Agency E-mail

I got this e-mail from my agency today:

Dear Families:

In early February I wrote to you letting you know that AFJ severed ties with Mary Bonn as she was arrested for harboring an illegal alien. AFJ has not worked with Mary since then, but has since connected with translators and experienced staff in Guatemala and the US.

At the time of Mary's arrest, I was quite confident that as AFJ has always had a stellar reputation and has NEVER been part of or have condoned any illegal or unethical acts, that we would not be affected by any investigations regarding Guatemalan Adoptions. AFJ uses Embassy approved attorneys and I have not known any of them to have done anything illegal. Furthermore, I am under the understanding that it remains that Mary Bonn was charged with this one charge and no others. I contacted her attorney and he confirmed this for me.

The US State Department has promised more scrutiny on Guatemalan Adoption cases. It is becoming evident that they are possibly honing in on agencies linked to people of interest. What has happened is that the US Embassy in Guatemala is investigating and or reviewing many AFJ's (and several other agencies) cases. . This is very frustrating to me as I know how important having your cases finish in a timely manner is to all of you. However, I am not concerned that the investigation will uncover anything unethical or illegal, I am concerned that it will add unnecessary time to the cases.

I, as the director of AFJ, have been trying to contact anyone who will help get the embassy moving through these cases. I have contacted politicians, people in Washington DC and I have written to and left phone messages for several people at the Embassy in Guatemala. I will go to the Embassy the first week of May and see if I can do anything to move them along faster. As I feel as though I am making headway, I want to ask all of you to contact your Senators and US Congressional reps and ask them to contact the US Embassy on your behalf for information about your cases. Please include your names, the child's full birth name and the name of the birth mother. As I research this and talk to other adoption professionals and political allies, I am told that historically, political pressure will get the Embassy effectively moving along so any cases they are wanting to scrutinize will get scrutinized and not be set on a pile WAITING to be looked at. So please contact your politicians and contact them often.

At this point, the cases that are being reviewed or investigated are at the pre approval stage. Some pre approvals have not come and some were revoked (meaning when the attorney went to pick up pre approval, the embassy would not give them to the attorney). Some have gone through fine. I have two at pink slip stage that have been waiting longer than normal. However, I have had three families go on pick up trips in the past few weeks. If you received a pre approval after March 2 or so, please email me and I will double check the status of it. I have talked to most of you whom I know have been affected. I am constantly being told that they cannot comment on the investigation issue. I cannot tell if that is the investigations of the cases or any other investigation. I am trying to get some clarity with the help of the politicians. I was told by Jill Larsen, Office of Children's Issues for International Adoption in Washington DC, that they are actively investigating.

If your DNA has been sent to the embassy and it has been 45 days, please email the embassy and inquire about your pre approval. Include your full names, baby's full name and birth mother name. Once you hear back from the embassy, please contact your politicians.

I can not express enough my own dismay and concern for this situation and I know it is difficult for all those who are being affected. It is disheartening to have other people's actions affect so many. I want you all to know that when I decided to open this agency, it was to make sure people had an open and transparent adoption experience. I solicited dozens of references on Mary Bonn. They were glowing. I knew the attorneys were all embassy approved. MANY of my clients are people who came to me for their second or third adoptions and would work with no other person than Mary.

I stand behind my commitment to run an agency with honor and integrity. I have learned that their are a lot of people who make allegations based on rumors. I would like to make it very clear to all of you that A Family Journey is in excellent standing with Minnesota Department of Human Services. You can contact Mical Peterson at Mical.Peterson@state.mn.us or 651-296-3768. She is in licensing and oversees AFJ's license.

Furthermore, I want to make it clear that I have not been any part of any investigation. I have not been contacted by any government authority. If I were, I would only and always be truthful as I have nothing to hide.

Please contact your politicians. If you need to find out who they are, please google them. If you obtain contact information, please send it to me and I will send it to families in your state. Go ahead and solicit other family members to contact them as well. The more people they hear from, the more likely they will step up and help. Contact information for MN Senators follows this email as does a link to find the US Representative for your area.

I am sincerely sorry that your cases may be affected by the ongoing investigations. Please email me or call me to touch base and ask questions. If I do not hear from you, I will try to touch base with you soon. I am heading to Guatemala on April 28th. I will see your referrals and talk with your attorneys. I am doing as much as I can to help this situation.

I had a dream to help find loving families for the orphaned children from my own children's birth country. I also wanted to raise money for the needy orphaned children who will never get to leave Guatemala. I intend to follow this dream..... regardless of the road blocks.

Thank you all and I look forward to talking with each of you.


I know our agency is good and on the up and up, but I can't help but feel a little bitter toward them right now.

Julie