An uncertain time for waiting parents, babies

By Olga R. Rodriguez, Associated Press

Last update: November 21, 2007 - 3:11 PM

GUATEMALA CITY - Jeff and Diana Kerr fell in love with the Guatemalan baby girl the moment they saw her photograph. The Lino Lakes couple decorated her pink and white nursery with pictures of flowers and butterflies, but now they don't know if the 8-month-old will ever become their daughter.

The Kerrs are among thousands of Americans trying to adopt 3,700 babies who are caught in limbo as Guatemala's legislators debate new rules that could all but shut down a largely unregulated system that has become the speediest place in the world to finalize an adoption.

As early as this week, the legislature is expected to debate new rules to eliminate potential fraud in Guatemala's adoption process, which until now has been run from beginning to end by notaries who work with birth mothers, determine whether babies were surrendered willingly, hire foster mothers and handle all the paperwork.

These notaries charge an average of $30,000 for children delivered in about nine months -- record time for international adoptions. The process is so quick that one in every 100 Guatemalan children now grows up as an adopted American.

2nd-largest source of babies

The small Central American country sent 4,135 children to the United States last year, making it the largest source of babies for U.S. families after much-bigger China. Americans adopted 6,493 children from China in 2006.

The adoptions are a $100 million a year industry for notaries.

But the system violates the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions, a treaty designed to prevent fraudulent adoptions. Both Guatemala and the United States have agreed to observe the treaty starting next year. Among other things, a government agency must oversee the process and determine whether the child was legally surrendered by the birth mother.

Most agree the new rules will reduce the number of Guatemalan adoptions because the government doesn't have the resources to manage all the cases that notaries have handled and because of extra inspections intended to guarantee that each child is being given up willingly.

What this means for the Kerrs and other would-be parents whose adoptions are currently in process remains unclear. The United States is pushing for a transition period so the 3,700 adoptions now under way can be concluded under the existing law.

Altered birth certificates

But scrutiny of the pending adoptions has turned up problems in about 1,000 cases, said Victor Mejicanos, a federal official who oversees adoptions.

"We have everything from altered birth certificates to birth mothers who change their minds and want their babies back," Mejicanos said.

And with only seven investigators, who deal with everything from parental neglect to domestic violence, Mejicanos predicts adoptions will take much longer now.

Anticipating the new rules, the Guatemalan government has begun cracking down. Would-be parents have been lobbying U.S. legislators to pressure Guatemala to allow pending adoptions to be completed under current rules. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., is visiting Guatemala this week to check on the progress of those requests.