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Abstract
Before the recent implementation of the Hague Convention requirements on intercountry adoption in Guatemala, most children in the process of being adopted by foreign nationals were cared for by foster parents. In the present study, 16 Guatemalan foster parents were interviewed regarding their experiences with and attitudes toward international and domestic adoption and fostering. Although adoption was generally described in positive terms as a means to improve the child's future, respondents also emphasized the economic dimension of international adoption. Foster parents’ views implied actions that are important for implementation of the Hague Convention requirements, including addressing poverty as the root cause of child relinquishment, reducing structural and attitudinal barriers to domestic adoption, and enlisting the aid of extended families in caring for children. With training and licensing, foster parents themselves might play a role in post-Hague procedures for providing families for children.
The authors would like to thank María Mercedes Valdés, Elaine Navarro, and Carolina Maturana for their help with transcribing and editing the transcripts. Thanks are also given to the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful suggestions regarding this manuscript. Preliminary versions of this paper were presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, February 24, 2007, San Antonio, Texas; at the IV Latin American Regional Congress of Cross-Cultural Psychology, July 7, 2007, Mexico City, Mexico; and at the 115th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, August 17, 2007.
Notes
1. There is a trend to use the phrase making an adoption plan instead of the term relinquishment. While the former phrase gives agency to the parent, it may not adequately reflect the Guatemalan culture or the experiences of those in Guatemala who have participated in international adoption. The term relinquishment has no comparable term in Spanish, and most Guatemalan mothers use the verb regalar with respect to the process. Regalar literally means “to gift.” This language implies generosity on the part of the “gifting mother” and demonstrates the difficulty inherent in the representation of concepts across cultures.