They are being detained and are expected to be charged with attempting to buy or steal a child. The two week old infant has been put into protective custody by the Mexican authorities.
The 42 year old man, who is a US citizen, and his 39 year old wife, a legal resident of the US, allegedly had earlier traveled to Monterrey in order to adopt a child through normal Mexican channels. However, they had reportedly been rejected as adoptive parents because they resided in the US. The two said that they did not go through the normal US international adoption process in Texas because it was "too expensive."
The couple eventually made contact with a 21 year old woman who was from the wife's home region and who, in December, offered them a baby. The couple said that the woman was too poor to raise her child and that they merely paid the woman's childbirth expenses. They denied "buying" the baby boy.
“We thought it would be easy to do it this way, but we didn't do it in bad faith,” Ibarra told El Norte. “We wanted to do it the right way, that's why we came [to the US Consulate] to ask [for a visa for the child].”
Texas couple arrested, accused of illegal adoption in Mexico,WFAA.com, Thursday, March 1, 2007
Moral of the story: You can NOT go to Mexico and find an adoptable kid and simply apply for a visa. At least not unless you want to spend some time personally familiarizing yourself with Mexican jails, Mexican lawyers, and the Mexican justice system. And if you think that your ignorance and/or naivete will keep you out of trouble--think again...
Desiree
Thank you for posting this story! Illegal independent adoptions are a huge problem here in Mexico, and the guilty parties include American couples who often are behaving in good faith, perhaps having been told that it's perfectly legal.
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone tries to tell you that independent adoption is LEGAL in Mexico, it actually is in most states... BUT you must reside here legally (so it isn't international), you cannot be promised a baby before it is born, the birthmother must register the child in her own name (not yours), you must not pay her anything although you may pay the hospital bills, you must have a lawyer's help, and after several months of paperwork the adoption must be finalized in court by a judge. And then you still have to live here for a couple of years.
I am almost done with my adoption in Mexico and you do not have to live in Mexico for several years after the adoption has been finalized unless the child does not qualify as an "orphan". Then you only have to live in Mexico for two years and then can apply for a visa for the child as a relative. You still must go through the Mexican courts for the adoption.
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