Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala

The adoption industry in Guatemala was a global marketplace for children, built on inequality, war, and Indigenous dispossession. Dolores Preat went to a small Maya town in 2009 to find her birth mother, but was told that her supposed mother, Rosario Colop Chim, never gave up a child for adoption. Instead, Colop Chim was a jaladora, a baby broker who kidnapped or forcibly parted from 40,000 children, many Indigenous, during the US-backed army's genocide against the Indigenous Maya. Adoption was privatized during the wars second decade, overseen by lawyers who made good money matching children to overseas families. This practice has led to economic exploitation, endemic violence, and dislocation in the Global South.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 09 January 2024
Publisher: Harvard University Press

The adoption industry in Guatemala has a complex and troubling history, rooted in inequality, war, and Indigenous dispossession. In 2009, Dolores Preat embarked on a journey to find her birth mother in a small Maya town. She was led to believe that her supposed mother, Rosario Colop Chim, had never given up a child for adoption. However, upon further investigation, she discovered that a girl across the street had been abducted in 1984, and the woman she met in the house resembled her strongly. It turned out that Colop Chim was not Preat's mother but a "jaladora," a baby broker who kidnapped or coerced children from families affected by Guatemala's civil war or poverty.

Over the course of the civil war, approximately 40,000 children, many of them Indigenous, were kidnapped or forcibly separated from their families. During the US-backed army's genocide against Indigenous Maya, children were taken from their villages and illegally adopted, primarily in the United States. Adoption became privatized during the second decade of the war, with lawyers overseeing the process and making significant profits by matching children to overseas families. The number of private adoptions in Guatemala skyrocketed, surpassing countries like China and Russia as a "sender" state.

This international industry, driven by economic exploitation, endemic violence, and displacement in the Global South, has had a devastating human toll. Would-be parents in rich countries have fostered a commercial market for children from poor countries, with Guatemala becoming the most extreme case. Until I Find You delves into the harsh realities of this practice, which creates loving families in the Global North by exploiting economic vulnerabilities, violence, and dislocation in the Global South.

The book draws on government archives, oral histories, and a rare cache of adoption files opened briefly for war crimes investigations to shed light on the human cost of this industry. It highlights the stories of children who were taken from their homes, often without their consent, and placed in foreign families. It also explores the experiences of adoptees who have struggled with identity, belonging, and the trauma of separation from their birth families.

The adoption industry in Guatemala has had far-reaching consequences, not only for the children involved but also for their birth families and the broader Guatemalan society. The trauma of separation and loss has been passed down through generations, and the scars of the civil war continue to be felt today. The book raises important questions about the ethics of adoption, the role of governments and international organizations in addressing poverty and displacement, and the need for greater accountability and transparency in the adoption process.

In conclusion, the adoption industry in Guatemala is a complex and troubling history that reflects the broader social and political dynamics of the country. Until I Find You provides a powerful account of the human toll of this industry, shedding light on the experiences of children, birth families, and adoptees. It is a call to action for policymakers, international organizations, and individuals to address the root causes of poverty, displacement, and violence and to work towards creating a more just and equitable world for all children.

Weight: 638g
Dimension: 165 x 244 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674270350