Some words of caution: (1) it doesn't say all will be approved (2) it speaks of the cases with no legal issues - whatever that means (3) does not include those cases that have to go through CNA/the new law (4) PGN doesn't always deliver on its promises...
Nonetheless, for those waiting in PGN it can't be viewed as bad news!!!
The story can be found here or click on more for a translation..
http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2010/febrero/06/373653.html
There remains illegal adoption business?
BY G. CONTRERASY S. CONTRERASY S. VALDEZ VALDEZ
Pese a que desde enero del 2008 entró en vigor un nuevo procedimiento con mayores controles, continúan las denuncias por negocios con niños para adopciones ilegales. Although since January 2008 came into force a new procedure with greater controls, business continued reports in children for illegal adoptions.
Guillermo Porras, procurador general de la Nación, reveló ayer que desde Estados Unidos ha recibido varias quejas de que hay notarios que todavía lucran con el trámite de adopción. Guillermo Porras, Attorney General's Office revealed yesterday that since the U.S. has received several complaints that there are still lawyers who profit from the adoption process.
“Ya le hice saber a nuestros consulados que no nos va a temblar la mano para procesar a estos notarios que estén incurriendo en estas ilegalidades”, expresó Porras. "I let him know to our consulates that is not going to shake his hand to prosecute these lawyers who are engaging in these illegal actions," said Porras.
La nueva Ley de Adopciones, que regula los procedimientos y endurece los controles en dicha materia, entró en vigor en enero del 2008 para erradicar los trámites ilegales y la negociación con niños. The new Adoption Act, which regulates the procedures and tighten controls in this matter, entered into force in January 2008 to eradicate illegal and negotiation procedures with children.
El procurador no quiso ofrecer detalles, por tratarse de casos que están en investigación, pero adelantó que habrá resultados en unos 10 ó 15 días. The attorney declined to give details, include cases that are under investigation, but said it will result in about 10 or 15 days.
“Tengo un caso concreto, pero ¿cuánta gente habrá atrás? "I have a case, but how many people will be back? Lo que sí es que ya tengo nombres”, dijo. What is that I already have names, "he said.
Personas desconfían People distrust
Elizabeth de Larios, presidenta de la directiva del Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA), coincidió con lo revelado por Porras y refirió que a las personas se les inculca desconfianza. Elizabeth de Larios, president of the board of National Adoption Council (CNA), coincided with what is revealed by Porras and reported that people are inculcated distrust.
“Lamentablemente, la gente tiene desconfianza porque los notarios les han hecho creer que si van al Consejo se les va a quitar a los niños”, explicó. "Unfortunately, people have confidence because they have notaries believe that if they go to the Council were going to remove the children," he said.
Porras no descarta que se trate de una organización. Porras did not rule out the case of an organization. “Espero que sea una red, para desarticularla”, afirmó. "I hope it's a network, to dismantle" he said.
Se cumple plazo Met deadline
La Procuraduría General de la Nación (PGN) se encuentra a mes y medio de desligarse de la evaluación y tramitación de documentación de adopciones que quedaron pendientes con la anterior ley. The Attorney General's Office (PGN) is a month and a half separated from the evaluation and documentation processing adoptions that were pending with the former law.
De 175 a 200 expedientes quedan pendientes, y en ese período se calcula que serán evacuadas. From 175 to 200 cases are pending, and has been forecasted to be evacuated.
Para ello, la PGN y el CNA establecieron una comisión para analizar la viabilidad y la verificación de los documentos, tramitados antes de la vigencia de la nueva ley. For this, the PGN and the ANC established a commission to study the feasibility and verification of documents processed before the effective date of the new law.
Al respecto, el presidente Álvaro Colom afirmó que con la estrenada legislación terminó el “mercado de los niños”. In this regard, President Alvaro Colom said that with the premiere law ended the "marketplace of children."
Tragedy
Quieren adoptar haitianos? They want to adopt Haitians?
El Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA) ha recibido al menos 50 solicitudes de guatemaltecos interesados en adoptar a niños haitianos. The National Adoption Council (CNA) has received at least 50 requests interested in adopting a Haitian children.
Por medio de correo electrónico fueron enviadas 20 solicitudes y otras 30 presentdas por teléfono, informó Rudy Zepeda, vocero del CNA. Through e-mail was sent 20 applications and 30 presentdas by telephone, said Rudy Zepeda, spokesperson for the ANC.
