My husband and I used an agency in Massachusetts called Alliance for Children in Wellesley. They used Milagro for their facilitator for the Guatemalan adoptions. We started the adoption of our daughter in 2002 and brought her home in 2004. A process which was to be quick. No such luck. Everything started fine but then slowed to a crawl. We had sent items down to Milagro to get to our daughter and foster family, paid our money and expected everything to stay on course. As time grew near to getting out of PGN we started to wonder what was happening. Something which was to take days took weeks and finally my family and I went to Guatemala whithout the consent of the agency and our program coordinator Vivian Cone. We get to Guatemala and there was no one to greet us. We were to have a driver, no, we were to have a translator, no, and the foster mother would not release the baby until she was paid. She was never paid anything. The lawyer was never paid, the passport was not done and the paperwork was wrong. Luckily we took some family who could speak fluent Spanish and he came with us on a day from hell. Milagro apparently did not pay anyone down in Guatemala. We had to pay again for the lawyer to come and get the passport completed, pay again for a driver, pay the contact who helped us down there, we also had to pay the pediatrician which was never paid. We contacted our agency while we were down there and they told us to come home and would figure it out. Yah right I would leave my new daughter to come home to an agency who would not own up to anything. They were terrible. They would not reimburse any money and told us it was our fault for going down there. To this day four years later they would not tell us at all what happend with Milagro and our money and the problems that had come from her taking our money. It would be great to see Milagro get what she deserves and all the agencies that seem to help aide her in taking money and children from perspective parents. I would never recommend Alliance for Children to anyone who was looking to adopt. They were irresponsible, uncooperative, not trustworthy, and were not looking out for your best interest unless it was your money. That they took very well. Milagro and the agency should get what they deserve.
Just to let some people know that this agency had a picture of my son on their web site. I called them and told them to remove his picture immediately. I hope that my son was not one of the children you had a refferal on. We also have been involved with a corrupt agency. I stumpled across their website and found my SON'S picture on their home page. Anyhow it was removed but the owners were surprised and unaware of how that could happen. Anyhow just a word of advice please check out any agency you sign with..
Unethical, unprofessional, corrupt criminals. DO NOT USE. DO NOT LET THEM MANIPULATE YOU no matter how attached you may become to a picture of child they claim to represent. Most of the children are not adoptable.
MAIN STREET DOESN'T DESERVE A STAR OF ANY KIND. I HAVE TO GIVE THEM ONE BECAUSE IT IS REQUIRED ON THE SITE TO POST.
PLEASEEEEE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT SIGNING A CONTRACT WITH MAIN STREET ADOPTION AGENCY!!!
YOU WILL BE SORRY IF YOU DO. WE SIGNED WITH MAIN STREET OVER 18 MONTHS AGO. WE STILL DO NOT HAVE OUR CHILD. THEY WILL LIE TO YOU AND CHEAT YOU. THIS IS A WARNING TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS AGENCY. I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD US BEFORE WE SIGNED THE CONTRACT. CHECK ANY AGENCY OUT BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING. THERE ARE GOOD AGENCIES OUT THERE, BUT MAIN STREET IS NOT ONE OF THEM. THEY ARE THE WORSE AGENCY IN THE UNITED STATES.
MAIN STREET OWNERS, BOB AND NINA, ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN COLLECTING MONEY. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE KIDS. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. PLEASE TAKE OUR ADVISE AND STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE. MAIN STREET WAS SHUT DOWN IN CALIFORNIA. THAT DIDN'T DO ANY GOOD. THEY MOVED TO LANCASTER, PA. THEY HAVE RUN OUT OF PAPS FOR THE GUATEMALA PROGRAM THAT DON'T KNOW THEM SO NOW THEY HAVE MOVED TO THE AFRICAN MARKET FOR CHILDREN. BEWARE!!!! WE LOST OVER $30,000.00 TO THESE TWO PEOPLE, BOB AND NINA.
DON'T TRUST THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...Chicago, your story sounds very familiar. We are another victim with similar results. MSAS is now offering an African program, because they have run out of families to lie to in Guatemala. BUYER BEWARE, they have turned to Africa because they do not need agencey accreditation in Africa and have tried to replace the lost children from Guatemala with children from Africa, as if the children are commodities that can be traded when one or another is not available. The staff consists of two people who are deceptive, unprofessional and unethical
Its hard to even give them one star, but when you don't give them a star, it looks like they are not rated.
