About Guatemala

The adoption process in Guatemala is about to change due to the new legislation that will implement the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in respect of Inter-Country Adoptions (HCICA). Although Guatemala acceded the Convention in 2002, the government didn’t create an implementing legislation. As a result the implementation of the HCICA could not take place, and the adoptions continued under the previous system.

The current adoption process is relatively simple, involving lawyers that represent (in most cases) both the adoptive family and the child and the birth mother’s interests. Many agencies have been created to assist the families in the process, but some organizations have claimed that the current system is open to unethical practices. A great debate has developed in Guatemala over the issue of adoptions, and after a long time, the Congress is finally about to approve legal structures that will help implement the Hague Convention.

The proposed law has already been studied by the Congress and it’s about to be approved. The law will create the “Instituto del Niño y la Familia Adoptiva”, which will act as the Central Authority recognized in the Convention. This will make that lawyers will no longer be in charge of the adoption process. The new process will require medical examinations, DNA tests and the assistance of a social worker and a psychologist. The law also prohibits future adoptions by single parents.

The U.S. has not ratified the HCICA yet, but it plans to do it this year, so in the future, adoptions should take place according to the Convention’s procedures. Most European countries have already ratified the HCICA, so hopefully, the new law will speed up the adoptions and most of all, it will give the adoptive children a fast and safe way to a better life and a loving family.

Continue reading: Resources for adoptions in Guatemala