U.S. tightens procedure on adoptions

The United States will soon require that Guatemalan babies being adopted by Americans be given two DNA tests to avoid child trafficking in a corrupt system, the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City said.

Guatemala has the highest per-capita adoption rate in the world, a lucrative business for lawyers who run the trade and sometimes are accused of forging papers or paying mothers to sell their children.

The United States already requires a DNA test to match the birth mother with the child at the beginning of the adoption process, but starting next week will require a second test before the baby leaves the country, to confirm that the child who leaves is the one first tested.