hearts - she is our daughter. We ask that this be honored, no matter what happens to the fate of Guatemalan adoptions in the coming months. Thank you for all of your help.

Dear Mr. President,
We are a family currently in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. We have entered into a good faith agreement under the current legal systems in Guatemala and the US to adopt our daughter. As a United States citizen, I am asking for your assistance to make sure we will be able to complete our adoption and bring her home in a timely manner.
Thank you.
Gary and Donna, New Jersey

Dear President Bush:

As a visitor to Central America, I have witnessed first-hand the endemic poverty and lack of educational and economic choices facing many people in the region, specifically Guatemalans and Salvadorans. I have seen children living at the local garbage dumps outside of large cities in El Salvador and Guatemala. These children do so because they have no other way to find daily food. My heart has been moved because of these experiences.

As citizens of the one of the most prosperous countries in the world, we should all try to do more to bring change to this region. I support your recent proposed initiatives to provide health care and educational resources to these people.

My family is in the process of adopting a little girl from Guatemala. I encourage you to work with the US Department of State and the Guatemalan government (specifically Mr. Beger) on behalf of the families who have chosen to pursue this path. My hope is that we can keep adoption "open" while we work to find solutions. While I cannot speak directly for everyone involved with the Guatemalan adoption process, I believe that most are adopting with noble intentions.

The reality is many children die every year in Central America from preventable childhood illnesses and malnutrition. The world's children deserve better and through adoption, in some small but very significant way, our families are blessed to help a specific child.

There are ways to sustain adoption as a viable choice for the children of Guatemala. I want a process that is both ethical and just. There are several organizations and individuals working to make that a reality...they just need more time to work out the details of a revised system that is both Hague compliant and supportive of all of the stakeholders, above all, with the interest of the children and citizens of Guatemala.

When you visit the region this week, I encourage you to speak with President Berger about how we can all work together to help the children of Guatemala. Their future depends on it.

Regards,
Lisa Spiegelman
Florida

Dear Mr. President:

I was fortunate to meet you in Oct. 2001 during your visit to the troops at Travis Air Force base, CA. I am currently adopting a sweet little girl from Guatemala and have an 18 month girl adopted from there in 2005. I just flew down to Guatemala as there were rumors of a March 1 deadline for registering the Power of Attorney (the step after accepting a child referral and approval from the INS). I registered the POA on Feb. 28 and the next day, Pres. Berger announced his Protocol of Good Practices.

If you look at the history of adoptions in Guatemala, adoptions came to a standstill there in 2003. During that time, many children fell through the cracks and weren't allowed to be adopted. The truth is, Guatemala doesn't have a social welfare system in place and doesn't have the money to house children and take care of them in their overcrowded orphanages.

I plead with you, Mr. President, to make these children the priority in your discussion w/Pres. Berger regarding intercountry adoption. They deserve loving homes, and not to be lost in a system that will not work (this has been proven) if it allowed to be implemented. I pray that Guatemala will remain open to international adoption and that cases in process will be allowed to continue.

God bless all the people (esp. ADA--Assoc. in Defense of Adoption, those attorneys in Guatemala that work tirelessly for the children of the country) who fight for these children. Please be our voice to President Berger.

Thank you!

Dear President Bush,
Our brother and sister-in-law are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatamala. They went there to spend a few days with her at Thanksgiving and just fell in love. They were told it would be a matter of weeks before paperwork was done and they could return to bring her home. How anxious and excited we all have been! This little girl will be given the best of care in a wonderful home with loving parents who are able to provide everything she needs and wants.
We have now heard about a possible move by the president of Guatemala that would certainly slow all current adoptions in Guatemala, and could possibly terminate current adoptions, with children taken from their foster parents and placed in yet-to-be-built orphanages. This would be such a tragedy for all the families involved and for the children left without parents!
We are asking that when you meet with President Berger that international adoption be a topic of discussion, and encouragement is given to President Berger that international adoptions continue, and that those that are currently in the process of adopting be able to continue to do so. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Sandra and Richard Orange
Union Pier, Michigan

Dear President Bush,
Our brother and sister-in-law are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatamala. They went there to spend a few days with her at Thanksgiving and just fell in love. They were told it would be a matter of weeks before paperwork was done and they could return to bring her home. How anxious and excited we all have been! This little girl will be given the best of care in a wonderful home with loving parents who are able to provide everything she needs and wants.
We have now heard about a possible move by the president of Guatemala that would certainly slow all current adoptions in Guatemala, and could possibly terminate current adoptions, with children taken from their foster parents and placed in yet-to-be-built orphanages. This would be such a tragedy for all the families involved and for the children left without parents!
We are asking that when you meet with President Berger that international adoption be a topic of discussion, and encouragement is given to President Berger that international adoptions continue, and that those that are currently in the process of adopting be able to continue to do so. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Sandra and Richard Orange
Union Pier, Michigan

Dear Mr. President,

In 2003, we adopted our son from Guatemala and the experience has changed our lives for the better. God definitely had a plan for us to adopt our son because he fits perfectly in our family. It saddens me to think that Guatemala adoptions would not be open to Americans because we would like to adopt another child from Guatemala.

During your visit, it would be wonderful if you would work with the Guatemalan officials so that adoptions of these loving children would continue.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

May God Bless you and guide you on your visit.

Sincerely,
Dawn Catena

Dear Mr. President,

I am in process to adopt my beautiful daugher from Guatemala. I have been in the process since May of 2006. I have done all of the legal paperwork to adopt a child from Guatemala. I have picked an ethical and dilligent agency who only employs ethical attorneys in Guatemala. We as adoptive parents need a concrete answer from President Berger to what the Protocol of Good Practices means for us and the future of our children. I do understand that the Protocol is an attemp to make Guatemala Haugue compliant, but if the Protocol stops in process adoption what does that accomplish. We also ask that urge President Berger to allow international adoptions to continue with the Protocol because there is such a need for the wonderful, but yet poverty stricken children of Guatemala have the chance to find permanent loving homes.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Jenny

After years of infertility, my husband and I are adoptiong our first child from Guatemala. His name is Owen, and he is 4 months old. We have visited Owen twice and are completely in love, as any new parents would be.

As you visit w/the president of Guatemala tomorrow, please ask him that to insure that no matter what takes place with future adoptions, to allow the thousands of families currently adopting children from Guatemala to finish their adoption under current guidelines. Thousands of children, if not allowed to be adopted, would end up without biological OR adoptive families. Please let Owen come home to us, regardless of whether Guatemala closes to future adoptions.
Thank you so much.

Dear President Bush,
I want to thank you for your trip to Guatemala. My husband and I are in the final stages of our adoption and all we are waiting for is the PGN director's signature. We adopted our daughter when she was 7 days old, she is now 18 months and it is time for her to come home to her family who love her and want to give her a home and a future. Please address the issues of adoption and getting the children of Guatemala home with their families who love them so much. Every family who is in the beginning or end of their adoption, this is supposed to be a special time, not a time full of propaganda and frustration. The adoption issues in Guatemala need to end. Watching our children grow up in pictures is sweet at first but it soon becomes impossible to watch them grow because us, parents, are not physically there to be with them. Please, Please help bring home the children of Guatemala home!!

Thank you

Jennifer and Robert

Our family eagerly awaits the homecoming of our son from Guatemala. We are in the final stages of this process as are many of other parents and we ask that our process continue under the current system so our children will not be held in limbo waiting for a new system to be implemented. Our daughter at home speaks about being a big sister and is excited that her brother will be coming home soon. There are many lives involved in the process of adopting. So many will be hurt if the process is interrupted. Thank you for your help in making sure that those in the process are not stalled or stopped in anyway.

Dear President Bush,
My husband and I have almost completed the adoption of our son, Jose in Guatemala. Jose is now 7 months old and we received his referral when he was 2 weeks old. We have done everything on our part correctly. We have loved Jose since we saw his first picture and we can't imagine losing him now. Please help us in this process. God bless you.
Carrie (MD)

Mr. President

I would like to ask you to consider the topic of keeping the adoptions open and operational between the US and Guatemala. We are in the process of adopting from Guatemala now and are concerned for the welfare of the children in need of being adopted if the adoptions are stopped or suspended. Please help us help these children by being able to give them the care they deserve.

