I've spoken at length about the unethical practices plaguing the American adoption system with regard to how expectant mothers are treated before, during and after the adoption. I think it is also important to take a deeper look at how mothers in other countries are being taken advantage of by even more corrupt systems. I complain about how I was short-changed and lied to but my experience pales to this one coming out of Guatemala.

Now hush. I'm not launching into a debate about the legal happenings in Guatemala right now. I'm simply saying that what happened to this girl, in this story, is completely out of line. Sadly, that said, chances are that this is not the only case in the country.

To sum it up, a teen got pregnant. Her family wasn't pleased and they took her to see an adoption attorney. While she was in the pregnancy home, no one really discussed adoption, her rights or any other options. After the baby was born, she was given papers to sign. Blank ones, too!

The adoption lawyer made me sign some documents and some blank papers. I asked why I had to sign these blank papers and she said it was for the adoption process. [...] The lawyer told me she would give me money for the baby but I said I didn't want anything.

Kind of makes your skin crawl, doesn't it? Granted, my unethical agency made me believe that I had to sign by a certain point and didn't explain that the time limit was a minimum, not a maximum, but I still didn't have to sign blank papers.

And so, the girl takes her boyfriend back to the attorney and asks for the baby back as they decide, together, that placement is not the right option. They're, of course, told "tough luck" in different words. In fact, they got threatened by the attorney!

She told me that if I didn't give up my baby, she would have an arrest warrant issued for him because I was under-age and he was 20, so he'd had sex with a minor.

She also said I would have to repay everything she had spent on me - for the Caesarean section, the medical bills, the costs for my time in the pregnancy home.

At that point, I decided to leave things the way they were. We had no money to pay.

Now, I must admit, I have heard of similar things happening in the United States as well. I do know of mothers who were told that if they decided not to place, they would have to reimburse all of the monies paid for living and medical expenses. (This was in a state where repayment was not required, mind you.) No matter what country this kind of thing is happening in, it is despicable! Using scare lies and scare tactics to get babies from mothers and fathers is atrocious. How attorneys like this can live with themselves at night, well, I have no idea!

Thankfully, this girl has some spunk! When she had to go to the Solicitor General's Office (PGN) to sign the adoption papers, she was asked if she wanted to place her baby and she said NO! (Anyone else doing a fist pump right now? I am!) Her family left her in the street with her daughter. Sigh. While they recently contacted her to let her know she could come home with the baby, she doesn't have an interest in returning. (Would you?)

And while it's great that this mother ended up keeping and parenting her child, stuff like this really shouldn't be happening. Anywhere. Still, the advice that this young girl offers others in her situation crosses national borders and hits at the heart of the matter.

I'd tell girls in the same situation as I was to keep their babies, to keep fighting because they are worth it and the love you have for them is amazing.

I won't pretend to have the answers to the ethical problems in Guatemala because, honestly, I don't yet have the answers to the ethical problems wreaking havoc in our own country. But I couldn't not share this girl's story. Too many others like her aren't as lucky.

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For more about birth parents around the world, read these posts.



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Photo Credit.