Adoptions in Guatemala

NOTICE: New PGN Plans to Review of All Adoption Cases Currently in PGN

April 29, 2008

The new Guatemalan Solicitor General (Procuradoría General de la Nación) or “PGN” advised the U.S. Embassy on April 29 that it plans to review all adoption cases physically present in the PGN office, including those that may have already been approved by the PGN under its former leadership. The PGN emphasized that cases approved by their office should be transparent.

The PGN indicated that in certain cases they will require the presence of the birth mother and child to verify identification. They confirmed their intention to identify any cases that are readily approvable and to release them as soon as they have been reviewed.

The Embassy continues to be in frequent communication with the PGN and has expressed the hope that the review of cases can be accomplished as quickly as possible, in the best interests of the children who have already spent months separated from their birth parents and are in need of permanent homes.