Adoptions in Guatemala

U.S. Deposits Instrument of Ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption

A message from the U.S. Department of State

December 12, 2007

On the morning of December 12, 2007, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty deposited the United States’ instrument of ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Hague Adoption Convention) at a ceremony in The Hague. Her remarks at the ceremony are available on the State Department’s Consular Affairs web site, http://www.travel.state.gov, under the “Speeches and Remarks” section.

The United States is now a full member of the Hague Adoption Convention, which will enter into force for the United States on April 1, 2008, and will govern intercountry adoptions between the United States and the over 70 other Convention member countries in accordance with the provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA).

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For more information on U.S. obligations under The Hague Adoption Convention and IAA, please review the “Intercountry Adoption” section of the Consular Affairs internet website:

http://www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/adoption_485.html