Response to Anderson Cooper

I'm not sure how many of my blog readers watched Anderson Cooper's segment tonight on Adoption Investigaion in Guatemala, but for those that did here is my response. On the subject of birthmother's willingly placing their baby for adoption... I feel with all my heart and always have and will that our agency has the best interest for #1 our babies and their birth families. I am only going to speak about OUR case, because that is what I am familiar with. Our birthmother was interviewed several times about relinquishing Maegan. At any point in time before her final sign off she could have changed her mind. She stated she could not financially care for Maegan. She did show up and signed off for the final time. There have been several families in our adoption community (meaning our agency FTCs clients) whose birthmother's changed their mind and the adoptive families lost their referral (baby they were in the process of adopting) Anderson Cooper brought up about the birthmother whose story this episode was covering gave an address that didn't exist. A lot of the times the birthmother's DO NOT know their address and give one in the fear of looking ignorant. Also, they give incorrect information for fear of their families finding out that they placed their baby with an agency for adoption. A lot of families look down on this and their is documentation that birthmother's have been several beaten or even killed when the "elders" hear of them placing a child for adoption. So they give incorrect information for safety reasons. A lot of the women have ever been to school and cannot read or write. They realize they cannot financially take care of their babies and want a better future for them and that is why they make the adoption decision. There is not a doubt in my mind that there are illegal and corrupt adoptions going on. I do feel they should re-work the system to eliminate this and make sure nothing illegal is going on. I do not feel that terminating all in-process adoption is the answer. Where are these babies and children going to go? That is unethical. Our agency has worked very hard for their reputation in Guatemala and here state side. The babies that are with FTC are cared for in a loving foster home. They are a part of their family. They are not in a room full cribs/bassinets with their name above it like those that were shown. The fostermom has only one or two babies at a time. There are surprise visits to make sure the babies are being cared for properly. That part of the show was heartbreaking.
Any fellow Guatemamas, feel free to add your opinions in a comment. I just felt I should address some of the issues that were on the show tonight.