Guatemala Adoption Stories

Six years ago, we adopted our Guatemalan daughter, Bunny.  In 2006, Guatemala was still open for international adoptions and the process was fairly short and easy. We received the referral for Bunny when she was 1 ½ weeks old and a monthly update came like clockwork.  We were given permission to travel to Guatemala for our first trip when she was 3 ½ months old. She was so tiny when we first saw her, she could fit into the palms of my husband’s hands.  She had a shock of black hair, with the largest, darkest eyes I have ever seen.  We spent a stressful and exciting weekend alone with Bunny getting to know her and practicing our parenting skills.  Colby had never been around… [more]

Children come into this world with nothing except 10 fingers, 10 toes and their birthday suits.  After they arrive, the “stuff” starts arriving.  When it comes to “stuff,” there really is no difference between biological and adopted children.  Where children go…”stuff’ follows. I wasn’t present at Bunny’s birth, but I know she arrived with all 10 fingers and toes.  We received many pictures chronicling her growth starting at four days.  Her picture was taken every month when she went in for her baby checks.  Her foster mother tried to dress her up for the doctor visits and we saw Bunny grow into a red frilly Christmas dress. After months of waiting, our adoption became final and off to Guatemala we flew.  As her foster… [more]

My youngest daughter, Bunny, is from Guatemala.  We adopted her when she was 7 ½ months old, and she is now a spry and sprightly six year old.  While we were in the process of adopting Bunny, I was in my final year of law school.  By the third year, my classes were smaller and more intimate, allowing for a certain camaraderie amongst the class knowing we were actually going to graduate. At the time, we were receiving updated documents and pictures of Bunny, and my classmates were very interested in the process.  Partly, they were interested because in my Children and the Law class, I had written a 40-page research paper and had given a presentation on international adoption. In a Guatemalan adoption… [more]

Children are not like produce.  You can’t stand in the grocery store, looking through the bin of bananas, trying to pick the perfect bunch, moving the bananas to the side that are too brown or too green.  With children, you get…what you get. With both my daughters, I never chose the child that would be mine.  Elle’s first picture came in a FedEx package and Bunny’s first picture was delivered by email.  Whether they would be intelligent, challenged, or beautiful didn’t matter because they were my children. Bunny was adopted from Guatemala, and we received our referral when she was 10 days old.  Over the next months, we received a monthly report from our adoption agency, with updated pictures and medical records.  When she… [more]

On a blustery December day, in early evening, I paced anxiously around O'Hare airport with our favorite photographer and friend, Sylver. We made small talk about the weather, life in general, and the like, while I wrung my hands impatiently, waiting for my husband's call to my cell phone saying the words I'd be waiting so desperately to hear: "we're home". Amazingly enough--and if you've traveled anywhere even once you know what an incredible miracle this truly is--the plane arrived early. Kev, my husband, called my phone and said, "Baby, we're home. Come meet your daughter." This event took place in December 2007, but writing that last line brought tears to my eyes as if it took place yesterday. I was about to meet my daughter… [more]

It seems that recently I’ve been reading a lot about big families with multiple adopted children. Erin over in the transracial adoption blog recently wrote about the positive aspects of big families; the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute's April e-newsletter also recently had an article on the subject that I enjoyed reading. Large families fascinate me. As a child growing up in a small mining town in Northern Canada, I had several friends who came from very large families. Whenever I visited their homes, I loved the way there was always someone to play with and that with so many children around, the parents didn’t notice every little thing you did. Having three older sisters, I certainly wasn’t… [more]

Welcome to my first blog for Guatemala. I am delighted to be representing the country of my daughter’s birth; a gorgeous country populated with warm and gentle people. When we began the adoption process, I realized that the world of adoption went far beyond home studies, fingerprints and mounds of paperwork. It quickly became evident that politics controlled the international adoption world, and as quickly as one country opened for adoption, another would close. So with eyes wide open we plunged into adopting little Ella. At no time was I confident that everything would be fine; too many things could go wrong in a nano second. But in May 2006, after almost seven months since receiving our referral, we headed to Guatemala City… [more]

Almost 18 years ago I visited Guatemala with my youth group as a 14 year old kid. We spent a week in the small town of Palencia painting desks and refurbishing a small school in this one road little mountain village. It was an awesome time in my life and one that eventually led to the adoption of our precious Guatemalan Princess Mia. Palencia has a special place in my heart though most of you will never know where it is. Our time in Guatemala back in 1989 held some danger with it as the 36 year war in Guatemala was still 7 years from coming to an end. We saw quite a bit during that time that… [more]

It happened sometime about 8:10am Eastern Time on Christmas Morning. As I sat on the floor between the living room and dining room, enjoying the quiet morning, I saw two sleepy eyes of our precious girl emerge from her bedroom. She looked first at me and then into the kitchen where her Momma was cooking eggs and bacon. She was fully aware of the excitement this morning held yet the sleep had not entirely left her. As Momma reached her and knelt beside her, she leaned into her embrace and asked if Santa had been there. A smile appeared as she looked to the half-eaten cookies and the empty glass on her Dora… [more]

Guatemala City Weather Today: Today - High 71 Low 64 Scattered Clouds Tomorrow -High 69 Low 62 Scattered Clouds Current Exchange Rate: $1.00 = Q7.59155 Headlines in Guatemala Today: Prensa Libre: - Illegal Energy Distribution Reported In Zone 11 - 91 Captured in the "Christmas Plan" on crime. - 60 Police Officers killed this year. Diario De CentroAmerica - Central American Leaders Agree "Poverty is Reduced With Development. - Polytechnical School Reflects Changes in the Army Online Tickets to Guatemala from some major cities (Requested 1 week from today for a 1 week stay) Hotwire: - NY - $840 - Chicago - $1152 - LA - $800 - Raleigh - $701 Expedia: - NY - $1043 - Chicago - $869 - LA - $886 - Raleigh - $1035 Travelocity: - NY - $843 - Chicago - $794 -… [more]