We have been lied to for over a year by Main Street Adoption Services. Their facilitator Milagro Del Carpio is a criminal. She stold numerous money from paps and according to Main Street took over $400k and did not pay the attorneys or buscadora's in Guatemala. There are over 20+ families in adoptions lasted well over a year. 11 of us have had disruptions.
I've had two both at the end of the adoptions, in it six months for both older girls and then told their bio Mom took them back. Then told, no, they were took back because the handler was not paid or the attorney is holding the file hostage. One lie after another. We were allowed to visit our first referral for her 2nd birthday. No one ever showed up from Main Street at our hotel. After hours of phone messages to Main Street, their facilitator called to tell us, the child had been back with her Mother for two weeks. Two weeks before we traveled, yet Main Street knowingly let us travel anyway.
They like to blame it all on Guatemala and politics and delays. Truth is they saw the end coming in Guatemala and took money for children they knew were not available. Is it just a coincidence that both of our toddler girls birth father's rode in at the last minute and were "anti-adoption?." More likely, they were not available or placed with more then one pap.
Beware, they are cunning, master manipulators who will say I am the only one, and they could not do anything illegal and it is not their fault but our bad luck? Well, we know of 20 some other families in similiar straights. Do we all have bad luck? Yes, that bad luck happened when we trusted Main Street.
We lost a year of our lives, $30,000; two "daughter's" and the chance to have a sister for our other Guatemalan daughter adopted from a reputable hogar.
Perhaps, MS worked for you because you are an older Mom, they have no problems doling out infants to people up to 60 years old. They are extremely unethical, in fact they are criminal and will be prosecuted. You were simply lucky, out of the 60 or so cases they had in 2006 until now, only a handful actually got their children. Its sad that in your opinion they are a 3 star agency. You state your adoption took 15 months, you were promised 5 months top, so three times your normal timeline is okay with you?
Sometimes paps need a less then ethical agency - that's part of the "big problem". Any tom, dick or harry or Nina or Bob, Samone or Billy Bob - ex strippers and uneducated bank employees can hang up a shingle and call themselves an agency. In Main Street's case, they don't even have a shingle or office or keep records, they work from their home and have admitted to not keeping any client info; it all gets passed to whichever inept criminal they hire to "facililtate their adoptions". They are egregious and need to be shut down. Beware, those cute toddler's they like to photolist, are either not available rent-a-kids or will be in grade school and have RAD by the time you get them home!
Anyone wishing to join a lawsuit against MS please contact kevin at Guatadopt.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. I have not said anywhere that other people are wrong about Main Street, I only stated my experience. As for the "infants" that MS is doling out - our son was 6 1/2 years old and special needs (and Main Street did not charge us an agency fee at all, only the Guat attorney fee - which was very much lower than the "going rate" for Guat attorneys). And as for the 15 months instead of 5 months - I am sure you are aware that many in Guatemala were caught in the mess of adoptions taking longer than promised during that time period. Our son was also from an area where it was difficult to get a new birth certificate issued. (This is a known fact from other list serves - not only from MS.) If MS had been the only agency that was taking longer than promised I would have been upset.
For your information we have adopted previously and are preparing to adopt again - both of these through large well known agencies. So, no, we did not NEED to use MS.
I have not tried to change your opinion of this agency. I also agree they are small and unorganized. However I would appreciate the courtesy of letting me have my own opinion and not trying to force your opinion down my throat!
We adopted from Guatemala through Main Street starting in late 2006 and completing the adoption in 2008. The process took 15 months and the communication could have been better. A few times I did have to email Bob and Nina several times to get a response. Although we have heard many bad stories about Main Street, I do have to say our experience was reasonable for a very small agency. There were a few miscommunications regarding money, but all was worked out in the end. We visited our son a few months before picking him up and had no problems. Bob was in Guatemala at the time we picked our son up and went to the Embassy with us. He visited us in our hotel twice to see how we were getting along. Paperwork and organization does not seem to be a strong point with this agency, but our adoption went along with no major problems.
