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Dec 8, 2007 5:37 pm US/Central
Minn. Families Celebrate International Adoptions
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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Sen. Norm Coleman hosted the celebration party for about 60 families who asked for help in completing the adoption process.
CBS
On Saturday, Minnesota families celebrated being brought together through the process of international adoptions.
Sen. Norm Coleman hosted the celebration party for about 60 families who asked for help in completing the adoption process.
"We've had families that have traveled to China and their paperwork was lost in the bureaucracy," said Coleman. "So you can place a call and somehow it gets miraculously found."
Tracy and Michael McGarry from Woodbury adopted a boy from Guatemala two years ago. Now they want Joseph to have a brother from the same country and have started the adoption process.
"When we got Joseph it was not difficult, but this one, we're caught right in the middle of this whole Hague situation," said Tracy McGarry.
The Hague Convention is an international agreement signed by 68 countries. It has rules for cross-border adoptions to prevent abuse and human trafficking. The U.S. won't be sanctioned by the Hague until April, and there's no telling how long it will take Guatemala's Congress to fully accept the Hague agreement.
"We're very optimistic that we will make it through the process just fine," said Tracy McGarry. "But we're very nervous."
There is a chance that Guatemala will "grandfather-in" the McGarry's second adoption under the current laws. However, the Guatemala Congress has no timetable for that decision.
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