ADA News (English)

Guatemala never ratified the Hague Convention, because our country is neither member of the Hague Conference of International Private Law nor attended the Seventeenth Conference where the Hague Convention for International adoptions was discussed and subscribed by the attending countries. In November, 2003 Guatemala acceded to the Hague Convention, and the Procuraduría General de la Nacion (PGN) was appointed as Central Authority. During the six months that the Hague Convention was enforced in Guatemala by an arbitrary PGN, not a single adoption was processed by the PGN. The files piled up on top of the desks in the drawers and even on the floor of the PGN, while the families and the children waited and waited . In July 1st., 2003, the US embassy stopped processing authorizations for DNA and the situation got worse. Finally, on August 13, 2003, the Constitutional Court upheld the challenges that the Instituto de Derecho de Familia and a group of lawyers filed against the Congress decree that approved the Hague, based on the fact that since Guatemala never signed the convention, it was not possible to ratify it, it could only accede to the treaty, but the Constitution of Guatemala does not allow the President to accede to a treaty, only to ratify it. As soon as the sentence of the Constitutional Court was published in the official newspaper, the PGN started processing adoptions and the order was restored.

After that painful experience with the Hague Convention, it is very hard for us to believe that such treaty “protects the rights of the children”. In Guatemala, with the lack of social welfare, the unwed and jobless mothers are given the option of placing their children for adoption. But for some people, it would be better if those children “were not born”, as Josefina Arellano, the director of the section of children of the PGN expressed at a press interview, not long ago.

The consul explained the consequences for Guatemala of the US ratification of the Hague Convention, making it very clear, that the US does not care neither what the Guatemalan Constitution says nor what the Constitutional Court ruled. The only fact that they care is that Guatemala has not formally withdraw from the Hague Convention and that is enough. No exception will me made in the case of Guatemala and no especial treatment will be given to our country.

The other speaker was Ms. Lisa Novak , a U:S. attorney sepecializing in International Law. For many years she practices law in Washington D.C. Currently she serces as co-founder and Director of the Global Orphan Supprot and Education Foundation (GOSEF) which supports orphans in countries around the world through education and vocational training. She is also co-founder of Claar Foundation, a US international adoption agency. Ms. Novak made very clear that her opinions were hers only and that she neither works for the embassy nor for the State Department. Step by step, Ms. Novak explained to us the requirements of the Hague Convention and the way it will be implemented in the United States. She told us about the enormous financial resources that the adoption agencies will have to get in order to afford the accreditation fee and the insurance that every agency must have to cover its liability for the actions of all the people involved in the process of adoption, in any given case. That includes also the people that the agency works with in Guatemala.

Ms, Novak also expressed that the United States does not care what the Guatemalan Constitution says or what the Constitutional Court ruled with regard to the Hague Convention. All that matters is that the name of Guatemala is among the list of members of the Hague Convention and that is enough to force Guatemala to implement it or to risk not being able to do adoptions with the United States. Ms. Novak said that Guatemala is wrong if it believes that because of the number of adoptions that we do every year, the United States will reconsider the drastic measure that is taking, because Guatemala is not irreplaceable, since the United States can adopt from about other thirty countries.

The way that Guatemala implements the Hague Convention it is up to Guatemala. The United States will not dictate how that should be done, but it has to be done quickly, because in the United States “the train just left the station “ and it is a matter of time before the doors will close down for our children.

Ms. Novak pointed out the most important parts of the Hague Convention, suggesting different ways to implement it, because as a legal framework, the Hague Convention is very simple and very ample, and allows to each country the way it chooses to comply with the convention.

After listening to the consul and Ms. Lisa Novak, there is little doubt that the Guatemalan system must be changed, if we want to keep offering to our children, the possibility of finding a better future with permanent loving families in the United States.

After the meeting was over we were offered coffee and cookies and little time to exchange our views about the seminar and the information given to us. The question that remained is: Where are those thirty countries that the United States can adopt from?
According to the list of the top twenty countries that the US has extended orphan visas during the last year,( http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/stats/stats_451.html)only seven ofthem are Hague Convention members (China, Indian, Colombia, Philippines, Mexico, Poland and Brazil) The four major countries where the Americans adopted from last year are China, Russia, Guatemala and South Korea. The future of the four of them as sending countries is very somber. China has a serious gender unbalance among its population, due to the policy of only one child for each family, that makes the abortion of girls a common practice, but that after twenty five years is leaving a large percentage of the Chinese young man, with not enough women of their age group to get married. Russia and South Korea are facing a decline in their population growth, that threatens to close down adoptions permanently. Last week, South Korea suspended admitting new adoptions and even though they say that it is temporarily, it could become something permanent. Russia is encouraging its women to stay at home and care for their children, offering them pensions that make it very attractive. The response has been less than enthusiastic by the women, who are more interested in pursuing a career than in being stay-at home-mothers. That only leaves Guatemala, a country that made last year, as many adoptions as the remaining sixteen countries combined. The following country is Ukraine. On July 3, 2006 Ukrainian authorities announced that “Ukraine will accept NO NEW adoption dossiers from non-Ukrainian adoptive parents before January 1, 2007. This applies to ALL intercountry adoptions, including applications for biological siblings of previously adopted children”. They also give preference to married couples, allowing singles to adopt only in default of married couples.

According to Ms. Novak, a great success of the Hague Convention is to promote local adoptions in the countries of origin. She mentioned that before becoming Hague, Brazil “made thousands of intercountry adoptions”. According to the “Top Twenty List”, Brazil who became Hague until 1999, during the last fifteen years made less than 150 adoptions a year to the US, with the exception of the year of 1990, when it did 228 adoptions. That year was the lowest of Guatemala, with 257 adoptions. Ms. Novak stated that 30,000 domestic adoptions were made in Brazil last year. We hope, for the sake of the Brazilian children, that those numbers are right, but seriously doubt it.

If the United States closes down adoptions in Guatemala, the cases already started will be allowed to finish according to the old system. The catch is what is understood by “started”, pointed out the consul. Anyway, between the ratification and the time it becomes effective, there are three months, and that will give time to take a decision.

The adoption professionals of Guatemala are working to implement changes to comply with the Hague, because even if the US citizens can switch to another country, our children do not have that choice, and at this time, the alternative to adoption for a Guatemalan child whose parents cannot provide for him, is abandonment, mistreatment or being used for all sorts of illegal purposes. We cannot allow that. It is for them that we will do our best effort to keep adoptions as an option for the needy children of Guatemala.

Susana Luarca, Attorney at Law, Association Defensores de la Adopcion