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Reviews
Milagro Del Carpio
My husband and I used an agency in Massachusetts called Alliance for Children in Wellesley. They used Milagro for their facilitator for the Guatemalan adoptions. We started the adoption of our daughter in 2002 and brought her home in 2004. A process which was to be quick. No such luck. Everything started fine but then slowed to a crawl. We had sent items down to Milagro to get to our daughter and foster family, paid our money and expected everything to stay on course. As time grew near to getting out of PGN we started to wonder what was happening. Something which was to take days took weeks and finally my family and I went to Guatemala whithout the consent of the agency and our program coordinator Vivian Cone. We get to Guatemala and there was no one to greet us. We were to have a driver, no, we were to have a translator, no, and the foster mother would not release the baby until she was paid. She was never paid anything. The lawyer was never paid, the passport was not done and the paperwork was wrong. Luckily we took some family who could speak fluent Spanish and he came with us on a day from hell. Milagro apparently did not pay anyone down in Guatemala. We had to pay again for the lawyer to come and get the passport completed, pay again for a driver, pay the contact who helped us down there, we also had to pay the pediatrician which was never paid. We contacted our agency while we were down there and they told us to come home and would figure it out. Yah right I would leave my new daughter to come home to an agency who would not own up to anything. They were terrible. They would not reimburse any money and told us it was our fault for going down there. To this day four years later they would not tell us at all what happend with Milagro and our money and the problems that had come from her taking our money. It would be great to see Milagro get what she deserves and all the agencies that seem to help aide her in taking money and children from perspective parents. I would never recommend Alliance for Children to anyone who was looking to adopt. They were irresponsible, uncooperative, not trustworthy, and were not looking out for your best interest unless it was your money. That they took very well. Milagro and the agency should get what they deserve.
Picture of my son
Just to let some people know that this agency had a picture of my son on their web site. I called them and told them to remove his picture immediately. I hope that my son was not one of the children you had a refferal on. We also have been involved with a corrupt agency. I stumpled across their website and found my SON'S picture on their home page. Anyhow it was removed but the owners were surprised and unaware of how that could happen. Anyhow just a word of advice please check out any agency you sign with..
DO NOT USE Main Street Adoption Agency for any country
Unethical, unprofessional, corrupt criminals. DO NOT USE. DO NOT LET THEM MANIPULATE YOU no matter how attached you may become to a picture of child they claim to represent. Most of the children are not adoptable.
MAIN STREET ADOPTION AGENCY
MAIN STREET DOESN'T DESERVE A STAR OF ANY KIND. I HAVE TO GIVE THEM ONE BECAUSE IT IS REQUIRED ON THE SITE TO POST.
PLEASEEEEE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT SIGNING A CONTRACT WITH MAIN STREET ADOPTION AGENCY!!!
YOU WILL BE SORRY IF YOU DO. WE SIGNED WITH MAIN STREET OVER 18 MONTHS AGO. WE STILL DO NOT HAVE OUR CHILD. THEY WILL LIE TO YOU AND CHEAT YOU. THIS IS A WARNING TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS AGENCY. I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD US BEFORE WE SIGNED THE CONTRACT. CHECK ANY AGENCY OUT BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING. THERE ARE GOOD AGENCIES OUT THERE, BUT MAIN STREET IS NOT ONE OF THEM. THEY ARE THE WORSE AGENCY IN THE UNITED STATES.
MAIN STREET OWNERS, BOB AND NINA, ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN COLLECTING MONEY. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE KIDS. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. PLEASE TAKE OUR ADVISE AND STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE. MAIN STREET WAS SHUT DOWN IN CALIFORNIA. THAT DIDN'T DO ANY GOOD. THEY MOVED TO LANCASTER, PA. THEY HAVE RUN OUT OF PAPS FOR THE GUATEMALA PROGRAM THAT DON'T KNOW THEM SO NOW THEY HAVE MOVED TO THE AFRICAN MARKET FOR CHILDREN. BEWARE!!!! WE LOST OVER $30,000.00 TO THESE TWO PEOPLE, BOB AND NINA.
DON'T TRUST THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Main Street
...Chicago, your story sounds very familiar. We are another victim with similar results. MSAS is now offering an African program, because they have run out of families to lie to in Guatemala. BUYER BEWARE, they have turned to Africa because they do not need agencey accreditation in Africa and have tried to replace the lost children from Guatemala with children from Africa, as if the children are commodities that can be traded when one or another is not available. The staff consists of two people who are deceptive, unprofessional and unethical
Main Street had numerous failed adoptions
Its hard to even give them one star, but when you don't give them a star, it looks like they are not rated.