Thanks in advance for all you do!

Melinda
Jackson, MS

Dear President Bush,
Our family was devasted when we could not have any more children. However through the faith of international adoption we are hoping to complete the adoption of our wonderful son (2 months old). We hope you can convince President Berger to allow us to quickly complete our adoption so we can bring our son home to the USA. If adoptions were suddenly halted we would be crushed. I am not sure we can survive that type of pain. Please help us!
Thank you and have a safe trip.
Anna & Abe
San Diego, CA

Mr. President,

My husband and I are in the process of adopting our first child, a beautiful baby girl. With all the strife and uncertainty, we chose to proceed with our Guatemalan adoption as for us, it was the only choice we could see. Please help us, and the countless number of famlilies waiting to bring home their children.

Sincerely,

Cameo Gonzalez & Norman Curry III
Vancouver, WA

I am writing to you today about a very important topic. Child adoption
through Guatemala should continue. A family member of mine, and his wife, have waited
many years to be able to have a baby of their own. Unfortunately, that did
not happen. They have looked into many different ways to adopt children and
going to Guatemala to adopt was the best decision for them.

They are almost done with the process and expect to be taking home a baby
boy within the next two months. The threats to stopping this adoption can
hinder them bringing home their son David, whom they have recently met on a
trip to Guatemala. For people who cannot have their own children and are
fearful of US adoptions because of the rights of parents/family to take
children back for up to a year, this is the right way to go. Imagine
waiting 10 years for a child, adopting one in the United States only to
have the child returned to the biological family in 9 months. That would be
impossible to recover from when all you want is to bring a child into a
loving household.

By going to Guatemala and adopting, the fear of losing the child you raised
is not there. The process is long and challenging, but worth it in the end.
David will be given an opportunity to grow up in the United States, go to
college, vote, and most importantly live a happy and healthy life with a
loving family. David is getting a chance that many other children in
Guatemala would not get if the adoption program was taken away. Please do
the right thing and support adoption in Guatemala. If you could know my
family and see the joy that they are going through knowing that in 2 months
they will be bringing David home, then you would not question how important
this is.

Dear President Bush:
We plead with you to help us continue on the path of building our families through the miracle of adoption. During your visit to Guatemala with Presidente Berger, please be our voice and ask that these beautiful children be brought home to their forever families.

Sincerely,
Mary Smith
Michigan

Dear President Bush,

I hope that someone on your staff print all of these requests out for you and maybe you can read them on the plane trip over. Keep these prayers and requests fresh in your mind as you speak to President Berger. This meeting you will have is extremely important for so many Americans waiting for their children. DO YOU REALIZE YOU ARE THEIR HOPE? You have the opportunity to voice their concerns and plead for their rights.

I am one of the lucky few that have recently brought my daughter home from Guatemala. Since the day I first saw her picture (7 days after her birth) I knew she was my daughter and I was in love. It was a long process but I am now a mother, my husband is now a father and we FINALLY have our family we longed for!

Like many other families writing to you, adoption was the last hope for my husband and I to have a child. We had tried for 5 years with no luck. When we decided to adopt, there was no doubt that we would adopt from Guatemala. Their are so many children in need of loving homes and so MANY families here waiting to give them just that.

I am writing to you in support of all the families out there that wish to have their families grow with the love of a child. Guatemala has allowed so many families to be enriched already and I am begging that this continue.

My wish is that the adoption ties between the US and Guatemala stay strong. I wish that the US support Guatemala in whatever way they can to ensure that adoptions continue. I hope that you will speak to President Berger about allowing the adoption cases already in progress to continue without deliberate delay or worse, stopping them all together.

I remember so vividly the pain of not being with my daughter when she was miles and miles away. I remember every day waiting and waiting. It is not fair to the either the child or the parents to be away from each other. These kids need to be with thir parents so they can begin bonding as a family!!!

I pray for the children in Guatemala. There are so many of them who need homes and families to love them. It would be devastating if these children would not have the opportunity for the kind of life they deserve. It is our right and our duty as human beings to care for and look after those who can not do that for themselves. These are our children.

Someday my daughter may want a sibling to play with! I KNOW I want to adopt another child. I want to adopt another Guatemalan child. I also know I won't be able to do that without your help. Help me and other families like me, to have the families they always wanted!

Please President Bush, we are YOUR American people. We are asking for YOUR help. Be OUR leader and OUR voice.

Thank You,
Brenda, Tom and Hanna Hartman
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Dear President Bush-
Unable to have biological children of our own, we prayed and prayed to the Lord for help and strength. He showed us our path in life. That of building our family through international adoption in the country of Guatemala. Our fatih in God was rewarded when He answered our prayers and blessed us with our son AJ whom we brought home with us forever in November 2006. We have begun the process of adopting a baby girl, again from the beautiful country of Guatemala. Please use your power and your faith to help in keeping the adoptions between USA and Guatemala open. So many children and their families are counting on this. We will pray for you while you talk with President Burger. We pray our efforts and our hopes and dreams are not crushed by failed negotiations.
Thank you in advance for your attention to our pleas.
Randi, Alan and AJ
CT, USA

DEAR MR PRESIDENT

WHEN YOU ARE IN GUATEMALA AND YOU ARE SITTING DOWN WITH PRESIDENT BERGER WOULD YOU PLEASE ASK HIM IF HE WOULD BE PRESIDENT IF HE WAS RAISED IN A ORPHANAGE? OR WAS THE LOVE AND SUPPORT OF HIS FAMILY MADE HIM THE MAN HE IS TODAY.
NO AMOUNT OF MONEY COULD MAKE ME TAKE CHILDREN WHO HAVE A CHANCE TO BE LOVED AND CARED FOR AND RIP THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER THEM.HOW COULD HE SLEEP AT NIGHT KNOWING THE CHILDREN OF GUATEMLA HAVE NO CHANCE IF PRESIDENT BERGER ALLOWS THIS TO HAPPEN. I FEEL SORRY FOR ANYONE WHO PUTS MONEY IN FRONT OF A LIFE.

PLEASE HELP THE CHILDREN AND IN THE FURTURE THE CHILDREN WILL HELP US. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT BURGER

TIM WARREN
NEW BERN NC

Dear President Bush,
As the adoptive parents of a beautiful 3 year old Guatemalan daughter, we ask that you kindly consider the looming Hague convention during your upcoming visit and discussion with Guatemalan President Berger.

Mr. President, there are no words to describe the love and joy our daughter has brought into our lives. Our daughter was bitterly impoverished when she was brought into foster care in 2006. She was 2 1/2 years old and the size of an American 18 month old. She was suffering not only from severe malnutrition that discolored her hair and skin, but also from skin infections and abdominal parasites. Her hair was sparse, her tummy was huge, and her eyes were haunted.

You see Sir, her birthmother had NO other options but adoption. She had tried her best to care for her daughter for over 2 years, but the conditions in which they lived forced her to bring her child into foster care and adoption. She made the most heartwrenching choice a mother should ever have to make, and in doing so, she chose to give her daughter life.

Please President Bush, your meeting with President Berger not only impacts the two you and your two governments, but it affects the thousands of children in Guatemala who TODAY are literally starving and desperately need families.

I respectfully request that you speak with President Berger regarding international adoption. And then tour Guatemala. Please take a look outside the comfort of your hotel into the eyes of the children of Guatemala who walk the streets. Look into the eyes of the mothers as they carry their little ones. Notice the incredible love they have for their babies. And notice the poverty. Smell it's stench and beg President Berger not to close his eyes and ears to it.

Rod and Dawn Zomermaand
Adoptive parents of Emilee Marta, November 2006
Seeking to adopt Ronaldo and Julia since 2005

Mr. President

Our family is also a "pipeline" case. Twice we have prepared our son for the possibility of being an older brother. Both times, we've had to explain the death of our biological babies. Adoption became the only way to fulfill our dream. Our baby boy, Daniel, is alive and well in Guatemala. Now, with your help and gentle consideration, we want to finally bring him home. Please help all of us bring home the children we love so dearly!

