Danny Roy Gellersen

Salt Lake City, UT
Junior, Social Work
Utah State University

The Adoption Process in Peru

INTRODUCTION

Families are about love overcoming emotional torture -Matt Groening

Families truly are about love overcoming emotional torture. Human nature thrives on the effortless touch of a loved one, compassionate words of a friend and the shelter of a home to run to in the unmanageable rainstorms of life. The absence of these elements is perfectly demonstrated in the following story I pulled from a set of notes I took during my second week of working at the Hogar de Esperanza orphanage.

June 21, 2004 7:45pm...The coveted privilege of sitting on my lap is creating quite a fight in the house tonight. I wish I had 3 laps, or maybe even 10. The current problem began innocently enough with two boys (one sitting on each leg) laughing and talking to me. My fascination with the entire event prevents me from interfering or showing the boys that I am paying attention to what begins to occur. My gaze is fixed on the television but I am watching everything from the corner of my eye. *Ralphio walks up to J.L. who is perched triumphantly on my knee and taps him on the shoulder. "Okay, J.L.," Ralphio pleads. "Let me have a turn." J.L. does not even consider it and shakes his head with a defiant NO! Ralphio, infuriated, seeks out plan B. He is running into J.L.Õs room and creates some kind of chore that J.L. supposedly didnÕt finish before bedtime. Returning to the T.V. room he announces the end of poor J.L.Õs reign as king of the lap. "J.L., you didnÕt finish your chores, go see!" J.L. looks back at Ralphio in disgust; his facial expressions communicate the look of "how could you??" Tears spill down and poor J.L., dejected, slowly gets down and walks head down to the bedroom to go finish his chores. Ralphio runs for my knee and hops up on his newly acquired throne. He is victorious and the smile on his face is both fascinating and terrifying. J.L. finishes the chore quickly, and runs back into the room. He gives his best puppy-dog face to Ralphio but it is to no avail. Ralphio is in no way considering sharing his prize. In fact in a final display of success, he grasps my hand and draping my arm around his shoulder, declares "es mio!" Next, in a final attempt to get what was once his, J.L. runs full force at Ralphio and they have a physical altercation for a couple of seconds until I intervene. I take Ralphio off my lap and unfortunately I am unable to communicate my contempt for their actions due to my inability to speak fluent Spanish. The "mother" of the house resolves the situation by placing a new child on my lap and escorting Ralphio and J.L. to sit on the couch.

This ten minute experience was observed in many other forms throughout my time at Hogar de Esperanza. All the children fought tooth and claw to feel some kind of one-on-one love and affection. Despite the greatest efforts of the amazing people working in these facilities, it seemed that what these children wanted the most is impossible for any orphanage to provideÑa family that can give a child the individual attention and love they need to be completely emotionally healthy.

I believe adoption to be the antidote to this problem. There are probably few people who would debate the importance of getting these children into families. What my question has become is, what are the obstacles that are blockading the process from happening? What are the costs? What is the process? And finally, what are the cultural elements that are woven into the mystery of the growing number of children growing up in orphanages in Peru? The answers to this question may be more effective in saving these children from the emotional tortures of life and create a solution to the absence of having three laps to sit on.

BACKGROUND

Eight years ago, a dark and gruesome story threw the former method of Peruvian adoption into a tailspin. In the mountainous region of Cajamarca an innocent baby was adopted out of an orphanage by a seemingly mild-mannered couple. At the time, all adoptions were handled by the orphanage itself. Despite some terrible rumors of children being trafficked on the black market and even sold as organ donors; the system was considered to be well functioning, for the most part. However, it placed a lot of responsibility for research and paperwork on these often understaffed facilities that were already overwhelmed with the large numbers of children they had to care for. In the case of the Cajamarca adoption, the research done on the couple by the orphanage was unquestionably lacking and the result was absolutely horrific. The couple in an act most unmentionable murdered the baby and stuffed the corpse with drugs they were smuggling over the border. They were discovered by passengers on the airplane who noticed that the child had not been moving throughout the flight. This single occurrence understandably shook up the entire system and consequently the program was completely reframed in Peru.

The second chapter begins here. A new agenda has been established and in motion for nearly 7 years. The consequences and complications are briefly explored in this research. In order to achieve any complete level of accuracy this topic would be fully interpreted over a period of several years of tedious research and statistics. The information that I have gathered is primarily built upon the opinions, experiences and stories of those people who have intimately familiarized themselves with the program.

METHODS

Hogar de Esperanza was absolutely key in acquiring the majority of my research. I was able to spend the night once a week at the orphanage. My activities there included spending time with the children, interviewing the staff and participating in various services projects for the home. I interviewed administrator David Phon and social worker Liz Bernuy.

Several other orphanages were interested in my research, and had I more time I would have loved to observe those facilities. Peruvians in general seem interested in my work and have been more than cooperative in helping me investigate the topic.