We have been lied to for over a year by Main Street Adoption Services. Their facilitator Milagro Del Carpio is a criminal. She stold numerous money from paps and according to Main Street took over $400k and did not pay the attorneys or buscadora's in Guatemala. There are over 20+ families in adoptions lasted well over a year. 11 of us have had disruptions.
I've had two both at the end of the adoptions, in it six months for both older girls and then told their bio Mom took them back. Then told, no, they were took back because the handler was not paid or the attorney is holding the file hostage. One lie after another. We were allowed to visit our first referral for her 2nd birthday. No one ever showed up from Main Street at our hotel. After hours of phone messages to Main Street, their facilitator called to tell us, the child had been back with her Mother for two weeks. Two weeks before we traveled, yet Main Street knowingly let us travel anyway.
They like to blame it all on Guatemala and politics and delays. Truth is they saw the end coming in Guatemala and took money for children they knew were not available. Is it just a coincidence that both of our toddler girls birth father's rode in at the last minute and were "anti-adoption?." More likely, they were not available or placed with more then one pap.
Beware, they are cunning, master manipulators who will say I am the only one, and they could not do anything illegal and it is not their fault but our bad luck? Well, we know of 20 some other families in similiar straights. Do we all have bad luck? Yes, that bad luck happened when we trusted Main Street.
We lost a year of our lives, $30,000; two "daughter's" and the chance to have a sister for our other Guatemalan daughter adopted from a reputable hogar.
Older Mom's Post
Dear "Older Mom"...
Perhaps, MS worked for you because you are an older Mom, they have no problems doling out infants to people up to 60 years old. They are extremely unethical, in fact they are criminal and will be prosecuted. You were simply lucky, out of the 60 or so cases they had in 2006 until now, only a handful actually got their children. Its sad that in your opinion they are a 3 star agency. You state your adoption took 15 months, you were promised 5 months top, so three times your normal timeline is okay with you?
Sometimes paps need a less then ethical agency - that's part of the "big problem". Any tom, dick or harry or Nina or Bob, Samone or Billy Bob - ex strippers and uneducated bank employees can hang up a shingle and call themselves an agency. In Main Street's case, they don't even have a shingle or office or keep records, they work from their home and have admitted to not keeping any client info; it all gets passed to whichever inept criminal they hire to "facililtate their adoptions". They are egregious and need to be shut down. Beware, those cute toddler's they like to photolist, are either not available rent-a-kids or will be in grade school and have RAD by the time you get them home!
Anyone wishing to join a lawsuit against MS please contact kevin at Guatadopt.
Final response
To justicewillcome
You are certainly entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. I have not said anywhere that other people are wrong about Main Street, I only stated my experience. As for the "infants" that MS is doling out - our son was 6 1/2 years old and special needs (and Main Street did not charge us an agency fee at all, only the Guat attorney fee - which was very much lower than the "going rate" for Guat attorneys). And as for the 15 months instead of 5 months - I am sure you are aware that many in Guatemala were caught in the mess of adoptions taking longer than promised during that time period. Our son was also from an area where it was difficult to get a new birth certificate issued. (This is a known fact from other list serves - not only from MS.) If MS had been the only agency that was taking longer than promised I would have been upset.
For your information we have adopted previously and are preparing to adopt again - both of these through large well known agencies. So, no, we did not NEED to use MS.
I have not tried to change your opinion of this agency. I also agree they are small and unorganized. However I would appreciate the courtesy of letting me have my own opinion and not trying to force your opinion down my throat!
Our Experience
We adopted from Guatemala through Main Street starting in late 2006 and completing the adoption in 2008. The process took 15 months and the communication could have been better. A few times I did have to email Bob and Nina several times to get a response. Although we have heard many bad stories about Main Street, I do have to say our experience was reasonable for a very small agency. There were a few miscommunications regarding money, but all was worked out in the end. We visited our son a few months before picking him up and had no problems. Bob was in Guatemala at the time we picked our son up and went to the Embassy with us. He visited us in our hotel twice to see how we were getting along. Paperwork and organization does not seem to be a strong point with this agency, but our adoption went along with no major problems.