Respectfully,
Scott, Lana and Big-brother Jack
Poca, WV

Dear Mr. President,

My wife and are currently adopting a little girl from Guatemala. We respect and understand the changes that the Guatemalan Goverment wants to make to the adoption process, however, implementing this change too quickly could halt adoptions that are in progress.

Of course, the children are the most at risk if these adoptions are halted, but please also consider the financial and emotional investment that thousands of American families have in these in progress adoptions. Many of these families have invested life savings and will never be able to start another adoption if these are halted. It is terrifying to think what could happen to our daughter if we are not allowed to finish this adoption.

Please advocate for these adoptions that are in progress when you meet with President Berger next week.

Regards and God Bless the United Sates of America.

MR. PRESIDENT,

YOU MUST KNOW THAT FOR FAMILIES IN THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION FROM GUATEMALA HAVE ALREADY FORWARDED $19000 FOR THEIR CHILD. PLEASE HOLD FIRM ON COMPLETING EXISTING ADOPTIONS. WE THANKYOU FOR YOUR FAITHFUL SERVICE IN DIFFICULT TIMES THESE LAST 7 YEARS.

LON AND BRENDA BELCHER, PA

Dear Mr. President -

We are also among the many in the process of a Guatemalan adoption. Are process was started in late 2004. We are still waiting to bring our precious little girl home to join our family. She is truly loved. We have followed all the rules of the Guatemalan and US govt's. We have entered into this process in good faith. I ask you and pray to GOD that you will be supportive of Guatemalan adoptions and will bring this subject up when you visit Guatemala this week. As our President, I sincerely hope that we as US citizens can count on your support in this matter.

Sincerely,

Jerry and Lisa
Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Mr. President:

I, like so many others, am in the process of adopting a beautiful baby from Guatemala. I have accepted a referral for a baby boy, “Carlos,” who will be four weeks old on Friday, March 9th. In my heart, I became a parent to this little boy the day I accepted the referral. He is constantly in my heart and on my mind. I pray each day for his well being and that the process can be completed quickly so that we can begin our life together. Although the adoption is a cumbersome, lengthy, and emotional process, I have followed all the steps necessary to allow him to be legally adopted in Guatemala and to legally immigrate to the United States.

The United States implementation of the Hague and Guatemala's Manual of Good Practice appear to threaten adoption currently im progress. I recognize that reforms are needed, but a sudden implementation of new policies in the Guatemala adoption process that would disrupt adoptions already in process would be a travesty. I respectfully request that you encourage President Berger to allow all of the Guatemalan adoptions currently in process to continue without interruption or delay and to implement procedures ensuring that adoption remains a viable option for Guatemalan children in the future. I am pleading with you as a US citizen; please use your influence to help all of our families and the children of Guatemala.

Rebecca Perry
Greensboro, North Carolina

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,
MY NAME IS JALYNN, I AM 12 YEARS OLD. I AM WRITING BECAUSE MY AUNT & UNCLE ARE ADOPTING A BABY GIRL FROM GUATEMALA. IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU COULD HELP THEM TO KEEP ADOPTIONS GOING. BECAUSE I LOVE BABIES AND I THINK THEY SHOULD BE WITH A FAMILY AND NOT IN ORPHANAGES. TIANNA MEANS ALOT TO ME ALREADY. WHEN I THINK OF THE BABIES IN GUATEMALA I GET REALLY UPSET. WE ALL IN AMERICA WOULD APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US IN WHAT WE THINK IS RIGHT.

THANK YOU!
JALYNN WHITE
OWENSBORO, KY.

President Bush,
Politics and beliefs aside, no one can argue that interrupting an in-process adoption is the right thing to do. A loving family has already made a connection - a home - for a vulnerable child. Although I strongly support the continuation of all American adoptions in Guatemala, I appeal to the special case of those adoptions already underway. Please do your best to allow these families to be united.
My 3 yo daughter adopted from Guatemala had two biological siblings that died from preventable illnesses and poverty. Abrupt termination of this process is not the remedy for that.
Respectfully,
Lea in N.C.

Dear Mr. President,
I'm writing this letter with a heavy heart. My son and his wife have waited 11 years to have a child. It seems God has chosen them to be adoptive parents to a little boy named david from Guatemala. They started the process and have visited him in Guatemala and bonded with him. They spent 4 days with him and fell in love with him. They are eagerly waiting for the call to bring him home to be a member of our family. Now, it seems President Berber is stopping the adoption process, this has sadden my son and his wife and our family and friends. PLease encourage him to open the process again so that the joy of parenthood can be enjoyed by every childless couple in the US. Please help us bring David home to his US parents. as they wait with broken hearts and open arms. Thank you Joan from CT

Dear Mr. President,
We are in the process of adopting our daughter from Guatemala. Mirna is 4 months old today. We, like all the other adoptive families, want to bring her home soon. Mirna is already a part of our family and our hearts. We count on you as our elected representative to help with the effort of continuing adoptions from Guatemala. We appreciate the magnitude of decision making that you encounter on a daily basis and the politics that come in to play with each and every discussion/decision. We request of you to please ask that Presidente Berger ensure a guaranteed completion of adoption for those of us already in process. We wish you a safe and fruitful visit to Guatemala and will be grateful for your influence to help us bring our children home. May God bless you.
Maureen & Allen Decker
New Bedford, Massachusetts

Mr. President -

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your obviously busy schedule and sit down in Guatemala with President Berger. My husband and I are unable to have biological children, and we completed our adoption this past summer. Our 13 month old son is the light of our lives - and I have to add - is now one of the newest citizens of the United States of America. We recently received his US passport. We are proud to include him in our country, but we are also proud of where he came from. His adoption was straight forward, caring, and ethical. His birthmother knew in her heart she could not care for him financially, so she made one of the greatest sacrifices. How many other young women in Guatemala are faced with the same decision? Please Mr. President, let this topic be discussed and analyzed carefully and thoughtfully. Look at all that has been said before me and after me. The people of your country have been enriched beyond measure by this program.

PJ, Rich and Nicholas Godwin
Birmingham, AL

Dear Mr. President

I am not sure if your travels have ever brought you to Guatemala before this visit, through the experience of adoption we first traveled to Guatemala in November 2006.
You will find a beautiful Country filled with the most wonderful people. There is a very special little boy there who is now 10 months old waiting for us to bring him home to Virginia.
Please support our children who are not home yet.

Dear President Bush,

Close friends of ours are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Guatemala. We have witnessed their patience and faith as they made the decision to adopt, and decided on the best avenue to do this. They, along with their adoption agency, have done everything exactly according to Guatemala's requirements for this process. It has been difficult for us to see this loving family having to wait so long already only to hear that there is a chance that their process could be disrupted. Their baby boy is still young enough to adjust and bond easily with them when they bring him home, but if this process is interrupted it will hurt both the adoptive child as well as this couple and their 7 year old daughter who anxously awaits the arrival of her baby brother. There are so many good families in the US who can provide loving homes to the orphaned children who so desperately need them. We have every confidence that you will do whatever you can in your upcoming visit to protect the US adoptions which are already in process as well as the opportunities for US adoptions in Guatemala in the future.

Respectfully,
Dave and Linda Dreger
Germantown, WI

Mr. President,
My son and daughter-in-lay, Shannon and Rebecca Henson have tried for several years to have a child of their own. To this point they have been unsuccessful. In November 2006 they began the adoption process for a child born October 28th in Guatemala. They are both teachers in public schools in Missouri. During the Thanksgiving vation 2006 they went to Guatemala and spent a week with Owen. They then went back in December 2006 during their Christmas vacation for another weekly visit. The adoption process, to this point, seems to progressing very well. I would encourage you to encourage the President of Guatemala to remain open to the adoption of children to the United States. After their visits to the country, it was evident that there were meny children there that were not necessarily wanted and were left to fend for themselves on the street. As you know the opportunities within the US are endless and these children should have the should have the opportunity to have kind, loving, and providing parents. God loves every child and they deserve every opportunity available.

Respectfully,
Charles Henson
Minidster of Education
Farmington, Missouri

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to ask that you do whatever you can in Guatemala and around the world to help the millions of children who are in need of a loving home. National pride, politics, finance, nothing - nothing should stand in the way of uniting a family who desperately want a child and a child who needs love and care.

