What to Expect

You can expect that:

• We will answer your questions and respond to you in a timely manner.
• We will counsel you and provide the information you need to get through the process successfully.
• We will pray for you regularly, both during the process and after you are finished.
• We work with experienced partners who are registered with the proper Guatemalan authorities.
• We work only with birth mother relinquishments of newborns. No older children are available for adoption through our agency.
• The infants live in foster care from birth to placement. Foster Mothers are only allowed 2 infants at a time to ensure quality care.  They are closely supervised by our staff in Guatemala.
• Developmental delays and unknown medical conditions with children are possible. However, Guatemalan children awaiting adoption with AHH are placed in foster care, and are less likely to experience developmental delays.
  
• You will receive a medical report prepared according to Guatemalan standards when you receive your referral. We will ask that you contact and work with an international adoption clinic so that you will have medical counsel regarding the identified child even while you are waiting to travel. We can give you the contact information for one or more such clinics.
  
• You will receive updated medical reports and pictures over the course of your adoption process. We will always provide you with all of the information that we receive on the child, but we can not make any guarantees regarding its accuracy or thoroughness.
• You will only have to make one trip of 3 to 5 days to pick up your child. An escort is available, based on the merit of your circumstances. Additional trips to visit are optional.
• If you do not travel to see your child after DNA approval and prior to the pick-up trip, you will have to re-adopt the child when you return home to secure your child's U.S. citizenship.  In some instances, even after completing a visit trip, you may still have to re-adopt the child when you return home.  In general, we recommend that all adoptive parents re-adopt their children when they return, and the process varies from state to state. An attorney’s assistance is often needed for that procedure, depending on the laws of your state of residence.

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