On Tuesday, Guatemala’s legislature approved a bill that would create stricter requirements for new adoptions. Supporters of the proposal hope to curb a growing black market of adoptions to other countries, though it has raised the anxiety of thousands of prospective parents in the U.S.Two of Guatemala’s main daily newspapers published editorials over adoption in that country. Below are excerpts from each of the columns. (Note that the articles are originally in Spanish).
Adoption is one of Guatemala’s most beautiful laws…however, adoption has become so unnatural that is has been synonymous with “stealing or buying children”…
We have to point out that the irresponsibility of the Guatemalan state has caused an institution as noble as adoptions to become unnatural. Most common in our country is the deficiencies of several government agencies; the Public Ministry, the Prosecutor’s Office, and some courts, for instance. And some adoption centers are to blame in cases of illegal adoptions.
Therefore, it is clear that adoptions are not bad, much less detrimental. What is pathetic is the lack of efficient state controls so that adoptions may be carried out as God sees fit.
The main objective of this legislation is to eliminate or at least drastically diminish the immoral, dirty, and criminal business that has converted many adoption cases…
Yet this goal, which nobody can be opposed to, has the result of unnecessarily increasing the amount of time needed to legally adopt a child…Adoption experts note that the younger the age of an adopted child the easier it is for him to get used to his adopted family…
Those who have backed the law now have the task of monitoring and ensuring the correct application which would most benefit children. For its part, society must be optimistic and await positive results with the hope that illegal adoptions disappear from Guatemala.
Image- BBC News
Sources (English)- Guardian UK, BBC News. Associated Press
Sources (Spanish)- ElPeriódico de Guatemala, PrensaLibre.com
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