Sin embargo, la respuesta para los interesados fue que Guatemala aún no lleva a cabo adopciones internacionales, y aunque ya estuviera en el proceso no puede hacer ese tipo de trámites, porque Haití no está adscrito a La Convención de La Haya. However, the response to those concerned that Guatemala was not even done international adoptions, and though he was in the process can not make such arrangements, because Haiti is not attached to the Hague Convention.
Además, esta recomienda que para iniciar un proceso de adopción, primero deben ser agotados todos los intentos porque el niño se quede con su familia en el país de origen. Moreover, this recommends that to begin an adoption process must first be exhausted all attempts for the child to stay with his family in the country of origin.
Añadió que La Haya le hizo saber al CNA su apoyo y cooperación para el proyecto piloto que llevan a cabo en materia de adopciones internacionales. He added that The Hague informed the CNA will support and cooperation for the pilot project carried out in international adoptions.
Nancy Bailey from Semillas de Amor was kind enough to write us a synopsis. Click on more for that.
The morning began with Xiomara Campos, a consultant with the CNA, discussing standards of care, based on the meeting we had in late November with the CNA. Xiomara has also traveled to several countries, Peru, Colombia and even the US (Florida) to see other children's homes. I have sent Xiomara and the CNA the spanish translation of Elizabeth Bartholet's work on the effects of the institutionalization on children. An adoptive mom from Semillas de Amor had the entire document legally translated into Spanish. For those that don't know, Elizabeth is with the Harvard School of Law and is the director of the child advocacy program. I don't have the link for her recent articles, but this woman is amazing and well worth reading. Maybe Kevin has the link. I know there was a post awhile back about Betsy’s work.
The meeting with the CNA went very well. There were at least sixty children's homes in attendance. I really felt that our concerns were addressed, that the CNA really wanted to hear what we had to say and many times thanked us for being there and working with them. This is UNHEARD of in any Guatemalan government office. Jaime Tecú gave a very inspirational speech, which I feel came from his heart. I have a pretty good BS sensor after living in Guatemala so long and I felt as though the CNA really cares about what happens to the kids. I also felt, for the very first time ever, that the CNA would be approachable and be willing to deal with difficult cases. Although they really have no control over the “grandfathered” cases. The CNA clearly is on the side of the children's homes and they are there to support us. What an incredible concept, because that does not happen in Guatemalan government
The downside, is that we will continue to have to work within the children's court and with the PGN. I am not totally clear what the PGN’s role will be. The new judge has arrived in Chimaltenango and I have heard good things about her.
A few things about the CNA, just as an FYI: There are 500+ kids that have a certificate of adoptability. The CNA is still in the process of selecting which four countries they will work with, out of the 10 who applied, and the decision will be based on what countries that will be willing to take older an special needs kids. Special needs kids might be children with illnesses, disabilities, sibling groups, older kids. The CNA has identified 60 children in that category that will be part of the two year pilot program. The CNA is starting out slowly and cautiously. I expect it will be quite some time, if ever, before toddlers or infants will available. Adoptions should begin in May or June of this year.
The Children's Court judge still decides where a child is placed. Children's homes DO NOT have to have an adoption program, although the CNA encourages that children not be institutionalized.
Children’s homes are being certified, as time permits. The CNA was very clear that they want to work with the homes as a team and want to hear what our concerns are. The reality is that the CNA needs the children’s homes and it makes sense that we all work together, the priority is the child. But that does not often happen in Guatemalan government so it is exciting to hear and we will see, as time passes, how we all work together.
All in all I felt positive about the meeting and ready to move forward and I know other homes felt the same way, although I suspect we are all a bit cautious.
Nancy Bailey
Semillas de Amor Children’s Village
www.semillasdeamor.org
Very interesting...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_guatemala_lawyer_killed
]]>This library is temporarily housed at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PEARdirectories/ , where you can freely download the pdf directories until our website can be updated.
Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform (PEAR) does not officially endorse any listing in these directories. The contents are provided for informational purposes only as a community service. PEAR has no means of certifying the competence or quality of practice of any practitioner. PEAR makes no representations, warranties, guarantees or promises on behalf of or for those listed, and does not assume liability or responsibility for any service or product provided.
Each state directory is arranged into four sections: Health, Education, Bureaucracy, and Support alphabetically by city.
