If there are enough members in the Guatemalan Congress on December 11th for a special session, the New Adoption Law will have its third and final vote. The way it stands today, this law will not truly grandfather in all the pending cases because of the proposed system. Article 56 would require all the pending cases to be registered within thirty days, an impossibility since a new Central Authority has yet to be created and there are over 5,000 adoptions to be registered.

I would like to get into the mind of the person who came up with this absurd idea. They are either naïve,... more

Socialization doesn’t always come easy to two year olds, and that “sharing” business seems to be a sore spot with most of them. Ella is still on the learning curve in this department. Somehow all the toys she ignores for weeks become incredibly important to her the minute another child touches them.

So today when her little friend “C” arrived, she cheerfully greeted her and then for the next half hour proceeded to take every toy out of her hand with a big smile on her face. “C” let out a high pitched scream or a growl each time this happened. I was convinced... more

If you’re like me and go through Guatemalan related news everyday, you will find that most newspapers are just rehashing old information and giving titles they hope will draw attention. Take for example the Washington Post Article called “Guatemala Trying to Control Adoptions." There is absolutely nothing in this article that has not been said before by this newspaper.

In the Arkansas Democrat Gazette... more

With all the politics surrounding the Guatemalan adoption scene, I can’t help but consider the role the US Embassy plays in the big picture. Theoretically they are “on our side” and representing our country, but at times I wonder.

Last winter they decided that Pre Approval would take much longer so that they could scrutinize the adoption files more closely. So a two week process became a 60+day process. Now that adoption legislation threatens the completion of “in process adoptions,” one would hope that additional staff would be hired to hurry things along.... more

The Guatemalan Congress has passed the first two readings of the adoption legislation now called Bill 3735. The third reading will be passed in a special session, and there is doubt if there will be a quorum then. This could mean that the bill will not be passed and will await the new congress in January.

With so many amendments to the Ortega Bill, a new bill was created, and it included suggestions made by the The Hague Permanent Bureau and the US DOS. According to Susana Luarca from the... more

In my previous two blogs I covered an interview with a reporter who is in Guatemala right now. He answered questions about his interview with the Deputy Attorney General (Barrios) of PGN; the dreaded PGN, the last and often longest and most trying step in the Guatemalan adoption process.

In this blog, I’ve asked him about the media’s treatment of the Guatemalan adoption process.

Many if not most of us who are involved in intercountry adoptions in general... more

In my last blog, Robert responded to questions about attitudes towards adoption in Guatemala. He was fortunate enough to interview the Deputy Attorney General (Barrios). Here are his responses to my questions.

The Deputy Attorney General of PGN has an unsavory reputation among those of us who have been through the adoption process. He has been accused of bribes and corruption, unnecessary hold ups and long holidays away from his desk leaving hundreds of cases in limbo... more

Many of us in the blogging and adoption world have given interviews to the media; few of us are ever truly happy with the results. A couple months ago I gave a long interview to Robert, a reporter for a well known American newspaper. He asked intelligent questions, was polite, patient and very pleasant. When the article came out, I was disappointed and told him so. He was kind enough to explain a few things and I calmed down.

Before the article came out, I had asked for an interview by email. After I jumped down his throat about the article, I wasn’t sure I’d get a... more

First of all, let me preface this blog with the statement that to my knowledge there are no studies that verify or even suggest that Guatemalan born children as a group are more prone to language delays. Secondly, I’ve heard of several Guatemalan children that have no delays at all – on the contrary they spoke early and well.

But because this was an issue in Ella’s development and it keeps coming up in emails from readers, I’ve blogged about it several times before. My first blog covers the subject of delays and particularly in internationally born children. My ... more

It is quiet on the Guatemalan adoption front because nothing is really happening. With elections in Guatemala over, the congress is winding down for the holiday season. In January the new President, Alvaro Colom, will take over.

The Adoption Legislation has been postponed in the Guatemalan congress. It is complicated legislation as there are apparently around sixty amendments to address. Perhaps they should start from the beginning and throw out the adoption not-friendly Ortega Bill. Other bills have been presented in the past, and this would be a good time to go back... more