For an island tucked away in the Pacific Northwest, Bainbridge often finds a way to become involved with national and international issues, primarily because of the type of people it attracts. Take Russell Regan for example. Regan and his family adopted a Guatemalan child in the 1990s and he eventually started an adoption agency based on the island. Today, some 30 children from that impoverished Central American country live on Bainbridge with their adopted parents.

The adoption of Guatemala children by U.S. citizens, primarily through private agencies operating in both countries, had become commonplace in recent years with 4,728 children adopted in 2007. Unfortunately, the connection has been broken since April 1 when the Guatemala government halted adoptions to all countries because of investigations revealing instances of agency corruption and coercion of birth mothers in Guatemala.

The government, which generally has not been involved in the adoptions, has decided to conduct a case-by-case review of every pending foreign adoption case, which has put on hold the adoption plans of about 2,000 American families. The U.S., which on April 1 joined the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, has stopped issuing visas to Guatemalan children. The action has placed the children in limbo, living with foster parents while the Guatemala government makes steps to reform the adoption procedures. The emphasis is on the identification process of both the birth mother and the child being adopted.

Bainbridge resident Kathleen O’Connell, who along with husband Peter have an adopted 5-year-old Guatemalan girl, Ellie, had worked for the Regan adoption agency until the halt in adoptions caused it to close earlier this year. She doesn’t doubt that there have been some instances of coercion in Guatemala, but generally the system worked well and U.S. families sought out the children because they were usually healthy and happy when arriving here. She credited the country’s foster-familiy system, which the children entered after birth and remained in until being adopted.

O’Connell said the screening process of the potential adopters was extremely thorough in the U.S. and, when the Regan agency was involved it made sure the screening at the other end was also as thorough as possible. She believes politics became involved and that the U.S. and Guatemala governments decided to centralized the process rather than continue the privatized system that was in place. She said the cost of the adoptions have been “upwards of $23,000, mostly because of the privatized foster care.” She worries that the care of the children will suffer and the cost will remain high if the government takes over the process.

It was natural that Bainbridge would have so many parents adopt Guatemalan children because of the Regan agency being here, and it has proven to be a healthy situation for the families and children involved.

“It’s wonderful for the kids,” O’Connell said. “It’s great that they can connect with other kids like themselves. We have play dates and cultural gatherings. There are a lot of families who have adopted kids in Seattle, too.”

O’Connell and others hope Guatemala will restart the process soon, primarily because so many children are living in impoverished conditions in the country. Until conditions improve, it’s better for the children to get a second chance in a healthy environment, at least, as long as it’s the choice of the birth mother, most of whom are single and with no means of support. Plus, safeguards apparently were needed because of human trafficking being done by people attempting to gain financially through the suffering of others.

“I just hope it (the change) benefits the kids,” O’Connell said. “I’m afraid the kids will fall through cracks of a system run by the government. It was working well before, so we’re not sure this is best for the kids and families. We’ll see.”