Health contains Early Intervention information and licensed practitioner listings. Each listing has a designation for specialty or service with a PEAR. See the index at the beginning of the document for definitions. Residential Treatment Centers are included here.
Education contains tutoring, remediation, specialized schools & interventions by non-licensed practitioners.
Bureaucracy contains information about:
Apostilles & Authentications
Medicaid waivers
Better Business Bureau
State statutes on adoption
Criminal background check
Notary
Recognition of foreign adoption decree or Delayed Certificate of Birth
Social Security offices/how to obtain card
Filing consumer complaints
State adoption subsidy
Licensed agency checks
USCIS
License checks for health professionals
Vital records (birth, marriage & divorce cert.)
Hague Convention information (due diligence and complaints) Support contains state-based support groups, web-support, and organizations. Respite care is also included here.
Keeping Directories Current:
These directories will be updated at least twice yearly. If you know of any
resource that assists internationally adopted children and is not on
this list or if you have corrections, please email information to pveazie@pear-now.org
Check the PEAR Directory Library Yahoo group soon for the release of the 1Q10 Directory of International Adoption Doctors and future state series.
The last year has been an amazingly difficult one for me in my role at Guatadopt. The polarization of views has made it near impossible to communicate through a position on things. No matter how I have chosen to manage the stream of allegations, news, counter-allegations, etc it seems as though it is interpreted as taking one “extremist” position or the other. As a result of this, it’s as if there is some sort of microscope on every word, timing, etc. On one hand, who the hell cares? It’s all just the internet, not the real world after all. On the other hand, I care very deeply because of the nature of all of this. Because of who I am and what I believe.
I am an adoption advocate. I believe in the institution of intercountry adoption. I believe it to be a wonderful thing that is one tiny piece of the puzzle to providing for the world’s children in need. And at the same time, it does allow the joys of parenthood to people like myself. Whether or not our primary motivation for adopting was humanitarian in nature is irrelevant. And I’m the first to admit it was not for my wife and me. I take no shame in that.
During my time and experience at Guatadopt, I have come to a few conclusions. The system became plagued by many types of corruption and it is a crime to lump them all together. It is an injustice to the victims of true kidnappings to group their experience in with one where a birthmother may have faked documents, failed DNAs, etc because she was married and thus her child wouldn’t meet the US Orphan Status definition. I don’t condone either, but their occurrences don’t necessarily lead me to the same conclusions.
There are other debates over payments to birthmothers, whether de-facto surrogacy should be tolerated, if poverty is a valid reason for relinquishment, etc. that deserve to be had but are very academic in nature. No women should be in the position of feeling relinquishment is her best option due to poverty! Until there are means of aid accessible to the women of the world, this fact is just mental masturbation. Because there are children that die every year due to their parents poverty. I can’t solve that, though I am the kind of guy that would much rather see my tax dollars used to drop humanitarian supplies than bombs. My opinion is that of course we don’t want a commercial system creating orphans. And it needs to be controlled. Let’s just all agree that the money clouds everything and as much as humanly possible should be removed from any birthmother’s decision.
Another thing I have come to learn is that with Guatemalan adoptions there is evil and corruption everywhere. Every side and faction seems to have its own agenda. You can’t take with 100% certainty what comes from Unicef any more than the ADA at times. As for me and this site, our agenda was and remains to be to push for functioning, ethical adoption systems.
So on to the hot topics of the day.
How have I handled the allegations against Susana Luarca? I have been attacked over this, with most of the criticism coming from the viewpoint that we are being too kind to Susana. Well here’s my viewpoint on it.
First off, I will admit it is difficult to be 100% objective on this. While she and I have never been great friends, without her I likely wouldn’t be a father. She led the fight and I did all in my power to help her. Would I have done the same back in 2003 if I knew all the corruption I’d encounter in later years? Who knows? But what I saw from my experiences with Susana was a fighter. She’s always communicated like a defense attorney whose job it is protect her client, in this case the notarial system. There have been times when I was outraged at Susana. She once came to the defense of an attorney who I knew wasn’t paying his foster moms and threatened to out. That really p*sse d me off.
I have heard from many of her clients over the years. Some ecstatically happy. Some seemed less so. Some complained of feeling intimidated. Some even felt abused. There was no doubt that she’d fight for her cases, though some question at times if they were used for her larger motives. But you know what, she got the kids home by and large. Her hogar seemed to provide very good care to the kids. So all in all, her clients knew her notoriety and hopefully her personality.
