BAD, BAD PRESS

First of all, I am not the type to get all bent-out-of-shape about all the adoption rumors and negativeness that other folks like to dwell upon. It usually doesn't bother me at all because I am on cloud nine about MY baby and that's all I really care about at the moment. I'm not the type to be offened because some ignorant reporter referred to Angelina Jolie as "Baby Shopping". Who really cares what they want to call it? It is just an article written with some catchie phrases to get people's attention and make them buy their magazines. Some folks seem to get all stressed out over silly things such as, "What should I call the day that my son was adopted? Let's not call it Gotcha Day (like people have been doing for years) because that could sound offensive, like someone caught a fly on the wall." Give me a break! That is one of the silliest things I've ever heard of. I have much more important things happening in my life than to sit down and contemplate whether my child might grow up and suddenly think that his mother was using the term Gotcha Day in a negative way. But I am offended when a reporter repeatedly refers to Guatemala as a "baby factory" or "baby farm". YIKES!!! That would be pretty darn offensive to anyone that respects the country of Guatemala. Sometimes things are said or done that are wrong, and it is our duty to stand up and educate others about the truth.

To get to my point, there was an article that apparently has been published in almost every newspaper across the U. S. about Guatemalan adoptions that is very one-sided and completely inaccurate. I don't even know where to begin when discussing this article, so please excuse any rambling I may do. I just want to say several things I do know about adoptions in Guatemala.

1. One of the reasons Guatemalan adoptions are so popular is because the babies are generally more healthy and have less delays than babies from other countries because:
2. They are usually raised in foster homes instead of orphanages, therefore they receive care in a private home instead of and institution.
3. It is almost unheard of for these babies to be born with something such as fetal alcohol syndrome because the birth mothers in Guat. do not use drugs and alcohol while pregnant (unlike other countries such as Russia, that are known for having many babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome).
4. These babies have much better medical care both before and after birth than babies from most other countries (at least the ones being handled by an attorney).
5. The adoption process is sometimes (not always) faster than many other countries and they are relinquished for adoption at a younger age, therefore your baby could be as young as 5-12 months when you take him home, whereas your baby might be 12-24 months in other countries. (can you blame someone for wanting their child home at a younger age so that they don't miss out on the many exciting milestones of their child's life and are able to bond with their child at a younger age???)
6. Also, Guatemala is much closer to travel than a country such as Russia, and at this time adoptive families are only required to make one trip of 4-5 days. Many other countries require 2 trips totaling 7-21 days.
7. Guatemala has both boys and girls available for adoption, whereas in some countries it is very difficult to get a girl and other countries it is almost impossible to get a boy.(Russia & China) After suffering years of infertility or miscarriages, one of the benefits of adoption is that you can actually choose the sex of your child. But some people like to make a whole debate out of whether you should be able to choose the sex of the child you are adopting.

One of the biggest things I want people to know about Guatemala is that these adoptions DO go through a court system. The article stated that "Guatemala still allows adoptions to be managed privately, without judicial approval". For someone not familiar with adoptions in Guat., this may sound like the adoptions are not approved by their court system, which is by far not the case. What they mean is that most, not all, adoptions in Guat. are private adoptions. It is the same difference as if you adopted a child privately through an attorney in the U. S. versus adopting a child through the state foster care system. The adoption is still completely legal and goes through all the appropriate court proceedings, the only difference is that a birth mother went directly through an attorney instead of dropping her child off at an orphanage. Also, the U. S. requires that all birth mothers and their babies have DNA testing to prove that the baby is in fact hers and that she DOES want to give her child up for adoption.

Guatemala is an extremely poor country that has no welfare system, no food stamps, no Medicaid, no child support laws, no disability, no minimum wage salary, and so on. There are many, many areas of Guat. that have no running water, no medical care, no schools or transportation. They are also known to be very fertile and a very Catholic/religious country that does not promote abortions and frowns upon unwed mothers. I could go on and on explaining to you the reasons that birth mothers have to give their child up in hopes of them having a better life. If you have read the article, please don't take it seriously. It is completely one-sided and inaccurate. If you are truly interested in what happens in Guatemala with poverty and adoptions, do as I did and spend the next 3 years researching Guatemala. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people who are caring and loving and want the best for their children.