Not home for the holidays: A story of adoption in Guatemala
Anthony Gatto, an attorney, and his wife Megan live outside Albany, New York.They have been waiting to finalize the adoption of their son Anderson since he was born in October of 2006. More than four years later, they continue to fight to gain custody of their little boy.
They are one of the nearly 1,000 American families who have children stranded in Guatemala due to bureaucratic snafus, inter-country glitches and adoption laws that shift like sand beneath their feet.
Below is their story in Anthony’s own words, about the continued journey to bring Anderson home and reunite their family.
We discussed the possibility of adopting a baby and both of us were open to the idea. I was adopted as an infant. In August of 2006, we were entering into an adoption of a 5-year-old boy from Guatemala.
After two weeks, we lost the referral due to a paperwork error. On October 19, 2006, we were notified that a baby boy was born on October 1, 2006 and we were “matched” with him.
We were asked what name we wanted for him and we chose Anderson. His birth certificate reflected the name we chose.
We were told that the mother did not want the child and was adamant about giving him up for adoption.
We travelled to Guatemala on March 4, 2007 for one week to visit Anderson for the first time.
We immediately bonded with him and felt like parents for the first time. The adoption was submitted to family court in Guatemala where it was determined in June 2007 that the mother relinquished the baby and that he was adoptable.
During the week of June 16-23, 2007 we again visited Anderson for a week. While we were in Guatemala, our attorney advised us of the “state of affairs” concerning adoptions in Guatemala.
We were notified that at any time, the Guatemalan political system could vote on complying with the Hague Treaty as it relates to international adoptions.
In October 2007 Guatemala voted in favor of complying with The Hague Treaty but included no provision "grandfathering" all pending adoptions - communities.washingtontimes.com