Título I. De la adopción

The object of this Law is to regulate adoption as an institution of national interest and its judicial and administrative procedures.

For the purposes of this law, the following shall be understood as:

a.Adoption: Social institution for protection and of public order overseen by the State, by which a person takes as his own child the biological child of another person.

b.International adoption: That in which a child legally residing in Guatemala is to be transferred to a receiving country.

c.National adoption: That in which adopter and adoptee are habitual legal residents in Guatemala.

d.Adoptability: Judicial declaration, issued by a judge of childhood and adolescence, made after proceedings examining the social, psychological and medical aspects of the child and establishing the impossibility of reunification of the child with his family. Its primary objective is the restoration of the right to a family and the integral development of the child.

e.Adopter: Is the person who through legal procedures adopts a person, the child of another, for the purpose of granting him all the rights and benefits that our Political Constitution grants to biological children.

f.Extended family: Is that which comprises all persons related by consanguinity or affinity to the adoptee who are not his parents or siblings; and other persons who maintain with him a relationship comparable to a family relationship in accordance with national and community practice, usages and customs.

g.Biological family: Comprises the parents and siblings of the adoptee.

h.Temporary home: Comprises those persons who, not being biological or extended family, receive a child into their home temporarily, for the duration of the adoption proceedings.

i.Adoption follow-up: Is the evaluation of the proper adaptation and development of the adopted child, with respect to the new family and social environment.

It shall be the obligation of the State of Guatemala to protect and safeguard boys, girls and adolescents in adoption proceedings to guarantee the full enjoyment of their rights and especially to prevent their abduction, sale and trafficking, as well as any other form of exploitation or abuse.

The best interests of the child, in this law, is the principle that seeks to ensure the protection and development of the child, within the child's biological family or, if this is not possible, in another permanent family environment.

When a foreign person or family initiates an adoption procedure for a Guatemalan child, the Central Authority shall ensure that the adopted child will enjoy the same rights as a child given in domestic adoption in that country.

The situation of poverty or extreme poverty of the parents does not constitute sufficient grounds to give a child up for adoption.

The State shall promote and facilitate the creation of policies, institutions, programs and support services that improve living conditions and promote family unity.

The adoptee shall not lose Guatemalan nationality nor the rights inherent thereto.

All actions within the adoption procedure shall enjoy the guarantee of discretion and confidentiality. This guarantee extends to the adoptee, adopter, and biological parents in the part involving each of them.

Adoption may be:

a.National;

b.International.

National adoption shall always have a preferential right, international adoption shall proceed on a subsidiary basis, only after the possibilities of a national adoption have been ascertained and adequately examined.

In accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, any competent authority involved in the adoption proceedings shall act in adherence to the principle of expeditiousness, for the benefit of the best interests of the child.

Adoption is a social institution of protection, therefore the following is prohibited:

a.The obtaining of undue benefits, material or of any other kind, for the persons, institutions and authorities involved in the adoption proceedings; including relatives within the degrees of law of the adopter or of the adoptee;

b.For the biological parents or legal representatives of the child to expressly determine who shall adopt their son or daughter; except in the case of the child of the spouse or cohabitant or of the substitute family that has previously sheltered him or her;

c.For adoptive parents to dispose of the organs and tissues of the adoptee for unlawful purposes;

d.For persons participating in the adoption proceedings to have a relationship of any kind with private entities and accredited foreign organizations dedicated to the care of children declared in a state of adoptability;

e.That consent for the adoption be granted by a father or mother who is a minor, without judicial authorization;

f.That prospective adoptive parents have any type of contact with the child's parents or with any person who may influence the consent of the person, authority or institution involved in the adoption proceedings, except in cases where the adopters are relatives within the degrees of law of the adoptee;

g.That the biological parents grant consent for the adoption before the birth of the child and that such consent be granted before six weeks have elapsed since the child's birth.

Case files in which any of the foregoing prohibitions is discovered shall be immediately suspended and the adoption shall not be authorized, without prejudice to certifying what is appropriate in criminal matters if the act itself constitutes a crime or misdemeanor. The corresponding authority shall initiate on its own initiative the protection proceedings for the child.

The rights and guarantees granted by this law do not exclude others which, although not expressly set forth therein, are inherent to boys, girls and adolescents.

The following may be adopted:

a.A child or adolescent who is orphaned or abandoned;

b.A child or adolescent whose right to family has been declared violated in a final judgment;

c.Children and adolescents whose biological parents have lost by final judgment the parental authority they exercised over them;

d.A child or adolescent whose biological parents have voluntarily expressed their wish to give him or her up for adoption;

e.The son or daughter of one of the spouses or cohabitants, in which case both biological parents must give their consent, unless one of them has died or has lost parental authority;

f.An adult, if he or she expressly gives his or her consent; in the same manner, an adult with civil incapacity may be adopted, with the express consent of whoever exercises parental authority or guardianship over him or her.

Efforts shall be made to ensure that siblings eligible for adoption are not separated before and during the adoption proceedings and that they are adopted by the same family, except for justified reasons based on their best interests as determined by the Central Authority.

The man and the woman united in marriage or in a de facto union declared in accordance with Guatemalan legislation may adopt, provided that both agree to consider the adoptee as a child.

Single persons may adopt when so required by the best interests of the child.

When the adopter is the guardian of the adoptee, the adoption shall proceed only when the accounts of the guardianship have been approved and provided that the adopter meets the suitability requirements established in this law.

Persons who, in accordance with the preceding article, apply to adopt a boy, girl, or adolescent shall have an age difference with the adoptee of not less than twenty years; possess the qualities required by law and moral and sociocultural qualities; as well as aptitudes that allow the full development of the boy, girl, or adolescent.

Suitability is the declaration by means of which it is certified that the prospective adoptive parents are considered capable and suitable to ensure in a permanent and satisfactory manner the care, respect, and integral development of the child. Suitability is established through assessment proceedings that include a psychosocial study encompassing legal, economic, psychological, medical, social, and personal aspects to verify not only that the prospective adoptive family is suitable but also its motivations and expectations in wishing to adopt.

Obtaining the Certificate of Suitability shall not be required:

a.When the adoption is of an adult.

b.When the adoption is of the son or daughter of one of the spouses or persons in a de facto union or of the family that previously sheltered him or her.

The following have an impediment to adopt:

a.Those who suffer from physical illnesses, mental disorders and personality disorders that represent a risk to the health, life, integrity and full development of the boy, girl, or adolescent;

b.Those who suffer from physical or psychological dependence on medications that have not been prescribed by a physician and any other addictive substance;

c.Those who have been convicted of crimes that threaten the life, physical and sexual integrity, and liberty of persons;

d.One of the spouses or persons in a de facto union without the express consent of the other;

e.The guardian and the protutor, in addition to the requirements of Article thirteen, who have not rendered accounts of the guardianship nor delivered the property of the boy, girl, or incapacitated person;

f.Parents who have lost parental authority or have been declared separated or suspended therefrom, while it has not been reestablished by a competent judge.