Secondly, I conducted interviews with two separate families who had run the adoption routes here in Peru. One family, the Lauren and Robert Bowman were successful in adopting an 11-year-old girl from an orphanage in Iquitos, Peru. I also spoke with a second American family Ariel and Eric Sebastian. Several years ago, they ran through the process of trying to adopt a child from Lima but their endeavors were ultimately fruitless.

Lastly, I collected data from various websites and adoption offices in Trujillo. These specifics are identified accordingly throughout the research. All names have been changed (with the exception of David Phon and Liz Bernuy) due to the sensitivity of the topic.

DISCUSSION

Abandonment

In Peru, a child must be considered abandoned before he/she is adoptable. This process, if not initiated by an outsider wanting to adopt a specific child, can take any number of years. It can also be a costly procedure (around $2,000); if a child is over ten, these fees are typically waived. Once initiated, it typically takes about a year to complete. The parent must be contacted and spoken to by a licensed social worker. According to Liz Bernuy (Social Worker at Hogar de Esperanza), most of the time when parents are finally located they are in no position to be raising children due to personal troubles with alcohol, drugs or illness. In the instance that the parents cannot be traced, they make public announcements by newspaper etc. If no one contacts the office of adoptions in a certain amount of time, the child is determined by a judge to be legally abandoned, and the child is made available for adoption. In cases where it is a blatant case of abandonment the child may quickly be placed up for adoption. Such is the case of Esteban, a newborn residing at Hogar de Esperanza. He is a newborn infant who after being born in the hospital was left behind by his mother. He is only 1-2 months old and can most likely be placed in a family in the next couple months. Others are not so lucky.

Sarah Anna Bowman is a very pretty girl. She has shiny black hair and deep brown eyes characteristic of most of the beautiful children here. Her smooth skin and shy personality do not indicate the first 8 years of her life growing up in the jungles of Peru. Only three years ago, she was taken to an orphanage and abandoned to the system. Her life in those 8 years prior to the orphanage is almost completely unknown. In fact, at the time of her adoption, her first birth certificate was created. It included her own choice of birthday (though they are calling her 11 years old, doctors say she is most likely 13) which was declared as February 14. She was also able to change her middle name to "Anna" which she liked better than her original given middle name. Her personal file reads officially: "No datos," or in English, "No facts." To protect the fragility of the situation, Lauren and her husband have not pushed Sarah to tell them her history. They have heard rumors of the biological family being large in number and being competitive with each other. Whatever the case may be, the damage has been done and the scars are observable. Psychologically, Sarah is struggling to deal not only with her new parents but a sister as well. Secondly, she has already adjusted to the structured atmosphere of an orphanage. Everything there operates on a schedule comparable to boarding school. The children reside in a facility with a physical wall around the premises. Lauren mentioned that Sarah is fearful to leave her new house to attend family outings. Lastly, Sarah has begun puberty and is coming to terms with the world of hormones.

I asked Lauren why with so many odds stacked against them they were willing to adopt an older child dealing with these issues. She explained that her greatest confidence came from the fact that she is a youth counselor by occupation. She has implemented a parenting style that caters to the baby side of Sarah that remains undeveloped from lack of consistency in her life. Both she and her husband contribute great amounts of time to both daughters to facilitate both daughterÕs needs.

One common hypothesis is that this abandonment process simply takes too long. Within the time it takes to complete its course, a child may be much older than a person is willing to consider adopting. Parents may fear they are incapable of handling a child that has been a victim of aging in limbo. Orphanages agree that infants are the hot commodity for adopting parents. The adoption office continues to try to push the adoption of these older or handicapped children by supposedly reducing the amount of time and money it costs to take them home. ItÕs a start, but ultimately wonÕt be enough to fix the dilemma.

Hey, Can You Spot Me $20,000?

In the case of international adoption, the trial of footing the bill and completing the documents are one and the same. Eric and Ariel Sebastian learned this the hard way when they got the royal runaround trying to adopt a child from Peru.

Ariel is a professor who has spent roughly 5 years of time actually living in Peru. She speaks fluent Spanish and has extensively studied the culture of the people. She and her husband Eric knew that they would always adopt a child at some point in their marriage. It seemed natural with their background that they would seek out a Peruvian child. Unfortunately, after investing thousands of dollars they continued to face setback after setback. Ariel recounted the frustration she experienced as a sort of eternal scavenger hunt to authenticate dozens of papers including: medical exams, tests and immunizations, birth certificates, marriage certificates, police records, Interpol records, fingerprints, adoption request forms, health certificates, HIV and hepatitis tests, property ownership, and two home studies. Each documentÕs estimated price tag was around 100 soles.