It hurts me that we have families here and in other countries who are anxiously awaiting children and children around the world that need homes and they are not together for any reason.

International adoption - from any country to another - offers not only a solution on a child by child basis, but picture a world where our children are respected, valued and cared for in loving homes. Picture a world where people are living side by side who have rich heritages of other nations. It will bring respect, undertanding and promote a willingness to help other countries around the world.

Sleeping upstairs is my daughter, sixteen months old. She was born to a Guatamalan woman who did not have the financial means and support system to raise her. Because of this woman and the people of Guatemala and the United States, my daughter will grow up in a family that treasures her as a precious and beautiful miracle. If world governments didn't allow this, picture where she would be and what her life would be like. My husband and I, because of our daughter have a respect and grateful attitude for the country and people of Guatemala. We want to return there with our daughter so she will know the wonderful country where she was born. We want to help Guatemala - it's the birthplace of our greatest love.

Picture a world where this happens.

Picture children in loving homes and respect among nations for each others heritage.

Please don't stop international adoptions - anywhere.

Janet Carpenter, Chesterton, Indiana

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing to encourage you to work with President Berger to ensure that all in-process adoptions be allowed to complete in a timely manner. These children need to be home with their families; they do not need to be needlessly kept apart while governments wrangle over political concerns.

Sincerely,
Jon and Lisa Beal
- waiting for our daughter to come home

Dear Mr. President,

We share your appreciation for the dignity of human life. As of family of 8, hopefully soon to be 9, we recognize that children are God’s most precious blessing. In 2004, while 5 months pregnant with our 5th child, we accepted a referral for our son George. George was 9 months old. His 19-year-old biological mother tried, but found that she was unable to care for him. Thus, he had been bounced around several foster homes, and was in need of a real family. George is now
a vibrant 3 1/2 year old, and continues to grow in the security of our nurturing family.

Last April we embarked on the process to adopt another child from Guatemala. In Jan., we accepted a referral for Sabrina. She is living in an orphanage with many other children. Her biological mother has had 5 other children, and has watched 1 die of malnutrition and poverty. She trusts us to raise her little girl in the security of a loving family. We regard this as a sacred trust, and hope to have the opportunity to fulfill it. We have entered into a legally binding agreement to adopt her child. Please help us see that this agreement is honored.

In contrast to the propaganda that has been spewed, we and the other adoptive parents do not view these precious lives as commodities, to be bought and sold. Rather, we see them for what they are: cherished gifts from the Almighty, manifest in His image- inviolable souls of dignity, deserving the respect of a loving and a nurturing family.

For the sake of the many innocent lives involved, please help to facilitate these adoptions. Thank you and God Bless you,

Respectfully,

Ken & Mary Anne Urlakis
Colgate, Wisconsin

Dear President Bush,

I implore you to encourage President Berger to allow adoptions between our two countries to continue.
I am currently in the process of adopting a one-month old little boy. He has biological siblings - three of whom died in childhood due to preventalble illness and poverty.
Please do your best to help a loving family adopt him and give him the opportunity to thrive.

Thank you,
donna in nc

Dear Mr Bush,
We chose to adopt from Guatemala, as GM is my families heritage.

We lost a child in 2003, and decided to adopt a son from GM. Please help keep the adoptions going. We are just in the beginning phase, but so many people have been waiting, anxious to bring their children "home".

In your state of the union address, you said every child deserves a home. I couldnt agree more.
The thought of the children living in poverty when they are wanted by U.S. families doesnt make sense. Please help the children get 'home'.

Dear Mr. President,
We are in the process of adopting our first child, a baby boy, from Guatemala. He turned 8 months in February and we visited him last week. He is our world. We have been waiting for him since September of last year. We are praying that adoptions continue, for the sake of the children of Guatemala. We ask you to please encourage and persuade President Berger to allow international adoptions to continue. It is our hope and wish that families that are in-process (like we are) will be able to continue without delay. We are asking for your help so that we, along with many other forever families, may bring our Guatemalan blessing home forever.

Thank you,
Heidi & Jeremy, WI

Dear President Bush:
We are currently in the process of adopting a 4 month old baby boy from Guatemala, he was born to a woman who unselfishly placed him for adoption because she knew she could not care for him herself. Because of the current state of adoptions between the U.S. and Guatemala,our baby boy will grow up in our family that will treasure him every moment of his life. If adoptions suddenly stopped, think of all of the children that would sit waiting. Please do what is right for the children of Guatemala and the families that love them.
Respectfully,
Heather & Matt Francis
Bonita Beach, Florida

Dear President Bush:

Different than many who have written before, I am not the one adopting a child. I am writing on behalf of my grandson who is in Guatemala, and today is his 2 month birthday.

My daughter and son-in-law, in good faith, started the Guatemalan adoption process several months ago, and now they have been blessed with a son. We pray that soon they will be permitted to visit him for the first time. So far, they have only held his picture; yet they are totally and completely in love with him.

You might wonder how you can fall in love with a picture, but when you have dreamed about a child for so long, and finally you are blessed with one special child to love, that picture becomes the tie that binds hearts together.

My grandson has been blessed with a "forever family" -- not just a great mom and dad, but also aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great grandparent--and a grandmother (me) who will be the best grandmother there ever was. We just need to be able to complete the adoption process and bring him home.

With this message, I am asking you, as you use your wisdom and best judgement as you visit Guatemala, to keep our children and grandchildren in mind and help to facilitate these adoptions that are already underway in Guatemala. While the adoption protocol is further established that meets the requirements of both the United States and Guatemala, I am respectfully asking you to please not let adoptions that have already begun be halted in any way.

I bid you safety in your travels and wish you well. Thank you.

Dear Mr. President,

We are in the process of adopting beautiful twin boys who were born 2/1/07. Our first-born is Michael Carlos & our other son is named Nicholas Antonio. We will be in Guatemala this weekend meeting our boys for the first time. When we entered into adoption from Guatemala we thought the only obstacle would be the birthmother totally relinquishing her rights to these boys. We felt that if we then complied honestly with the Guatemalan regulations for adopting we would one day be able to have our sons join us in our hoe in the United States.

Illegal baby trade goes on in many countries of the world. Like anything else some see babies as a commodity to be capitalized upon. These people are in the minority yet sometimes whole country adoption processes suffer along with legitimate adoptive loving families and those babies waiting to come home into those parents homes. It does no good to overburden an already overburdened and impoverished institutional system by closing down and supporting an ever growing number of dependent children. These illegal adoptions will still continue and legitimate adoptors and those children they could adopt will suffer too.

People who pedal babies need to be stopped by more creative means than closing down legitimate adoption activity. This has been done many times in the past and hasn't been fruitful. Vietnam closed adoptions for four (4) years and when it reopened, the same people responsible for the black marketing of babies were still in charge. People steal from stores all the time. Should we close them down while we figure out how to stop the theft?

We don't pretend to know the answer but what we do know is countries closing down their programs only cause needless anguish for legitimate adoptive families and languishing of children in institutions. We think we speak for many thousands of people when we ask that legitimate adoption be allowed to continue while the country of Guatemala explores ways to stop illegal marketing of babies.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dear President Bush:

I am in the process of adopting a baby boy from Guatemala. I started my adoption procedures in late August 2006, and my child was born on September 17. I just returned from Guatemala on March 2 from visiting my new son. My case has moved smoothly and quickly and is days away from entering the PGN for final approval.

While adoption reform may be necessary in Guatemala and elsewhere in the world, I am asking you to support all of us, legitimate prospective adoptive families, who are in the pipeline to complete an adoption in Guatemala. I feel as if we should be protected and allowed to complete our adoptions under current law without delay.

I pray daily for no undue interruption in my adoption. I feel as if my son in Guatemala is already a part of this family and cannot imagine the future without him. President Bush, please help protect all of us in process ensuring that our cases are completed in an expeditious manner.

