This is a local story that has me really facinated. Think about all the issues here – a woman has adopted from Guatemala but hasn’t officially been finalized. After her tragic death, her friend plans to adopt but how to do that, when the child was not finalized and is kind of still in limbo? And the language used – while understandable, the emphasis on the adoptive mother as the only "mother loss" is interesting. This quote: ""Zachary’s going to know who his Mommy was and what she went through to get him. It’s such a shame because she had so much to live for and was so looking forward to the future" is interesting. I feel for this friend who is now in charge of dealing with how to keep her promise to her friend. I only wonder whether she has an understanding of international adoption, and whether she will introduce this child to his first mother too.
Harlow's Monkey 
What a mess! Indian adoptees are in the same limbo until finalized. With our first, I didn’t even have legal guardianship, it was given to the hubs and I only signed a consent form. I was so worried about what might happen if we lost control of our kids’ welfare. God knows the adoption agency was long gone.
I hear ya about what she said about knowing “who his mommy was.” This tragedy creates yet another barrier to his origins, regardless of outcome.
At this point I think that the problem this story points out is that going into adoption, we adoptive parents usually don’t fully understand the commitment we need to be making.
Sure it requires the same sort of unconditional love any parent does, but a much different responsibility to our children.
This line “She grabbed him and it was a perfect match,” Pope remembers.…eek.