Guatemala: Illegal adoption home found

Police in Guatemala raided a home on Saturday and found 46 children who may have been kidnapped to be used in international adoptions. Authorities believe a Floridian couple ran the shelter located in the resort city of Antigua.

As we mentioned in March, the U.S. government had seriously considered banning adoptions from Guatemala which has the highest per-capita adoption rate in the world. Despite the Guatemalan government signing an international treaty on adoptions last May, child rights groups and other entities worry over cases of fraud and extortion.

Despite the problems facing adoptions in Guatemala, some believe that they are exaggerated. As one U.S. couple mentioned to BBC News:

“As with any adoption process, in the US or Russia or China or anywhere, there are always going to be cases of fraud or illegal activity. It's not just Guatemala that has problems - and they do have problems - but I do not believe that is the norm.

It's frustrating that Guatemalan adoptions get painted in such a negative fashion - and that parents who go to Guatemala for adoption are often painted as unscrupulous people who want children in the cheapest and quickest way - because that is not the case.”

Sources- WFTV, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Guardian UK

Image- PRESS TV