With so much noise coming from the anti-adoption movement in the country, it would be wrong of me to keep silent. I’ve decided to discuss Guatemala in particular.

Adoptions from Guatemala have been going on for over twenty-five years, coming into existence during the brutal Civil War (1960-1996) when so many children were orphaned. There was little hope for these destitute children and adoption was a viable option in a country that had nothing in place to accommodate these homeless children.

Anti-adoption activists would call this exploitation of a poorer, underprivileged group of people by a richer, (whiter), and more powerful and privileged group. After all, children are being removed from their language, their culture, and their country, therefore this could not possibly be a good thing.

Intent is the key word in this argument. What are the intentions of the adoptive parents? Do they plan on exploiting these children? Are these children going to be treated as inferior humans because they are from a less privileged country? Will these children be completely alienated from the very roots they were torn from?
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I hardly think so. Most (if not all) people adopt because they want to add a child to their family. How twisted must a person’s mind be to believe that those of us who adopt from Guatemala are taking advantage of the misfortunes of others with no regard for their needs? Every child needs food, love and shelter to thrive. This is exactly what adoptive parents intend to give to their children.

I have posted stories of teenagers adopted from Guatemala. They do not feel like they have been stripped of their rights by being adopted from Guatemala. They have not been alienated from their culture; quite the contrary is true. These girls feel very close to the country of their birth and feel the support of their adoptive families to stay connected. They do not harbor anger towards the adoptive parents for raising them in the U.S. They understand why they were adopted, and they love their parents.

So why don’t we just describe this situation in realistic terms. Children from Guatemala are adopted by people who want to raise them with love and give them the opportunities one would wish that every child in the world would have. Adoptive parents of Guatemalan born children are for the most part a generous group of people, quick to donate funds and time to improving the situation of the poor, the homeless and the hungry in Guatemala.

The choice to adopt Guatemalan children is a choice of love, absent of malice and ill intent. Let’s make sure we convey this to the anti-adoption people; our silence will only perpetuate the lies and distortions they disseminate.

An Excellent Article Worth Reading:

International Adoption: Thoughts on the Human Rights Issures

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