Guatemala to more closely regulate adoptions

Would-be parents have been lobbying U.S. lawmakers with letters and phone calls asking them to pressure Guatemala to allow pending adoptions to be completed under current rules. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota, is visiting Guatemala this week to check on the progress of those requests.

The Guatemalan government says it will allow all pending adoptions to move forward, but only after the government adoption agency confirms each child was willingly given up and the child passes a second DNA test now required by the U.S. Embassy.

Charges of stolen babies
The notary system has made it easy for scam artists to coerce women into selling their babies and in some cases, put stolen babies up for adoption, critics say. This week, women who say their children were stolen for adoption pushed empty baby carriages and set up empty cribs outside the attorney general's Office, complaining that prosecutors weren't doing enough.

Congressman Rolando Morales, a leading proponent of reform, said the new rules will require that all babies be in the care of government-registered orphanages, something that may deter adoptions. The new law also will reduce the cost of adoptions, he said.

"The business of Guatemalan children has been very profitable for these notaries, but the money will no longer go to them," Morales said.

The Kerrs said they chose Guatemala because babies are placed with foster mothers during the adoption process and not in orphanages, like in most other countries.

"We feel really good to know that she is in a good place while we wait for her," Kerr said.

But Morales argues orphanages would be easier to monitor.

"Right now, no one knows where all the babies are being kept, and that will have to end," he said.

There are only four registered orphanages, and Morales acknowledged the government doesn't have the resources to house the thousands of children waiting for parents.

In the meantime, Jeff and Diana Kerr are visiting the girl they have named Katie, and hope to take her home by Christmas.

"We just know that we have to go back and see her over Thanksgiving," Jeff Kerr said.

U.S. Embassy advice on the Guatemala changes is online at guatemala.usembassy.gov/adoptions.html

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