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Witness History: My 10-Year Battle to Adopt in Guatemala

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19/01/2018 GMT

My 10-Year Battle to Adopt in Guatemala

BBC World Service - Witness History, My 10-Year Battle to Adopt in Guatemala

How Guatemala's changes in law scuppered Ruth Sheehan's attempt to adopt a baby boy

How Guatemala's changes in its adoption laws in 2007 scuppered American Ruth Sheehan's attempt to adopt a baby boy from Central America.

In 2007 Guatemala overhauled its much-criticised adoption system. All future foreign adoptions were immediately suspended, while some 3,000 cases already underway were caught in legal limbo. Many of these cases have taken years to resolve. American Ruth Sheehan tells Mike Lanchin about her long struggle to secure the adoption of Luis, a young Guatemalan child she first met ten years ago.

(Photo: Ruth Sheehan with Luis in Guatemala City, courtesy of Ruth Sheehan)

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