It always seemed like one thing with Susana was that there were few secrets because everything was in the papers. I remember a number of years ago, when a birthmom tried to reclaim a child in order to get more money, Susana didn’t turn that child over. Instead she went to the courts. Whether that was fair or not to the birthmom can be debated, but it was done in the open in accordance with the law. And we all saw what happened at PGN in a different case where Susana felt that a minor birthmom was being intimidated by her family to reclaim. I’m not saying whether she was right or wrong, but it was certainly not covert.
I don’t know the specifics of the allegations and charges against her now. I know that the media doesn’t necessarily portray everything as it is. Reporters worldwide are too pressed for time to do a good job. The pieces about birthmoms who claim she wouldn’t allow them to reclaim their kids, or threatened them, disturb me deeply. And they need to be examined by the courts and MPs.
I am also disturbed at the way it is portrayed because she, or any attorney/hogar, did adoptions of kids with failed DNA tests. There is a reason why those went before a judge. And there is no good answer on what should be done. On one hand, there was not the infrastructure in place to 100% ensure that these children were abandoned. On the other hand, if a search shows no one trying to find them, what should happen to this child? Should they be denied the chance of a family just I case? When Susana was presented with a child from a failed DNA, what should she have done? Taking it to the courts seems a valid response. Now all of this goes to hell fast if it can be proven that a judge was on the take. But thus far, I am not convinced that a judge who was more “pro-adoption” would not be accused as something far worse. And I’m not ready to hang an attorney who brought more cases to judges that were not biased against adoptions.
So my net takeaway is that I don’t know. The Susana that I have known seemed far too wise to get caught up in anything like kidnapping or in being a ringleader of anything other than a blind advocacy of the notarial system. I find it hard, but not impossible, to fathom. That makes her neither saint nor satan, which is where all things considered I am comfortable placing her. I’m sure her friends and foes both are equally distraught with this right now.
Now on to Norma Cruz, who apparently has been nominated for Prensa Libre’s Person of the Year (http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/diciembre/23/363295.html).
She deserves huge credit for the publicity and attention she has brought to the extremely real problem of crimes against women in Guatemala. But I have some issues with her as it relates to all things adoption. First off, I am an adoption advocate as stated previously. Norma is one of those people who characterizes ALL adoptions as inherently corrupt and wrong. That is an agenda and platform that I can not support!
There are aspects of some of her stories that I find very hard to believe and in my opinion may have been fabricated/exaggerated. That doesn’t mean a hideous crime didn’t exist, but it may not be exactly as reported in the papers. And I believe that some of those things may have distorted attention away from the real corruption problems that existed. In addition, and I admit this is my ego, I can’t get over the fact that Guatadopt reached out to Norma MULTIPLE times to help. There were children missing, presumably referred to someone in the US, and yet she wouldn’t reply back to our offers to post pictures of the kids, see what we could find, etc. After all, it was due to someone reading this site that caused the first child to be returned to her mother!
Net result is that I believe Norma has a well intentioned agenda. But I cannot get over her overall portrayal of adoption nor do I, right or wrong, have 100% confidence that she doesn’t have too much “ends justifies the means” philosophy. I’m not asking anyone to agree or disagree, I’m just sharing where any perceived bias from me comes from and why. I only claim to be human after all. Any bias should not be perceived as trying to not cover the stories of corruption. I stand by this site's record of posting the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So how will I handle all of this?
I will continue to allow all sides to post. I will do my best to post all stories of relevance. And I’ll do my best to decide well on what is relevant. I will respect that on some matters we have many readers who differ greatly. I’ll ask you all to deal with the crap you don’t like. I don’t know any better way to handle. I am doing my best to be objective, but once again I’m human.
In the coming weeks you will likely see calls for how to help out one side or the other. I will allow all those pleas to go out unless something is overly distasteful to me.
And yet, in all of this I can’t help but to just be a parent and imagine the heartache and pain of the parents of this little girl in Maryland and Keneth in Guatemala.
And let us not forget that there are still hundreds of kids in Guatemala with American families waiting to bring them home, and no families for them in Guatemala.
For now, I’m taking the holidays off. Don’t expect any comments cleared for a few days.
Paz y Feliz Navidad
http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/diciembre/23/364625.html
This little guy was snatched from his family in Jalapa. The CNA is concerned he could be sold for adoption (domestic or ICA in another country), prostitution, slavery, etc.
