One week away from my computer and much has been going on in Guatemala. The new president, Alvaro Colom has already replaced three members of the new Central Authority. Rumors are rampant on the reasons for these changes; such as the members replaced might not have been objective enough.

I don’t doubt that there are also politics involved; after all, most newly elected officials want “their” people in important positions of power. What concerns me is that we still don’t have a stable committee doing what they were appointed to do. Hopefully they will now be able to get down to the serious task of registering the in-process adoptions so they can be completed. There is no need to keep the children apart from their adopting parents any longer than necessary. I wish I could fill their offices with poster size photos of the children waiting to come home. Often it seems that they are forgotten in all the politics and rhetoric.

The adoption registration forms for in-process cases have been released; they are in Spanish but you can view them here. I’m assuming that lawyers with in-process cases will do everything in their power to submit these forms quickly and correctly. What will happen after they are registered and how long it will take until these adoptions reach completion is anyone’s guess. If anyone has information from their adoption agencies, please post it in the comments.

Adopting parents waiting for their children have my total sympathy at this time. It is always a leap of faith to adopt, but particularly now in light of the new Central Authority taking over. Those of us who have completed our adoptions must continue to support those facing these incredible challenges and unknowns. When all the children in-process are home, we can celebrate and then get back to the task of ensuring that adoption from Guatemala will continue to be a viable option for parents in Guatemala.