WASHINGTON, DC – US Rep. Bill Delahunt, joined by a key congressional colleague, will host a forum Thursday to address heartbreaking problems facing families – locally and across the country – seeking to adopt orphans from Guatemala.

Each year, American parents adopt over 20,000 orphans from beyond our borders. After China and Russia, more of these children come from Guatemala than anywhere else in the world – and hundreds annually are embraced by families in southeastern Massachusetts. But adoptions from Guatemala recently have faced serious obstacles, distressing both biological and adoptive parents.

Last month, US Reps. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and Dave Camp (R-MI) – congressional champions of international adoption – traveled to Guatemala to assess these problems first-hand. The Congressmen scheduled Thursday’s bipartisan forum to brief concerned families and adoption professionals on their findings and recommendations. While held locally, the session will have national significance for all those – including biological and adoptive families, adoption agencies, immigration attorneys, public policymakers – concerned with international adoption. In addition to the Quincy event, Reps. Delahunt and Camp will also sponsor briefings in Washington DC and in Rep. Camp’s home area of Saginaw, Michigan.

The forum will run from 6:30 to 9:00 pm on Thursday, March 18 at the Thomas Crane Public Library 40 Washington Street in Quincy. Joining the Congressmen at these sessions will be senior officials of the US Departments of State and Homeland Security, and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute – and adoptive families from across the South Shore and Cape & Islands.

The forum is free of charge, but space is limited. To participate, please contact the Guatemala Adoptive Families Network, a national organization founded by families with children adopted from Guatemala, by email at forum@guatfam.org . For other details, local residents can call Rep. Delahunt’s office toll-free at 800-794-9911.

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