]]>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091218/ap_on_re_us/us_asylum_domestic_abuse
]]>http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/41474
By clicking on more, you will find my reply to this comment (just in case they don't post it). But I am leaving the comments on Guatadopt closed because I'd much prefer to see them on the Pound Pup site.
Thanks to them for this last hannukah present!
]]> My replyTo anonymous,
I do not see why in the world you would choose to bring my name into this story. It is personally insulting and just hugely wrong.
To set the record straight..
1.) You are implying some sort of financial gain on my part and that Guatadopt is some sort of business. I have NEVER received a single dollar for ANYTHING involved with Guatadopt. The closest thing was when some of our readers sponsored us to attend an ethics in adoption conference a couple of years ago. I challenge you or anyone else to find anything to the contrary. Being “Kevin from Guatadopt” has cost me thousands of dollars over the years.
2.) ASG is not a “main advertiser”. They are not an advertiser at all. We put their “ad” link on our site for FREE! We did so because of all the free help ASG has given us and our readers. There were many times when for no money they would find out if someone was still in PGN, Family Court, etc. We do have Google Ads on the site (pay per click) which have never even driven enough revenue to cover the hard costs of running the site.
3.) Susana and Guatadopt do have a long history together. It is 100% true that had it not been for Susana’s “Thursday Updates” in 2003, Guatadopt would likely never have become as popular as it did. If that had made me a wealthier man, I’d thank her for it. But truth is that it has done little for me personally. What it did do was create a place where THOUSANDS of PAPs turned for accurate information and help. What it did do was create the one place where people could go to find out the truth, despite what their attorney and agency may have been telling them. What it did do was create a place where some like Elizabeth Emmanuel found out that the child she had been referred was abducted. What it did was create a place that led to that child being returned to her mother.
4.) I have been involved with Guatemalan adoptions for years now. I have experienced/been privy to many many things. I have experienced first-hand how difficult it is to get to the bottom of things. There was a time when Susana and I were what could loosely be described as friends. Moreso we were both working on similar goals. Having nothing to do with anything involved in these allegations, we have not been anything close to friends for some time. But really this is irrelevant.
5.) If I am guilty of anything it is that I have my opinions on things. I have been and remain convinced personally that Susana would never have knowingly adopted out a kidnapped child.
I will continue to do as I have always done and follow my heart on Guatadopt. I will continue to state opinions as opinions and fact as fact. I will continue to do all I can to help children in Guatemala. Geez, why didn’t you mention our calendar that will raise about $10K in direct aid for children in Guatemala. Last year, did we donate any money Primavera? Nope. Did we actually donate to a hogar hugely at odds with Susana because we know that they were receiving adoption “fallout” cases – yes.
I leave with this thought to Anonymous: Shame on YOU!
I also just added a second comment to point out that Susana was not involved with either of my adoptions (and that it would not be something to hide if she had)
From my read, the specific allegations raised by the MP seem to revolve around the fact that, like in the Karen Abigail case, Susana was involved in cases that started as traditional reliqnishment and later became "abandonment" cases handled through the courts.
]]>Sitting beside me right now two of the first calendars off the presses... And they look awesome!!!!
That doesn't mean they are all done and shipped. It takes a decent amount of time for them to be dried, bound, pakcaged and shipped. We are on schedule for all calendars to arrive before X-Mas, shipping by the 16th...
There will be about 20 extra calendars available via donations to Do Good. The item is active on the site but realize any donations going in now will not get a calendar before the holidays.
BUT, it is gift giving season and if you donate for any of the other premiums (shirts, mugs, etc), they'll go out in a day. I'm not seeing much come in, why not give the gift that also feeds a child in Guatemala! http://www.do-good-stuff.com
]]>CNA is again requesting that all children in public or private care be registered with the CNA. The notice is addressed to the hogares, not APs and can be found here: http://www.cna.gob.gt/portal/.
They are saying this is essential for them to understand how many children there are for many reasons. There's nothing I see in this that makes it tied solely to the children who had been referred for ICA.
]]>There's one paragraph in the story worth pointing out:
"Some 3,000 cases that started under the previous adoption system are still in progress, with prosecutors promising to meticulously examine the files for fraud. So far, about half have been completed successfully, and the rest will likely be resolved by the end of January, said a spokesman for the new adoption authority."
I have no further info and can only hope there is some truth to this!!!
]]>