Very Best Regards,

Mark Haynes
Tampa, Florida

Dear Mr. President,
My Husband and I began the Adoption process June 2006 to adopt two children from Guatemala. We made a trip to Guatemala in December and visited our two babies. We are waiting on the pre-approval from the US Embassy in Guatemala. We have no children and will never be able to conceive our own. We have broken hearts as each day passes and our babies aren't able to be with us. We understand the protection for children who are being adopted. However, please don't delay and prevent adoptions which are already in the process. We have met our children and have bonded. Please continue to allow Adoptions from Guatemala. Please encourage President Berger to continue to process the Adoptions that are currently in the process without any further delays. We can't lose our children. We know their cute little personalities and love them more than you could imagine.
Sincerely,
Wade and Brenda

Dear President Bush,
As I write this, my thirteen-month-old son sleeps soundly in his room. He has brought my husband and me so much joy in the short four months he has been home. He is the light of our lives and our dream come true. He made us a family and it was his birth mother's unselfish decision to want more for him that made it possible. I ask for your assistance in persuading President Berger and the First Lady to continue Guatemalan adoptions and safeguard the ones for the future.

I thank God every day for bringing this beautiful child into our lives. Please be the voice for the many families currently waiting to bring their children home and give them a chance to experience the joy we experience every day.

With hope and respect,
Jessica (Michigan)

Dear Mr.President, I am currently in the last stages of adoption of a 4 month old little boy, I have visited him once. Since I held my son in my arms, he has been that, my son. Please speak with the Guatemalan officials, to do the right thing and let the children, at the very least, who have waiting, loving parents, to complete the process in a timely manner. The future of so many Guatemalan children will be affected by the decisions of a few.

Thank-you and God bless

Toni Canseco

Dear President Bush,
My daughter and son-in-law have been waiting for the completion of their adoption of a baby boy from Guatemala since last July. The wait and the uncertain circumstances in Guatemala have been almost unbearable for them. Mr. President, there are so many children in Guatemala that need homes. The orphanage where baby Drew lives is filled to capacity. What will happen to the children if adoption for American couples is shut down? As Americans, we have been so blessed and can give these children homes and a future. Please encourage the adoption process to continue and to be completed in a timely process. Also, the experience with the U.S. Embassy has not been pleasant. It is obvious that no one is concerned about the welfare of the homeless Guatemalan children, except the families that are suffering through the anguishing slow process of adoption in Guatemala. And now the reality of a child of their own is in danger of disappearing. Each week that passes without Drew coming home becomes more and more difficult. As a hopeful Grandmother-to-be, I respectfully ask that you do whatever you can to assure that the children come home to their waiting families. Thank you, Mr. President.

Dear President Bush -

I am writing this letter to express my deepest concerns with the prospect of closing the adoptions in Guatemala. We have a family member who is currently in the process of adopting a beautiful baby boy from Guatemala and the termination of the adoption would prove very devastating not only to the parents who are patiently waiting for their boy, but to the baby itself. They have already made the voyage to meet their new child and came home with the greatest hope and joy. To end something so wonderful as finally having a child to call their own is simply selfish of any political intervene at this point.

I ask that you discuss the seriousness of terminating any adoptions currently in progress with Presdient Berger. It simply does not make sense to subject all these loving families and these beautiful babies who have endured so much so far through the adoption process and subject them to such devastating disappointment.

Please consider taking a serious stand on this issue especially for current adoptions in progress. The quality of life is at stake for so many individuals.

Thank you.

Rita Vailonis
Watertown, CT

Dear Mr.President,

My husband and I are in the process of adopting a sweet baby boy from Guatemala. His name is Carlos and he is almost three months old. He's adorable and we look forward to bringing him home.

We recognize the importance of ensuring that international adoptions are conducted in an legal and ethical manner, however, these reforms should also include granting permanence to children in an expedient manner.

I work in Wisconsin's child welfare system. I have seen first hand the harm that results when children reside in temporary and/or poorly staffed institutional settings. In 1997 the United States enacted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in an effort to provide permanence for children. Guatemala is a beautiful country, but at this time they simply lack the resources to provide permanent homes for all their orphaned children.

We thank you for taking the time to meet with President Berger and for your assistance in helping our son and many others like him come to their forever homes.

Sincerely,

Marykay Wills and Patrick Miles
Wisconsin

Dear Mr. President;
As with many others my husband and I are near the completion of our adoption of a handsome baby boy who just turned 7 months old Monday. I am now 34 years old and have waited for the joyous moment of having a child ever since I could remember. I am begging you to please help all these babies come home to their new Mommies and Daddies. We all have the capability of giving these children a wonderful life where they can receive the shelter, education and love they need and deserve.
There are so many couples (my husband and I included) that would like to adopt AGAIN from Guatamala. Please try to find a way to keep this program open not only for the future parents but for the children as well. I know that there are some companies/individuals who are not keeping things legitimate but perhaps there can be a way to weed out these people without shutting the whole program down. Don't let these children sufer. They need us as much as we need them.
Our child will be so loved by SO many people. Not only my husband and I but my parents, and all my friends. I have so many special people in our lives that can teach our son so many different things. We have so much to offer our son. I get the biggest smile on my face and the warmest feeling in my chest when I look in the babies nursery.
Thank you for taking the time to read all theses letters. I hope and pray that these letters will help.
Danielle

Dear President Bush:
My husband and I are in the process of adopting from Guatemala. I am praying that your meeting with Mr. Berger will change his mind. It would be a shame for all the children to suffer due to someone's personal opinons. When I heard about the problem going on I was in shock and had no words to say. My husband and I can't have our own biological children so we prayed and God revealed that Adoption was the answer. We knew right away that we would adopt from Guatemala because we have been a part of some children's lives from the country but now someone is slamming a door right in our face. We refuse to believe that things can't change. God can do all things but we are asking you to be a mouth piece on behalf of adoptive parents and Guatemala children. Please keep adoptions between Guatemala and the United States going.

Yours truly,

Dave and Debbie Wolfe
Scottsville, KY

Dr. Mr. President,

We will pray for wisdom and discernment for you and open hearts and minds concerning adoption as you travel to Guatemala.

Respetfully,
Jamey & Monique
*Our daughter Olivia waits for us in Guatemala*

Dear President Bush,

Along with thousands of other United States citizens, we are blessed to have grown our family through the privilege of international adoption from Guatemala. We are grateful to the United States and Guatemala for providing the legal infrastructure that afforded us the opportunity to adopt our child

We have completed the necessary steps to secure approval from USCIS and are currently in the process of adopting our second child from Guatemala. In doing so, we entered in to a contract with an agency; and, by proxy, offered our family to a birthmother with the promise to provide loving care to a child. We have followed the existing rules, but the rules may abruptly change.

Guatemala is contemplating an interim wholesale change to their laws governing international adoptions. We fear adoptions in process will be disrupted and children will be entangled in a bureaucratic no-man’s land. We understand Guatemala must reform its adoption system to become Hague-compliant, but believe suddenly moving from a private system to a highly restrictive, government controlled system is not in the best interest of the children.

If the regulations proposed are implemented, adoptions in process will cease. Children will be moved from their current placement in private homes and orphanages and moved to government institutions that must be created on an “emergency” basis. Guatemalan officials have admitted they do not have funding to implement the proposed measures. Nevertheless, they intend to go forward.

Consider too, the proposed regulations could have a grave effect on birthmothers who created an adoption plan for their children pursuant to an existing body of law. They may be forced to go through the process again, and face procedural hurdles that may cause them to abandon the child. Under Guatemalan law, a child who has been abandoned, rather than relinquished, faces many years of legal proceedings before being placed with a family, if at all.

We know Guatemala’s legislators can find a solution for the future without abandoning children, demoralizing birthmothers and destroying families-in-waiting, all who relied on regulations currently in place. In other words, please encourage the leaders of Guatemala to not disrupt international adoptions in process.

Respectfully,

Maurice & Kathleen Johnson
Omaha, Nebraska

Dear President Bush, Our prayers are with you as you travel to Guatemala to discuss the matters that directly affect the future of so many children. May our good Lord bless you with wisdom and understanding. May you be virtuous in your actions, words and decisions, carefully considering what is God's will. May your heart be filled with compassion and may you feel enabled as a leader, passionately compelled. May you feel unified with all of God's people and the Holy Spirit fill your ears with the good Word you are to abide by. We give thanks to God for this opportunity before you. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray for you, the children, President Berger, other involved Guatemalan and US authorities, the biological parents, the waiting parents, the caregivers, the advocates and the state of affairs in Guatemala. May God bless us all for the love, care and hope we extend to those in need.

