At the time of referral, children are 15 months to 5 years on the average. At the time of placement, children are 2 years to 6 years. Average age at placement is 24 months to 5 years.

This varies. Many of the children are in good health with minor developmental delays. Other children have varying degrees of health issues and developmental delays primarily due to the difficult family background and situation they come from. (See “How do children come into care” below).

Couples must be over the age of 25, married for 5 years and have no more than one divorce each.Couples 35+ years old and married 3+ years will be considered case by case.To adopt a one year old child, the adoptive mother should be no older than 40 and the adoptive father should be no older than 43.To adopt a child 2+ years, there should be no more than 43 years age difference between the adoptive mother and child and 47 years between the adoptive father and child.Single women ages 30 to 40 can be accepted for children 3+ years and between ages 41 to 45 for children 5+ years.Family Size: Up to 3 children in the family already.  Flexible for older (6 + yrs old) or special needs cases.

A "Waiting Child" is any child who is legally freed for adoption and is waiting for an adoptive family. They include older children, sibling groups, and children with disabilities or special needs. Some have minor conditions such as pre-maturity, low-birth weight, developmental delays due to institutionalization or other problems they are expected to outgrow. Others have conditions that may require surgery, such as cleft lip and palate, heart or orthopedic problems or crossed eyes. Others may have significant developmental delays with long term effects. Holt has a great deal of experience finding families for children and we will do all we can to answer questions and provide additional information.

Yes.

Families are put on a wait list upon receipt of their home study. When Holt receives information on children, Holt will match the child with a family on the wait list. If the child cannot be matched with any of the wait list families due to the child’s age or special needs, the child will be referred to Holt’s Waiting Child Program for home finding.

Upon referral, there will generally be a child background report, progress reports, and pictures. Often a video of the child will be available for review as well. Quarterly reports on the child’s health and development follow after that.

Almost all children referred to Holt for adoption are being cared for directly by APIF (Associación para la Integración Familiar ), Holt’s partner agency in Guatemala City. APIF runs a small child care center that cares for 25 to 30 children ranging from 0 to 6 years of age. The center is very well run, has a high child-to-care worker ratio of one to five and the children are happy and well cared for. Some of the children also receive excellent care through one of APIF’s trained foster families. Typically, children will live for a period of time at APIF’s Child Care Center before being transferred to foster care. Presently, there are simply not enough foster homes to meet the need so some children are not able to benefit from foster care.

Children receive medical checkups when they first come into care. A doctor makes weekly visits to the APIF Child Care Center. Therefore, regular medical consultation and treatment is available for children whenever needed. Children are also referred to outside medical specialists for evaluation and treatment when appropriate. Appropriate immunizations including Hepatitis B are administered, as well as testing for HIV.

Families receive updated quarterly progress reports and child photos.

Most children are referred to APIF through the Juvenile Court System in Guatemala City. Children at risk come to the attention of the juvenile authorities and then some of them are referred to APIF for care. The reasons are numerous but primarily arise out of situations of poverty compounded by other problems (i.e., single parenthood, desertion by one of the partners and issues related to social stress such as domestic violence, alcoholism, chronic illness, etc.). Some children are found abandoned at other places or they are relinquished directly by the birth mother for adoption. Sometimes older children enter the system (same reasons as above) and become available for adoption as well.

Yes. Although only one parent is required to travel for a period of one week, we recommend both parents travel together whenever possible. Families are fully supported by onsite APIF staff throughout their entire stay in Guatemala.

Because Holt believes adoption is a lifelong commitment, our mandate to adoptive families is to continue providing services and support throughout the lifetime of the child. For adoptive families, international adoption includes the complexities of ethnicity, culture and race. Holt’s Post Adoption Program provides ongoing social work support to families even after the adoption is finalized. This includes clinical support, counseling and assistance with birth searches. Holt also provides adoptee outreach through Heritage Camp, Family Tours, Adoptee web page (with monitored chat rooms), and adult adoptee support network and parent support groups throughout the country.