Adoption options dwindle: a new international agreement will forbid American couples from adopting in certain areas of the world.(CULTURE)

Little Claudia Maria, born April 15, 2007, awaits adoption in Guatemala City. It is simply easy for anyone to gush or marvel at this cutie posted at www.adopting.com in the agency's "Waiting Child Photolisting." And it wouldn't take much enticement for someone wanting to adopt a beautiful baby girl to want to take Claudia home. Unfortunately, Claudia, and many of the other children presently available for adoption, will not be arriving at the homes of loving couples in the United States. This is due to the implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (HCICA).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Hague Conference on Private International Law, "a global inter-governmental organization which develops conventions (similar to treaties) promoting mutual agreement and compatible legal procedures among countries," developed the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the Intercountry Adoption Convention bill into law. On November 16, 2007, President Bush signed the U.S. instrument of ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention. The convention will go into force for the United States on April 1, 2008.

The Council of Accreditation, "an international, independent, not-for-profit, child- and family-service and behavioral healthcare accrediting organization," will be responsible for determining eligibility for adoption agencies or providers under eligibility rules established by the Hague Convention. Under this arrangement, "private adoption service providers will generally need to be accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, or be supervised by a provider that is accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, in order to provide adoption services in cases involving the United States and another Convention country." In other words, adoption and foster care providers must meet Hague approval before they can take part in intercountry adoption services.

No Permission Granted

The new Hague rules also mean that U.S. couples and agencies cannot work on adoptions from countries not party to the Hague Convention. One such country is Guatemala, a nation that lacks government infrastructure for compliance.

In Guatemala, private "notaries who work with birth mothers, determine if babies were surrendered willingly, hire foster mothers and handle all the paperwork," says MSNBC. U.S. parents adopted approximately 4,135 Guatemalan children last year with the help of notaries. The Hague Convention, even if it were adopted by Guatemala, would "reduce the number of Guatemalan adoptions because the government doesn't have the resources to manage all the cases that notaries have handled," MSNBC notes.