NightLight Inc. Agency

Back on August 8 I wrote a post about David Esaú, a baby boy in Guatemala who is waiting to be adopted. David has been waiting for more than 5 months, and while adoptive families are eager for referrals of girls or infant boys, children like David keep getting older, and their chances of being adopted decrease every month.

The reasons a child like David (but not necessarily David himself) are not matched with a family at birth are various:

• The birthmother doesn’t decide to relinquish until after a few months.
• The child is matched with a prospective adoptive family, but the family has to withdraw from the adoption.
• No families are ready with their paperwork when the child becomes available. By the time any families are available, the child is a couple months old, and families who now have their paperwork ready are interested in another child (especially if there is a younger child).
• The child is a boy and paper-ready families are looking to adopt only girls.

All of these reasons are legitimate, and it is important for prospective adoptive parents to make a decision that is best Continue reading »

One of the ways that Carolina Hope seeks homes for orphans from Guatemala is through photolisting – that is, placing an orphan’s photo and name (along with a few other pieces of information) on our website and at another photolisting website, RainbowKids.com. I’ll post more about photolisting at some other time (it’s a controversial practice), but I’ll say this now: We photolist a child when none of our clients can accept that child as a referral (because the family is not approved for the gender/age of the particular child, or the family takes another referral, or no families have their approval yet from USCIS).

Today I want to introduce you to David Esaú. David was born in Guatemala on March 25, 2007. His single birthmother lives in a bad situation, and she has decided that she cannot adequately care for David – so she’s voluntarily placing him for adoption. Right now he lives in a private foster home. You can read more about David at our photolisting page for waiting children. He’s the first on the page.

I’m highlighting David because we’ve had him photolisted for over 4 months, and as he gets older Continue reading »

The Joint Council on International Children’s Services has issued the following notice about the second DNA test now being required for children adopted from Guatemala. As the notice states, the new requirement will be implemented for cases submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala on or after August 6, 2007.

This notice answers some of the first questions that my original post may have raised. However, there are still questions about how this requirement will be implemented, and we hope to have more answers soon – perhaps after the JCICS conference call tomorrow. The text of the notice appears below:

NOTICE
Department of State
August 2, 2007

U.S. Embassy Uses DNA Testing to Protect Children Adopted in Guatemala

Effective August 6, 2007, the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala will require a second DNA test, to verify that the adopted child for whom an immigrant visa is being requested is the same child matched at the beginning of the adoption process with the birth parent. The Embassy is taking this step in response to concerns about the unregulated adoption process in that country. The Embassy already requires one DNA match between a relinquishing parent and prospective adoptive child as part of the immigrant visa process for Guatemalan children adopted by American citizens. This new procedure will apply to adoption cases finalized by Guatemalan authorities and submitted to the Embassy on or after August 6th.

The United States supports the highest standards of practice in international adoption. Continue reading »

[This post was updated August 2, 2007. The update appears at the end of the original text.]

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City is introducing a second DNA test, this one to be done before a visa will be issued to the adopted child. This child’s DNA sample will be sent to the U.S. lab that conducted the first DNA test (LabCorp for Carolina Hope clients), and the new sample will be matched against the DNA sample gathered from the child when the case first went to the U.S. Embassy for pre-visa approval. This extra matching will ensure that the child being issued the visa is the child whose case was originally pre-approved. According to what we’ve read, Continue reading »