Dear Mr. President,

Please help these babies come home. They need to be with their parents.

Kim Jodoin, Rye, NH

Dear President Bush,

I pray for you regularly and for your awesome responsibility of running this country. Thank you for all you do.
I am asking that you would please let the Guatemalan President Berger know, that there are many couples in the United States that are waiting for their adopted children. Please convince him to ensure a smooth completion for these parents who are waiting for babies in the United States.
So many of them love the children of Guatemala and have waited a long time for this adoption to happen. Please keep them in your prayers too.

Respectfully
Phyllis Polhemus

Dear Mr. President

I am the mother of a precious 3 1/2 year old boy, adopted from Guatemala in 2003. I recently had the chance to meet my son's birth mother. It was an awesome experience and solidified for me the ethical process that my adoption was process. Matthew's birthmother, Carol was 18 years old living with her mother, incredibly poor with no ability to take care of a child financially nor emotionally. She was very sad, yet very comfortable with her decision. She knows Matthew is in a loving home and we receive lots of love and opportunities in life.

I beg you Mr. Bush please ensure that the voices of these little children are heard.

Jean

Dear Mr. President,

My husband and I are currently in PGN awaiting approval of our adoption of our baby boy. We are asking you to please help keep the Guatemalan adoptions open. We have done everything that was asked of us by the United States and the Guatemalan Government. We are waiting to bring our precious baby boy home as soon as possible.

We were there to visit our son and once we held him it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. He is already part of our family. Our son is now 8 months old and we are hoping to bring him home soon. We hope that all the familes who are in process can continue without delay.

We thank you for any and all help you may be able to give us in this matter. Please help us all to bring our children home as soon as possible.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Gordon & Victoria Mackie NY

Dear President Bush,
Thank you for your interest in the adoptions in Guatemala. We are in the process of adopting our fourth child... a seven year old little girl. Obviously we want to get her home as quickly as possible. The adjustments will be difficult enough, without delaying this any longer than necessary. We are confident in our government, and in their support of all adoptive families. We ask that you make this a priorty on your visit to Guatemala.

Thank you for your time.

God Bless You!
Jennifer

Dear President Bush,

I am an adoptive parent in the process of adopting a little girl from Guatemala. I echo the pain I have read in the words of other adoptive parents, also facing the possibility that this child that has now become part of them may actually be kept from them. I also hear fear in their words...what will happen to this child if my adoption does not go through? Will she go hungry? Will she receive adequate medical care if she gets sick? Will anyone be there to comfort her if she is frightened? The prospect is heartbreaking.

I have also been anxiously anticipating the thrill of seeing my child experiencing her "firsts", ie. her first words, her first steps, etc., much the way any prospective parent would. Even if adoptions are allowed to proceed, if the redtape is allowed to become too massive, I face the possibility of extensive delays and, as such, the opportunity to delight in these wonderful moments. This causes me great pain as well.

I ask you most earnestly to help those of us who have worked so hard and have waited so long for our children. Help unite us with as little delay as possible. All we want is the chance to love and care for these children who desperately need our help, and who we have accepted into our hearts as our own.

Sincerely,
Jean Montecuollo

Dear Mr. President,
My son (adopted 3 years ago from Guatemala) and I pray every night for Helena, our daughter/sister to be healthy and safe in Guatemala. Please help bring her honme with all the other children, so they can be with their forever families who love and miss them.

Dear Mr. President,
We ask you, please, to use your influence with officials in Guatemala to move forward the legal adoptions already in process there. Though these children are temporarily cared for by good Guatemalan people, they do not have permanent families. Children need and have a right to a permanent home with a loving family, and these families are waiting in the U.S. for this privilege. As a grandparent-in-waiting, we look to you for help.
Harold and Juanita Carpenter
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing with great concern about the future of international adoption in Guatemala. Because the U.S. is preparing to sign onto the Hague Convention, adoptions from Guatemala to the U.S. will cease sometime this year, unless Guatemala undertakes certain changes in its adoption systems. To forestall such a draconian measure, certain defenders of adoption have been meeting and are prepared to propose new legislation which would comply with the Hague requirements while also facilitating the continuance of international adoption of Guatemalan children.

However, in the meantime, it appears that the Guatemala Vice President has undertaken to act outside the normal course of legislation. On March 1, the Vice President of Guatemala announced what he called a “Manual of Good Practices” on adoption. The Vice President of Guatemala further stated that he intends to impose these requirements on adoptions currently in process, halting all those adoptions while a completely different process is put into place.

Unfortunately, our own Department of State has endorsed this Manual on the DOS web site, apparently failing to recognize that the introduction of this Manual without authorizing legislation would circumvent Guatemala's Constitutional requirements.

We are requesting that you encourage President Berger to recognize the separation of powers in Guatemala, and to acknowledge the authority of the legislature over adoption law. Further, we are requesting that you encourage President Berger to allow for a gradual transition to any new process in order to allow prospective adoptive parents the opportunity to complete their adoptions under the rules according to which they began the process. The U.S. has already recognized, from its perspective in implementing the Hague Convention, that it should not apply new law which would interfere with existing contracts between parents and adoption providers. Just as the U.S. is prepared to "grandfather in" cases which are in process, so we are asking that you encourage Guatemala to follow the same course.

Many of our citizens have already written eloquently of their desire to adopt and the loving homes they are able to provide to children from Guatemala. I hope you will indulge me in an additional example. In the year 2004, recognizing that we had ample resources and love to provide a home for children in addition to the three we already had, we began an adoption process that ended with our bringing home from Guatemala our son Joseph, at the age of 11 months. Joseph's birthmother placed him for adoption after attempting for two and a half months to care for him herself. She loved him, but she could not read or write, was unable to earn enough money to provide for a child, and had no family or government infrastructure on which to rely. Joseph's birth father was no longer in the picture. His birth mother wanted Joseph to have an opportunity for a better life than she could give him. Thus she placed him for adoption.

When we met Joseph at the age of 9 months, he immediately gravitated toward Rick, his new adoptive father. It was as if Joseph had been waiting his whole life to bond with him. Joseph has been a wonderful addition to our family, and we hope that we have been able to change his future for the better as well.

Our experience has been such a blessing to us that decided to adopt again from Guatemala. We are presently in the process of adopting a child with special needs. Bryan was placed for adoption at a very young age and had been listed with an agency for at least six months when we inquired about him. We were the first family who expressed an interest in adopting him. We believe that we can provide a good home for Bryan and greater opportunities than he would have without the possibility of adoption. We also know that he will be a blessing to us.

Mr. President, It is my hope that some of the adoption stories that have been shared with you by adoptive families and their friends will place Guatemalan adoption in a fresh light for you. It is difficult for us, in a nation of such tremendous wealth, to imagine the level of poverty and need almost in our own backyard. In a perfect world, there would be no need for adoption. Every child would be born to parents able to love and care for him or her. However, we do not live in that perfect world. Guatemala is a nation where seventy percent of people live below the poverty level, forty percent are illiterate, and there is no government infrastructure or money to care for needy children. In such a world, providing loving homes through adoption for those children whose parents cannot care for them, may be their best option.

It is our hope and request that you will do everything within your power to encourage our government and the government of Guatemala to continue to offer a hope and a future for these children born into such dire circumstances.

Sincerely,

Rick and Carolyn Atkinson

Dear President,

Please help these babies come home to their families where they will be loved and have a bright, happy future ahead of them!!!

Dear President Bush,

I know you are visiting Guatemala this month to meet with President Berger. I pray you will have a safe journey and a positive discussion about adoptions from Guatemala to waiting families in the United States..

Please hear our thoughts....

Our daughter is an educator who has agreed to go into significant debt to make a better life and provide love and a family for a very small child. She has met her daughter, bonded and spent time with her. She is pleased she is in good hands (foster care) until the process allows little Xochitl to come home to her family in the US.

I hope the US will continue to encourage Guatemala to take the necessary steps to pass implementing legislation that is consistent with the Hague Convention but does NOT remove the chance for these innocent orphans to join a permanent family

I strongly agree with the DOS statement that "any sudden halt to adoption processing would be problematic and hurt both the children and adoptive parents."...YOU are a parent and I am a parent...we can't allow these orphans to be caught in a process with no system with which to place them with a permanent and waiting family.

