There is hope. . . responses from the Goverment

The public outcry over the DOS Statement, warning that Guatemalan officials have announced all in-process adoptions will end on December 31st, is making an impact!

Tina Leoni at the DOS Guatemalan Adoption Desk (202-736-9090) has been assuring callers the DOS is "working behind the scenes to protect adoptions in process." She says the warning statement was aimed at families considering starting new adoption cases, not at families with existing cases underway (although a shut down would affect both new and long term cases).

Gerry Fuller (fullergw@state.gov), the DOS person in charge of this situation, is replying to emails with a form letter that says, in part: "The notice has generated public concern, particularly among prospective adoptive parents who already have cases in process. ...We want you to know that, despite what many people believe, we are working hard to protect the interests of American citizens already pursuing an adoption in Guatemala. We are urging the Government of Guatemala as it promulgates legislation to meet Hague standards to include procedures that will allow adoption cases already in progress to proceed to conclusion without additional requirements."

The DOS has amended their Warning Statement (here) to include the following paragraph: "At this time, over 3000 applications for adoption from Guatemala are in process with USCIS or the Guatemala government. The U.S. government is asking the Government of Guatemala to allow such cases, now pending, to proceed to completion without additional requirements."

The JCICS has acknowledged the amended Statement and replied (here) "It is Joint Council's understanding that the U.S. Department of State will continue to advocate for the uninterrupted completion of all transition cases. This public statement of a longstanding USDOS policy is a credit to the early efforts of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative, and we thank the Department of State for their child-centric efforts."

The initial hands-off warning from the DOS about the pending crisis included no discernable advocacy for cases already in-process. Thankfully, they seem to be taking notice of our response -- and what a great response it's been!

After only four days the online petition has nearly 18,000 signatures. Everyone who has reported back after talking with their Congress Members's offices have found them to be well informed about the situation and supportive of continuing in-process adoptions! The word is getting out on online sources as well.

We are hoping and praying that the US DOS will advocate on our behalf. How vigorously they do so, is yet to be seen. But even with their advocacy, don't forget that Guatemala is a sovereign country, so the final decision rests in her hands.

Until the Guatemalan congress passes one of the many competing acts of legislation regarding Hague Compliance, our in-process cases remain at risk. There are some (not all) powerful people in Guatemala who want to end all foreign adoptions -- both new and in-process cases. can no longer see us.

Since we can't do anything on the Guatemalan side, we MUST keep up the pressure on the US side. Our government must do everything possible to protect its citizens who have entered into a legal process with a foreign country, in good faith. If you haven't yet signed the petition or emailed the powers that be, I URGE you to take a few minutes to do so, now. My last post explains how.

Thank you all for your efforts to bring this crisis to the attention of our representatives. The final resolution for our in-process cases will remain up in the air for a while. I'll keep you posted about the important steps along the way.