Two years ago my sister and her husband adopted my nephew from Guatemala. While there were, and frankly still are, legitimate means to rescue Guatemalan orphans, the international adoption process was riddled with fraud, trafficking, and outright kidnapping. On December 31, 2007, at the request of the US and several other countries, Guatemala chose to stop all international adoptions to overall the system and establish a process compliant with the Hague Adoption Convention.

Two weeks ago, the Guatemalan authority (CNA) released a statement saying they would start opening international adoptions, with several conditions. Most importantly, only those children most in need in need of adoption will be available first, the process will be closely scrutinized, and countries must make application to the CNA before the process begins.

It is the last condition where I am asking for your help. The United States through the State Department, Department of Health and Human Services, or some other recognizable “corresponding Central Authority of their country” must contact the Guatemalan authority and ask that the US be part of this project, and the deadline is tomorrow!

Please call, write, email, or tweet your Congresspeople and Senators today and ask they press the State Department or DHHS to contact the Guatemalan authority.

To find your Congressperson or Senator, click here.

To contact the State Department, click here.

To contact the Department of Health and Human Services, click here.

According to UNICEF, in 2007 there were 360,000 orphans in Guatemala, and we simply want the opportunity to give them a home.