I just finished listening to the NPR(National Public Radio) program "All Things Considered.” The subject was Guatemalan adoptions. The liquid smooth intellectual voice of the host of the program could easily lull you into believing that you are getting a balanced picture of the situation. You aren’t.

The interview begins in a hotel in Guatemala; the background is filled with the cries of fretting babies with their adoptive parents. The adopting couple being interviewed is visiting their little boy and obviously smitten with him. They admit that they did not ask aggressive questions about the birth family and are now so attached to the child they don’t want to.

Then the interview turns to the local head of UNICEF. He states that all a person needs to adopt from Guatemala is $25,000 - $30,000 dollars. He complains that the lawyers and notaries know nothing about the birth family or birth mother’s situation and even less about the PAPs (prospective adopting parents).

Obviously he is overgeneralizing and exaggerating, but here is my real bone of contention: how dare anyone from that corrupt and politically motivated group say a thing. UNICEF is promising Guatemala 28 million dollars to stop the adoption process with no promise that any of that money will go to the children and families who need it.

The attorney general of Guatemala is interviewed briefly about Casa Quivira. He says that it was raided because the community around this adoption home was concerned about where the children were coming from. Yup, that is the reason.

Clifford Phillips, the owner of Casa Quivira states that he does not pay the birth mothers. Meanwhile, most of the children taken from there are stuck in orphanages and will probably never have families. To date, no birth parent has stepped forth to claim that any one of these children was taken illegally.

A birth mother was interviewed. When she was pregnant she had no one to turn to. Her mother was physically abusive. An older woman in her village suggested adoption and took her to a home where there were several pregnant girls. She said she was “mute” and “numb” and had no where else to turn. Her baby was taken after she gave birth. She regretted her decision and got her son back.

I did hear the host remark that 60% of the children in Guatemala are born into poverty, but she did not go on to mention the fact that malnutrition rates among Guatemalan children are among the highest in the world and 44% of the children under five are considered stunted in their growth. She did not discuss the possibility that birth mothers make the painful decision to put their children up for adoption rather than watch them suffer from malnutrition and live in dire poverty all their lives.

This was just another one sided story where all things were not considered!

Listen to this program here.