World | Other World Stories
Couple gives up Guatemalan girl
Like thousands of other would-be parents, the California couple made a $15,500 (Dh57,000) down payment to a US agency that guaranteed quick, hassle-free adoptions of Guatemalan babies.
- AP
- Published: 00:04 November 24, 2008
- Jennifer and Todd Hemsley at their home. The couple found themselves caught up in a bureaucratic limbo when Guatemala began cracking down against adoption fraud.
- Image Credit: AP
Guatemala City: Jennifer and Todd Hemsley had to give up their child to save her.
Like thousands of other would-be parents, the California couple made a $15,500 (Dh57,000) down payment to a US agency that guaranteed quick, hassle-free adoptions of Guatemalan babies.
And like the others, they were caught in a bureaucratic limbo after Guatemala began cracking down on systemic fraud last year.
Many Americans with pending adoptions lobbied hard for quick approval of their cases, trying to bypass a new system designed to prevent identity fraud and the sale or even theft of children to feed Guatemala's $100 million adoption business.
But Jennifer Hemsley did what Guatemala's new National Adoptions Council says no other American has done this year: She refused to look the other way when she suspected her would-be daughter's identity and DNA samples were faked.
She halted the adoption of Maria Eugenia Cua Yax, whom the couple named Hazel. And she stayed in Guatemala for months, spending thousands of dollars, until she could safely deliver the girl into state custody.
"It's so crazy. None of this makes any sense," Hemsley said. "I miss her deeply. There are no words." But she says it was the only thing she could have done, morally.
"It wasn't even a choice. We did what I hope any parent would do: put their child first." The Hemsleys say they had many reasons for suspicion.
But the final straw was a doctor's statement that said DNA samples were taken from the baby and birth mother on a date when Hazel was with Jennifer Hemsley. She said her Guatemalan attorney told her, "Don't worry about it, you want the adoption to go through, don't you?"
If all it takes is a doctor's signature to hide a switch in DNA, it would challenge the bedrock evidence on which the US Embassy has depended to guarantee the legitimacy of thousands of Guatemalan adoptions over the past 10 years.
Neither country has the appetite for challenging already-approved adoptions. But Hemsley says anyone who has doubts about an adopted baby's true identity should know that the Guatemalan DNA evidence might be worthless.
Guatemala's quick adoptions made the nation of 13 million the world's second largest source of babies to the US after China.
But last year, the industry was closed down, starting with an August 2007 raid on what had been considered one of the country's most reputable adoption agencies.
Voluminous fraud has been exposed since then - false paperwork, fake birth certificates, women coerced into giving up their children and even baby theft. At least 25 cases resulted in criminal charges against doctors, lawyers, mothers and civil registrars.
Thousands of adoptions, including that of the Hemsleys, were put on hold until this year, when the newly formed National Adoptions Council began requiring birth mothers to personally verify they still wanted to give up their children.
Of 3,032 pending cases, nearly 1,000 were dismissed because no birth mother showed up.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
Zoo elephants will go to wildlife parks
Order follows complaints from rights activists of treatment of animals kept in captivity
-
Diabetes: A ticking time bomb
Gulf News takes a closer look at the spread of diabetes in the UAE
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
