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.