Ariel began to feel intensely angry about the whole process as she watched her biological son Ricky get tested for HIV and hepatitis. Ricky had already been immunized for hepatitis and is absolutely terrified of needles. The nurse at the Peruvian hospital was having difficulty performing the test. After poking and prodding him for what seemed like hours, nobody was surprised to discover that RickyÕs immunizations were doing their job.

Their second obstacle was the age limit rule that exists in Peru. In Peru, the law requires that an adoptive parent be no more than 35 years older than the child they are interested in. The Sebastian family was primarily interested in adopting an infant. ArielÕs age at the time of their application was 43. The office was not willing to work with that and would only offer the older children to them. Jane argues that two of the women working with their case file had just given birth to infants at the ages of 40 and 43. The women would only argue back that it is a different situation when it comes to natural birth.

In the end, after running into several road blocks, Ariel and Eric decided to head back to the United States. Most of the money they spent in trying to run the adoption treadmill was up in smoke. Nearly $10,000 dollars later, they flew home emotionally drained and confused as to where they went wrong.

The Final Obstacle

Just recently, Hogar de Esperanza was able to send off their fifth (in the last two years--since establishment) child to an international family. Whenever a child is placed into a home, their psychological health is the primary focus of the adoption office. Marcus is a ten year old boy who has two sisters that are living in different orphanages. In the instance that a child has siblings it is usually very problematical to try and separate them; especially if the parents are to take the child out of the country. Because Marcus strongly desired to be adopted by loving parents, they were able to work around this rule by interviewing both sisters and receiving their consent for Marcus to go. Marcus also had many discussions with a counselor to determine if severance from his siblings could at any future time affect him negatively. If his sisters had not wanted him to go, the adoption would not have continued. Because this was such a great opportunity for Marcus, his sisters were willing to allow him to go and the adoption was completed. Marcus promised to stay in touch with them as well.

The "Part B" of the childÕs psychological well-being is the obstacle of an abandoning parent returning to try and claim a child. It is impossible for a parent to actually have the child returned after they have legally abandoned him or her. However, a child who is disturbed by the fact their parent came back for them may choose to remain in the orphanage until they reach the legal age of adulthood and go back to that parent if they so desire. The social worker I interviewed stated that this can be a somewhat common occurrence. This quandary when presented can create a serious setback to adopting parents.

Completing the Puzzle

Since the Cajamarca incident mentioned in the background section, the laws and functioning of national and international adoption law were compiled into the official office of MIMDES. MIMDES or the Ministerio de la Mujer y Desarrollo Social (Ministry of Women and Social Development) handles 100% of the entire adoption process. It is important that a foreigner seeking to adopt a child from Peru finds an organization in their homeland that has a covenant with this office. Peru has now established specific covenants with various countries that are allowed to adopt children from their orphanages. Spain, Italy and the United States are three countries that have strong contacts and characteristically are allowed to adopt out of Peru.

Selecting an agency in your country that is legitimized in adopting out of Peru is a costly but safer way of beginning the procedure. Looking at the MIMDES website (www.mimdes.gob.pe) is an excellent way to choose the best organization to work with. Working as a foreign citizen directly with the Peruvian office of adoptions has in my research proven to be the more difficult route for a family to be successful. From that point, your agency can help you locate a legally abandoned child and complete the necessary paper work involved.

CONCLUSION—WHY BOTHER WITH ALL THE HASSLE?

Certainly, not everyone is capable of adopting a child. What we may lack in the ability to receive one of these children into our homes can be remedied by the time, resource and monetary donations we contribute. I donÕt know that any one person (particularly a foreign citizen) will have any strong persuasion to smooth the bumps out of the current system.

I am personally convinced that despite the difficulties of adopting in Peru, the people running the system have the best interest of the child in mind. Many complications to the foreigner may occur out of the cultural differences in the handling of logistics. I do believe that further investigation on the matter is most necessary. Upon closer examination, some type of guide or simpler route may be developed for those who will try in the future to adopt.

There is no question that adopting internationally has some extreme complications. Why should a person hassle with a system that seems to have so many hoops? Why is this issue worthy of further exploration? I find myself without any intellectual answer. To summarize what I have learned, I would look past any logic I posses and think to what I have felt in my heart for these precious children. The last night I stayed in the orphanage, I will never forget tucking the children into bed. Each boy asked me to say an individual prayer with them. The most humbling thing I have ever seen, is to kneel and hear the sweet words of an orphan speaking to the only Father he has ever known. Then to pull the blankets up to their chubby brown cheeks and sing them to sleep for the last time was absolutely heart breaking. It is an image I donÕt know will ever leave my thoughts.

These children we hear about-- lost and alone do exist and whatever challenges we face in the process of making it easier for them to know a family life is well worth the cost be it fiscal or emotional.

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SPECIAL THANKS

Hogar de Esperanza David Phon Liz Bernuy Interviewees Most importantly and dedicated to: The Amigos de Jesœs (Taka- Taka!!)