Our Family Journey

WE ARE IN PGN!
I received confirmation today that we entered PGN on September 5th. This is one of the final steps in our adoption process. Hopefully, we won't have any Previos (Kickouts). The reviewers at PGN can kick you out of PGN for any errors, omissions or discrepancies found in our or the Guatemalan social workers documents. Sometimes the Previos can be fixed by our lawyer in Guatemala...but if the previo is for a document issued in the US, we will have to get a new document, have it notorized, Great Sealed by the State of South Dakota and then Authenticated by the Guatemalan Consulate. Each document takes about 3 weeks to have re-done...so let's all pray for no Previos! I have detailed the PGN process below. Hopefully we will be in and out of PGN in 6 to 8 weeks!

PGN REVIEW AND APPROVAL
The attorney submits the adoption case file and a petition for approval of the adoption to a notarial** officer of the PGN. A PGN notary reviews all documents in the case file and, at his/her discretion, may independently investigate one or more aspects of the case. PGN may reject the file (issue a previo) any number of times for a wide variety of reasons that range from serious (e.g., irregularities in the birth mother’s or child’s identity documents) to minor (e.g., minor spelling errors, expired notary seals). The attorney for the birth mother and adoptive family corrects the problem and resubmits the case to PGN. Ultimately, the PGN typically concurs with the Family Court’s recommendation and issues its approval for the adoption to proceed.
** A notary in Guatemala is an attorney with additional legal powers, not, as in the U.S., simply a person who is authorized to certify signatures.