Tag Archives: Guatemala adoptions

Guatemala To Reopen Intercountry Adoptions in January 2027

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Guatemala closed to intercountry adoptions in 2008, almost 20 years ago, due to numerous allegations of fraud and corruption, as well as charges of kidnapping and exportation of Indigenous children. Guatemala used private lawyers to facilitate adoptions, and the lawyers were alleged to have made millions.

The Center for National Adoptions in Guatemala recently announced that the country will reopen to adoptions in January 2027 with El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

CNA, the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones website states “The help of lawyers, processors, intermediary entities or third parties with a desire to profit is not necessary.” Their decision appears focused on several hundred older children, including teenagers, sibling groups, and children with disabilities and medical conditions. I did not see any information about the recent decision on expanding international adoptions on their website.

In 2019, NBC News reported in “A painful truth: Guatemalan adoptees learn they were fraudulently given away” that “Extreme economic and political inequalities triggered a civil war between the Guatemalan government and rebel groups that lasted 36 years, from 1960 to 1996. The Guatemalan army launched an operation in 1980 targeting the country’s Mayan population, who were believed to be supporting rebel groups fueling the guerrilla movement. The army destroyed 626 villages, killed over 200,000 people and displaced an additional 1.5 million.

Thousands of children were lost along the way and some who were found by the military were never returned to their families.

In 2007, before stricter adoptions laws were passed, Guatemala made $200 million in adoptions, according to a 2010 report from the International Commission Against Impunity of Guatemala.

‘Guatemala has always been very divided socially, but the motivation seemed strictly economic,’ González said, adding that the business of adoption become a lucrative one for lawyers and government officials before the country’s adoption laws were strengthened in December 2007 following public scrutiny and a national outcry.

‘The law changed after the world had their eyes on Guatemala,’ González said. ‘But the lesson learned here, whatever the intentions, is that 30 years later, an entire generation has been affected by this and only a handful of people were charged.’ “

Humaniam, a respected NGO dedicated to children’s rights, posted this article in 2024, “The exploitative practices of Guatemala’s adoption industry.” One source for the Humaniam article was Harper’s “Children for Sale: When Guatemala’s adoptions became big business,” also written in 2024. The focus of the Harper’s article was Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala, by Rachel Nolan. Nolan’s book, published by Harvard University Press, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction in 2025.

Telediario, a national news service, recently posted two videos about CNA’s decision: Guatemala prepares to resume international adoptions after 18 years, and Guatemala finalizes protocols to restart international adoptions after 18-year closure. Both are in Spanish, auto-dubbed in English.

Lynelle Long of ICAV (Inter Country Adoptee Voices) posted about the news, asking several questions about it, on LinkedIn. Her post includes a link to a Guatemalan news article.

I find this news surprising, given the history of Guatemalan adoptions. Also, many countries have closed or severely restricted international adoptions; among them are China, South Korea, Ethiopia, and Russia. Vietnam closed in 2008, and several years later reopened. The other countries remain closed to international adoptions, and the numbers of adoptions have dropped dramatically in recent years.

Thus, a country re-opening Ito international adoption s big news, especially a country with such a problematic, disturbing history. It will be most valuable to hear the perspectives of Guatemalan adoptees and birth/first families about this.

President of Guatemala Apologizes To Adoptees for Fraudulent Adoptions

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President of Guatemala Bernardo Arevalo recently apologized to adoptees who were trafficked as children from Guatemala to the United States.

” ‘On behalf of the state…I apologize publicly for the events of which you were victims,’ President Bernardo Arevalo said at an event in Guatemala City.

The state’s role in the incident “has no justification,” he added.”

Per France 24: “Before Guatemala moved to end the practice in 2007, about 5,000 children were put up for adoption each year, mostly by American couples who paid about $50,000, according to human rights groups.

In total, the adoptions were estimated to generate around $250 million a year.”

This is a highly significant event in the inter country adoption world—an acknowledgment of fraud and coercion that likely affected thousands of adoptions.

From “Guatemalan Government Apologizes to Victims of Illegal Adoptions”:

On July 12, the president made a public apology  to the parents of two children illegally adopted by a family in the United States in 1997. This is the first time that the Guatemalan government has made a public apology for illegal adoptions carried out in the country between 1977 and 2008.

The public apology was in response to the case of Osmín Tobar Ramírez, who was seven years old in 1997 when he and his younger brother, Jeffrey Arias Ramírez, who was nearly two years old, were taken from their family by the Guatemalan state and housed in the Asociación Los Niños de Guatemala orphanage. They were put up for adoption, an act that would later be revealed to be illegal.

Other governments have apologized for forced and/or illicit adoptions. Australia, Wales, Scotland, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, and Belgium are among those listed in EuroNews and Movement for An Adoption Apology.

Guatemala was a so-called “sending” country, sending children to other countries for the purpose of adoption. Another “sending” country, South Korea, has been working with adoptees via its Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate fraud over decades of inter country adoption.

International adoption has declined severely for many reasons, including fraud, coercion, and corruption. Vulnerable children still need help, and families still need resources to stay together. Here are some ideas: Lamenting the Decline in International Adoptions? Take Action.

Also: Listen to the voices of adult adoptees, including the ones who are provocative and challenging.

Here is some additional information about Guatemalan adoptions:

Guatemala’s baby brokers: how thousands of children were stolen for adoption

A Painful Truth: Guatemalan Adoptees Learn They Were Fraudulently Given Away

Finally, I want to acknowledge my work with the Joint Council on International Children’s Services some 30 years ago. I apologize for any harm I caused, through my naiveté or otherwise. I’ve learned so much over the last several decades about the commodification and trafficking of children, the notion of intent v. impact, and the unquestionable need to dismantle the adoption industry so that the practices can be genuinely helpful and transparent to vulnerable children and families.