A recent article in Forbes.com about the rescuing of a stolen baby in Guatemala has ticked me off enough to spend some time dissecting it. Try this sentence on for size. “The rescue comes amid growing concerns about the Central American country's export of thousands of babies each year to adoptive parents abroad.” The intentional use of the word export is disgusting. Our adopted children are not “things” that were exported from Guatemala. Although numerous articles claim that... more

Since Guatemala ratified the Hague Convention there has been nothing new to report. Pre-approval from the American Embassy is taking around 60-70 days and PGN varies from case to case. Children are coming home and that is always good news. We’ll see what happens at the end of the year.

Standards and Poor gave Guatemala a thumbs up in the economic department, expecting the GDP to reach its highest rate in more than ten years. Apparently this is a sign of confidence in the economic policies continuing... more

I wrote this post yesterday, but due to technical difficulties was not able to post it. So here it is a day late.

It is the fourth of July, a hot and unbearably muggy day in my part of the world, but nonetheless an important historical day; a good day to sit back and reflect. The opening words of the Declaration of Independence, written well over two hundred years ago are a fine mantra to guide our lives.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,... more

The Guatemala Solidarity Network reported today that a letter was sent by the US Congress to Guatemala regarding Rios Montt. In my blog on April 28th ,I reported that he was guilty of heinous war crimes and genocide, but could obtain immunity from prosecution simply by registering as a candidate for the Guatemalan Congress.

Here is a copy of the letter sent by US Congressmen, provided by the Austin Independent... more

Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Several adopting parents on various Guatemalan yahoo groups are still reporting holdups in getting “Pink” from the US Embassy in Guatemala. I don’t have a magic ball, but I assume that the slow down is due to the increased scrutiny I spoke about in last week's blog. At one time, getting out of PGN meant that you’d PROBABLY be picking up your child in Guatemala within four to six weeks. Unfortunately, that is no longer always... more

continued from here... http://guatemala.adoptionblogs.com/

The United States has threatened to halt the flow of U.S.-bound children unless Guatemala complies with regulations outlined in an international pact, The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions, that sets strict rules and requirements, such as requiring judicial oversight and searches for relatives who could care for the children, and allowing birth mothers time to change their minds.

HELLO…..On our adoption... more

While reading bits and pieces of news related to Guatemala this morning, I came across this interesting article in The Vancouver Sun. It appears that Mel Gibson is being a nasty little fellow again.

Gibson was answering questions from the crowd at California State University, Northridge, on Thursday night when Alicia Estrada, an assistant professor of Central American studies, accused the actor-director of misrepresenting Mayan culture in the movie.Gibson directed an expletive at the woman, who was removed from the crowd.

Estrada is... more

Sadness has filled the community of Stallings, NC as fire swept through the Parry household claiming the lives of Elena (5), and Olivia (4). This tragic situation strikes a chord of grief throughout the adoption community as the Parry's were an adoptive family.

Years ago when the couple couldn't concieve, they decided to pursue an adoption through Guatemala. During the adoption, they learned that they were pregnant. Mr. Parry flew to Guatemala for the pick-up trip and brought home their baby Elena. Just months later their baby Olivia was born. Within... more