Potential Private Adoption in Guyana

Immigration... Kind regards, Dickons

"Under Guyanese law only Guyanese nationals, former Guyanese nationals or non-Guyanese domiciled in Guyana may adopt Guyanese children." This quote is from the website of the U.S. State Department's adoption website at adoption.state.gov, the most authoritative source available. If you meet the above requirements, you can probably adopt IF the children meet the following Guyanese legal requirements, as shown on the same website. "Relinquishment Requirements: Consent of each birth parent or guardian of the child is required unless the birth parent or guardian has abandoned, neglected, or mistreated the child, cannot be found, or is incapable of giving consent. In cases where the biological parent cannot be found, an advertisement of the pending adoption must be placed for three consecutive Saturdays in a daily newspaper. In the event that the child's biological parents are deceased, death certificates must be shown." The children must also meet the specific definition of "eligible orphan" that is in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Basically, the children cannot have been living with two parents (married or not) or a parent and stepparent. They may be living with a single parent who cannot support them at a level considered adequate by Guyanese (not American) standard. Or they may have one of the following situations: a) Both parents deceased (death certificates required). b) Abandoned, with parents' whereabouts unknown and no contact with child. c) Parental rights permanently terminated by a Guyanese court for a reason such as abuse or neglect. d) Parental rights permanently and voluntarily relinquished under Guyanese law, as long as it is very clear that the relinquishment was not done to circumvent U.S. immigration law. Unlike most Latin countries, Guyana did not ratify the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, so you can use the I-600A/I-600 adoption and immigration process, which is a little easier than the I-800A/I-800 process required by the Hague. However, you must still have an approved international homestudy and get USCIS approval both of your fitness to bring an orphan into the U.S. and of the children's eligibility for an adoption visa. Do remember that, even if you meet Guyanese requirements and adopt the children under Guyanese law, the children will be denied adoption visas if you or they do not meet U.S. requirements. If this occurs, you will have legal, financial, and moral responsibility for the children, yet you will be unable to bring them to the U.S. unless you choose to live overseas with them for two years before applying for a dependent visa. You could then bring them home, but they would not be eligible for automatic citizenship; you would have to naturalize them. Should you be unable to live overseas for two years, you would probably have to overturn their adoptions. Even if you do not use an agency to help you with your adoption, I would strongly urge you to retain an experienced immigration/adoption attorney in the U.S. to ensure that you comply with all U.S. requirements, and that you identify a highly ethical Guyanese attorney so that you satisfy Guyanese requirements and ensure that your process and paperwork will be acceptable to the USCIS. Sharon

Thank you for your thorough answer. Based on the information that you posted I do not believe we would be eligible to adopt as my wife and I are both US citizens.

I noticed the website you referenced was last updated in 2010, one of our friends found a site showing Guyana opened adoption to non citizens in the summer of 2012.

The first thing that hit me when I read your post was the need for "immediate placement." That to me is a huge red flag especially when looking at international adoption. One of the problems in international adoption can be fraud - children who aren't actually orphans being placed for adoption internationally. Parents of those children being misled into thinking they are sending their children abroad for study not to have new parents. If you are already looking at international adoption, you know this issue is out there.That's why the "immediate placement" phrase sends of rockets in my mind. Simple google searching will yield the information that the process typically takes a year in Guyana. And an agency I found that works in Guyana says it takes 20 to 30 months. That in 2012 only 26 kids were adopted to the US from Guyana. Those peices of info are enough for me to say, I would be suspect of this ""opportunity." The process starts with application to the adoption board. Most of what I'm seeing is that like many other countries the board gives you a refferal to a child. Not you pick and say I want to adopt this child unless you are a documented relative. Your presence is required at several of the court steps. You're looking at 4 to 6 weeks in country over 2 to 3 trips where both parents are expected to be present.So, yes, some quick googling indicates that Guyana has opened up and the costs are about 20k plus travel expenses which can be another 5k to 9k. But remember, regardless of whether it's international or domestic adoption, when you are solicited to adopt by strangers, the risk of fraud goes up. Also, any implication that placement needs to be immediate is suspect. These adoptions take time. Don't open yourself up to additional risk just because you've been waiting a long time and someone tells you a sob story that may or not be true.Do the research and make sure you know what you are getting into and what the risks are. Make sure you have found an attorney who truly knows the process. Protect yourself.

I also say be very wary, ask lots of questions and retain an immigration lawyer. "immediate" has different meanings in different places and should be a red flag. These international adoptions take a long time and even if/when a legitimate adoption is completed both there and here then there is the immigration hurdle to get through. Ours is a little different, since we are in Canada and adopting our niece, but she is now 3.75 yrs old, we took official guardianship at birth and she has not lived with her birthmom since she turned 1. She is still not with us, although we talk on the phone weekly, send photos through facebook, send scrapbooks and gifts whenever someone is going that way...etc. DH has been over twice and hopefully the next trip will be to pick her up - hopefully in 2014. The adoption was completed there in March 2013, the adoption was completed here in September 2013 and now we are in the immigration/citizenship process which could take us another 1-2 YEARS! She is living with another family member and is safe, but this is a hard process. Bottom line - I used to think nothing is impossible, but an international adoption process takes alot of money, commitment and research. Be careful.

I understand the red flag of immediate placement. We found out about these girls thru a US based missionary organization doing work in Guyana. A woman who is a widow with 7 children came forward to a pastor and said that she could not financially care for her children and was willing to adopt her 3 youngest children. Another couple in our community is attempting to adopt the youngest child and it was presented to us to adopt the other two. My wife and I have already gone thru the home study process and completed the i600 as we were/are going thru an agency. People in our community who have adopted children know the missionary or friends of hers and feel she is on the up and up. The one thing that makes us think that it is not a scam is that the missionary and her organization are not asking for money. Our expenses would be legal and court costs as well as travel. While googling Guyana adoptions there does not seem to be a lot of "positive" reports out there. We are just trying to do as much due diligence as possible.

I don't want to be a pessimist and I think that there are positive experiences everywhere. If I didn't I wouldn't have married DH 9 yrs ago, (international Christian dating site) we wouldn't have DramaMama (fertility treatment x many) and I wouldn't be going through the process for WaitingOne. And the adventure continues!With a lot of commitment, faith, prayers, and support, anything can be possible. All you can do is the best due diligence and go from there. It sounds like you are asking the best questions.Wishing you the best and sending prayers your way.

There is currently one agency that is licensed to perform Guyana adoptions in the United States. Guyana now allows non-Guyanese citizens to adopt. The program offered by the agency is a pilot program. The available children are ages 3 and older. I have spoken with the agency (PM me if you want to know the name) and got some information. I found the overall process concerning. The prospective adoptive parents are provided only some general information like age, health status and some blanket statements like "he/she likes to play with friends", and are expected to travel to Guyana to meet the child. There, they take the child to a local doctor, to get more information about the "health status" and then come back for a second, or possibly third trip to finalize the adoption. What bothered me was a lack of emphasis on potential emotional and behavioral effects of institutionalization. Guyana is not a Hague country, hence no pre-adoptive training is required. (Not that Hague made everything better but there are certain things that are improvements over non-Hague). It is my opinion that the medical issues a child has are less important than the emotional and behavioral issues. Prospective adoptive parents may mistakenly overemphasize the health of the child, and overlook the deeper issues that come with institutionalized children. This may lead to tough adjustments, suffering and even increased disruptions. I wish pre-adoptive training and post-adoption support/therapy was required in all adoptions.

Your Family is extremely very brave!! Juli