The Guatemalan Congress recently approved a new law that ratifies the Hague Convention and regulates the country's adoption process. It has long been speculated that Guatemalan adoptions were fraught with corruption and those involved in the process have often been accused of bribery and even of child trafficking.

"Today is a historic day for the country, because the foundations have been laid for putting an end to the theft of children to place them in adoption', said parliamentary Deputy Edgard Alfredo Rodriquez of the centre-left National Union of Hope (UNE), after the law was approved by more than two-thirds of the legislators."

The new laws mean that adoptions will take longer, which some critics say will deter prospective adoptive parents. Overall, however, the ratification has been met with excitement. Both the Hague Convention and its accompanying laws will take effect on December 31st.

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Labels: international, adoption_process, kidnapping

Posted By: Aspen Education Group