Guatemala - Marlen Sofia Diaz Borrayo, daughter of Iris Xiomera Borrayo

In October 1997, Iris left her child with a neighbor while she went to the hospital for a period of time. When she returned, she found her daughter had been taken by the neighbor to the minor's court. On Feb 13, 1998, Judge Aida Marisuya de De Leon ruled the child was abandoned and placed Marlen in Susana Luarca's "Los Ninos de Guatemala" orphanage. The orphanage immediately referred Marlen for placement with a US adoptive family. After several court battles, Marlen was returned to Iris on .Feb 17,1999, 9 months after the order for her return, and over a year after she was taken.