This baby girl is already a part of our family. We love her unconditionally and pray every day that she is kept safe until the process ensures she can come home to our daughter. We cannot be whole until she is safely home. As parents and grandparents we have entered into this process both financially and on a good faith agreement for the best interests of these children.

As citizens of the United States we SHOULD be protected. This is not about a war...this is about saving children...innocent victims!

Cases which are in process MUST be allowed to continue without unnecessary interruptions or delays while still ensuring that everything is consistent with the law. We need to encourage the DOS to honor the statement of processing all I-600A applications.

We pray for additional staff at the embassy to process these cases accurately and timely.

We voted for you as President. I am asking that our voices be heard in this sensitive situation. These are innocent children, who without coming to their new adoptive families, most likely will be poverty stricken, facing illnesses and a life without the love of a family. We are robbing them of the opportunity to grow up...we can make a huge difference in their lives and the lives of the parents....isn't that what's really important in life???

Please think about your daughters adopting a child, who they have met and loved and being told the process was stopping. It's heart breaking and we pray our government and you will have the love and compassion to make a difference in the lives of these children and their adoptive US parents.

Thank you for listening. Safe travels!

With highest regards,

Sandy and Gil Palmer

Dear President Bush,
I am writing to you to express my concern over the possibility of Guatemalan adoptions being stopped. Very close friends of mine are in the middle of the adoption process with a beautiful Guatemalan boy whose 5 1/2 months old and the thought of it not coming to fruition due to the government really troubles me. They have tried for over ten years to conceive a child on their own and have gone through many painful ordeals and when they finally considered the adoption of a Guatemalan child, everything looked positive. This couple has done everything they needed to do to make this happen and they are waiting for the Guatemalan government to finalize the deal. They have flown to Guatemala to meet the little boy (David) and have fallen in love as any new parent does at the first sight of seeing their child. I don't understand all that is involved with the thought of closing adoptions but I beg you to please help with whatever avenues you have available to you to make a difference and PLEASE help not only my friends but also all the other couples who are currently in the same position as them. This means the world to these people and to me as their friend.

Sincerely,
Karen Pieger

Dear President Bush-
I respectfully request that you do everything you can to make sure that adoptions in Guatemala will continue. We are anxiously waiting for our daughter, Isabella, who is almost 6 months old to come home to us. We have not been able to visit but have received many pictures and a couple of videos. We have fallen in love with her and I just can't fathom what we would do if something happened that would hinder her from coming home to the USA to a mom and dad that love her dearly and 3 wonderful big brothers. Please help us and all the parents anxiously awaiting for their little ones to come home.
Sincerely,
John and Jean

Dear Mr. President,
We are thankful for this opportunity that you have to visit Guatemala and discuss the upcoming changes in the adoption process. We are praying for you as you make this trip and hope that your visit will have a positive outcome for international adoptions between the US and Guatemala. We began our adoption process in December 2006 and have a beautiful little boy waiting for us in Guatemala. We can't imagine not having the opportunity to parent this child that we have fallen in love with. We are scared Mr. President and we are hoping that you will have the opportunity to relieve some of our fear during this visit. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Emily Lentner

Dear Mr. President,

Please, all of the adotive families beg of you to help us in our quest in giving all of the children of Guatemala loving homes. Our son, Cooper, came home in October and we had hoped to add to our family, but with all of the political conflict, we may be unable to proceed with completing our family. Please, do this, not only for the American Families, but for the children of Guatemala. Please understand the consequences of the Hague and remind the counrty that their economy may crumble without the support of adoptive families from the United States.

Thank you,

Nikki, Josh, and Cooper Swackhamer

Dear Mr. President,

We pray that you will do all in your power to continue the adoption process from Guatemala. We adopted our son from Guatemala in September of 2001. Our process, from the referral we received with his picture and birth information to the day we traveled to pick him up, was 12 months in duration. It is our understanding that this length of time was necessary to ensure that his adoption met all of the legal requirements of both countries, including DNA testing and a meeting with his birth mother to validate that she was offering him up for adoption of her own free will. While the wait was hard, it was worth it!!! Perhaps more specific legislation needs to be put into place to ensure that all adoptions proceed in the correct fashion. So be it. Just don't let these wonderful little children suffer because of a few greedy individuals. If it means anything, please know that our son, now 6 years old, is proud of both his Guatemalan heritage and his U.S. citizenship. Thank-you!

Dear Mr. President,

I pray for your visit to Guatemala. Please be open to hear the explanations of those that are involved in the ethical and legal aspects of adoptions in Guatemala. While changes will be made, please understand that even with funding, proposed by organizations, this isn't the solution to the 'rights of the child' for the children of Guatemala. In a country that has ignored their children for so many years, the idea that these orphanages will be adequately run is only a dream. Consider for a minute that when these illegal cases come up in the US, and they do, that you don't shut down the whole process, you prosecute those in the wrong. Consider the answer in Guatemala isn't just to make the process run by the state, but to work harder to procecute those in the wrong. The majority of those in the adoption field in Guatemala do so because they love the children. Please spend some time talking to these representatives and don't be drawn in by the stories that are only a minority. This Protocol is not a step forward. It is most absolutely a step to stopping international adoption forever. We are in process of adopting and I can't imagine how stopping adoptions mid process would benefit anyone. It would be devastating to ALL involved, and most importantly, the baby, left with no love and no future. Please Mr. President, open your heart to the real picture for the future of these children and the birth mothers who right now, have rights and choices.

Dear Mr. President,
We are the proud parents of a beautiful daughter from Guatemala.The thought that the Guatemalan adoption process may stop is very disheartening.We were not able to have biological children but through adoption we now are parents. We cannot fathom the amount of children in the foster care system being sent to orphanages, and the privately run orphanges being shut down. How ,Mr. President,will this effect the thousands of children? We ask that you please stick up for these children,the adoptive parents,and future adoptive parents.All children no matter where they come from ,deserve a loving home.Thank you for your time and wish you all safe travels.
Sincerely,
Ralph and Kelly Johnnie
O'Fallon, Missouri

Dear Mr. President,

Remember your dad's "Thousand Lights ..."? Do you suppose he underestimated?

Dear President Bush-

I was blessed with a beautiful Guatemalan daughter in 2005. She has been the light of my life. She was the 4th child for her 22 year old mother and her "husband" (never legally married). Upon hearing she was pregnant with #4, he left her. Unable to feed another mouth she put her daughter up for adoption. If Guatemalan adoptions were to be ceased, what would become of children like my daughter? There is no child welfare system in Guatemala to support these children, she probably would have been on the streets. I spent 5 weeks in Guatemala and was embraced by the people for giving one of their children a much better life in the United States. I hope you and President Berger will work to contine to keep adoptions open. I thank you for your time and wish you a safe trip. Terri and Malena Weidle

Dear President Bush,
I am writing you as the mother of two beautiful children born in Guatemala. I had the pleasure of meeting the birth mothers of both of my girls. Experiences that I will always treasure and pass on to my girls. I also have pictures of their birth moms that are displayed proudly amongst all our other family photos.
I share this with you to help you understand that thousands of sucessful adotions have been completed from the country of Gutemala.
You and your wife considered adoption as an option for your family at one point. So I know you are sensitive to this means of building a family. You are surely educated to the needs of the thousands of children.
Please help that any coruption stop but not at the expense of the many needy children and the loving families that await them.
Most Sincerely,
Norma Rea
Proud mother to Maria (6) and Julia (5)

Dear Mr. President,
My husband and I have two children adopted from Guatemala. As we know some changes need to be made to the current process, I know there are so many children that still need to come home to their forever families. We just recently met our son's birth family. Knowing how poverty stricken they are, we understand fully why our son was placed up for adoption. She wanted to give him a chance to have a better life. Please don't take that away from all these children (and prospective parents).

Jules

Dear President Bush,
We are proud parents of 3 healthy, happy children - 2 biological and our youngest (Katherine) whom we recently brought home from Guatemala. Our two older boys say all the time how they cannot imagine our family before Katherine arrived. She is the JOY of our lives! I hope and pray that these families who are waiting to bring home their children will have the same joy fulfilled. We will pray for your meeting with Pres. Berger and pray for God to give you both wisdom and discernment as you work together to do what is right for these precious children and these waiting families. We too had a very long "wait" and went to visit Katherine before we were allowed to return to bring her home. She was "born" in our hearts the moment we saw her and the first trip home without her was the hardest thing we have ever had to do. But, we KNEW that we would eventually travel back to Guatemala to bring her home where she belonged. I pray that these waiting families will be able to bring their children home in a timely manner. I also pray that you will be able to influence Pres. Berger to continue allowing Americans to adopt from Guatemala. The poverty we saw there was beyond anything we could have ever imagined. These children deserve a chance for a better life in America, one that they have no hope of if left as orphans in Guatemala. I urge you to do everything you can to see that they get thi opportunity. We are so thankful that God brought Katherine into our hearts and home. People always say to us "what a lucky little girl she is to have you" but we always say "how lucky WE are to have HER!!!" God bless you and keep you safe on your travels.

Dear Mr. President,

We have three children, all were adopted from Guatemala. Please remember the children when you meet with President Berger. They are the ones who will suffer.

Thank you for your concern with this issue.
Sincerely,
Doug & Cheryl Ashley
Lake Forest, IL

Dear Mr. President,

We would like to ask you for your help. We are sincere people just like many prospective parents. Please give us a chance to let us bring our child safely home. We pray that you will help us!! Please think of the children who need homes and think of family dreaming and waiting to bring their children homes.

Dear President Bush,

We are proud parents of 2 wonderful children from Guatemala. We adopted them in 2006. They are the Joy of our life. President Bush, I ask you to please let the adoptions continue. There are so many families that are awaiting there paperwork to finish so they can bring there children home. I will pray for you and your decision you will have to make. I pray that your meeting with President Berger will help keep Guatemalan adoptions open! Our life would not be complete if we didn't have these children. We are blessed!

Dear President Bush:

My husband & I were blessed with a beautiful Guatemalan son. He has been the light of our lives. He would have probably been living on the streets if not for international adoptions. The Guatemalan people were very receptive to the children being adopted in the U.S. for better lives. We pray that you meeting with President Berger goes well & Guatemalan adoptions are continued. Our lives would be so empty without our son. God bless.

Dear Mr. President:

I pray that you will do everything in your power to help the orphan children of Guatemala. Please help keep the adoption process from Guatemala open to the US and for the process to continue to be ethical, legal, expedient and safe for both the children, birth parent(s) and adoptive families. The adoption process is already a lengthy process on the both sides.

Most adoptive parents and their families have already waited years for children to be added to their life which has not happened for various reasons.
There are many reasons why individuals and couples will choose to adopt a child. After you make the decision to adopt and start the adoption journey, pushing pass all the fears, potential rejections, delays, and heart breaking stories you have heard from others. You commit to pursue the journey of adoption. The journey begins with applications, fees, the home study, countless paperwork and countless questions on how to fill out these forms, new terminology, fingerprinting, background checks, and uncertainty and ambiguity in the process can take between 4 – 8 months. Not to mention the numerous strangers you open your home to verify and testify that you, your home, finances, and family are willing and capable of caring for a child from another country. We willing spend thousands of dollars, time, and open our homes to these strangers to ensure the safety of the children before we even get to apply for the opportunity to adopt an international orphan.

I implore you to ensure and appeal to Presidente Berger to realize how devastating orphanages and stopping the adoptions to US would be to the children of Guatemala and their birth parents. These parents want to give their children love and better opportunities not pain and suffering. The children are innocent and deserve our protection, nurturing, and care as if they were our own. They have been through enough; they do not deserve more pain and suffering, but love and security. Protection under the law should not mean orphanages or never having a family to call their own.

Currently, I am in the process of my first adoption and have chosen Guatemala for several reasons one of which was similar heritage. Another reason was being a single parent by choice. What concerns me most are the children, I have read about orphanages in countries like China. Most of these establishments where created with good intentions, but never have enough staff members to properly care for the children and not enough resources and supplies to go around. I remember the stories about orphanages here in the United States, built with the same good intentions, even though, some were very good others were not. Unfortunately, the ones that suffer the most are the children. If they get to leave these institutions at young age, which is unlikely many if not all have severe attachment problems. Some children are never cured from this emotional trauma. Please don’t let this happen to the beautiful children of Guatemala too. There are so many hurting children in the world, help these children reach their destinations which are in the loving arms of adoptive families that will raise them as if they were their own biological children. The Word of God tells us to love our neighbor like ourselves, what better way to share the Love of Christ by opening your hearts and arms to your neighbor’s children so they can receive the family, love, security and opportunity to succeed that each child so richly deserve.

Wow, based on the comment you made in 2002, I think you would agree with me.

Common sense and social science lead to the same conclusion: Children thrive in secure, loving and stable homes. Providing that kind of home through adoption can be a long and a time-consuming process. I understand that. Adopting a child can add to the normal challenges of one's daily life. I fully understand that, as well. Yet adoption changes a single life forever, and it brings countless blessings to the lives of parents… And every child deserves to be a part of a permanent, loving family. That's our hope. We live in a great country full of really loving and decent people. And there's no doubt in my mind, when people hear the call, they will respond to the needs of a lot of our children."
--George W. Bush, July 23, 2002

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention and consideration to this very important matter. Also, thank you for your time and service to our nation. Always in my prayers. We heard the call, please help us to continue to respond to the needs of the children of this world.

Sincerely,

Denise B
Washington Metropolitan Area

President Bush:
PLEASE help the orphans of Guatemala find a home with loving parents. Our 2 little boys have brought such joy to our home and will become productive Christian Americans. They would otherwise suffer a life of poverty and likely be "street children."
Respectfully,
Lee Carson

Dear Mr. President:

We adopted our son, Brandon, from Guatemala in 2005. Brandon will be 2 next week. He is the most adorable, healthy and happy child we have ever known, and he has brought more joy to our lives than we ever imagined was possible.

We are in the process of adopting our beautiful daughter, Kylie, from Guatemala. She is 6 months old and we are hoping to be able to bring her home anyday. We visited her in February and it seemed like she knew we were her family. She is a part of our family and we pray for her every night and we have pictures of her all over our home. Brandon says every day "Kylie home soon" and it breaks my heart to think that she may not be home soon or ever. We want so badly for Brandon to have a little sister and for us to have a daughter.

Please urge President Berger to allow adoptions to continue so that the thousands of Americans in the process of adoption can provide loving homes for the children of Guatemala who need and deserve a loving home.

Thank you!!

Susan and Ernie Ortega
Leesburg, Virginia

Dear President Bush,
We are the proud parents of our now 10 month old son, Kyle, home in September 2006, and biological daughter, Sarah (4).

My husband and I toured parts of Guatemala and were appalled at the living conditions in which most of its citizens have to live. Most children of Guatemala do not have the pleasure of enjoying childhood. Instead, these very young children must try and help their families bring in some kind of income to just get food on the table.

It breaks my heart that Guatemelan adoptions are now in jeopardy. What will happen to all the babies and children whose mothers cannot provide for them?

I will pray that you discern what will be the best route to take to allow Guatemalan adoptions to continue, while at the same time satisfying President Berger's concerns.

Sincerely,
K. and G. Estes

Dear Mr. President,

It is with great respect for you position that I ask you to have then same for ours. My husband and I had many failed attempts to have a child of our own. In the end, when we had to make the decision to consider other options, I was heartbroken. When we decided to adopt and found a wonderful opportunity like Guatemala, with such well cared for children, it was easier to handle never being able to give birth to my own child. When our (hopefully soon-to-be) daughter was referred to us, all the pain and disappointment went away.

The last 6 months, as we move slowly through this process, have been a great joy. Please allow us to continue to experience this joy and eventually the amazing day we get to bring her home, by urging President Berger to do the right thing. There are so many families out there, like ours, who are waiting to complete themselves with a child. We have so much to offer and can give these children a life they may never have to opportunity to experience. I can't imagine losing this opportunity, for my daughter, myself, my husband and the thousands of others out there.

Respectfully yours,

Carri, Parkton, MD