Anyone who wants to. The list has over 2000 members and is widely read by many people in all kinds of locations and with various roles in Guatemalan adoption. Most list members never post a message and so you will not know who they are. In addition the list's archives are accessible to anyone who joins. Therefore, despite the sometimes cozy feel of the group, remember that messages you post are essentially public and available to anyone who wants to read them, now or in the future.

Please note that there are representatives of many agencies and adoption facilitators on the list. This should not in any way discourage you from asking questions or airing problems with agencies, but you will want to be conscious that it's possible that your comments will be read by a person in your agency.

You should also keep the public nature of the list in mind when deciding what details you wish to post about your family, your child's life story, travel plans, etc.

In most cases, anything you want -- that is between you and them, and is not a matter for the list managers. However, there are some exceptions.

If you respond to a list message privately your response must be within these guidelines. If it isn't, and the list managers hear about it, your list access may be restricted. This is because the point of many of our policies is to keep the list a safe and welcoming place for all. If people who post to the list receive unsolicited advertisements, flames, attacks, etc. privately from other list members it can be just as destructive of that goal as if such things are posted on the list. We can't and won't interfere in ongoing private conversations, but we will take seriously any complaints that a post to the list has received a direct response that is destructive of the sense of community we seek to maintain on the list.

Also note that the list is absolutely not available for collecting email addresses for any mass mailing, and any hint of such activity will get your list access restricted quickly and decisively.

Not all of it. News stories and other material published in print or online may not be posted to the list without the copyright holder's permission, and distribution of almost all such material is restricted by the person or organization that published it.

However, it's easy to make interesting articles available to other list members, and we encourage you to do so as long as the article is relevant to the list's topic areas. Just post a brief note, perhaps a paragraph to give a flavor for what the item is about, and a link to the online location of the article or document.

Only with the original author's explicit permission.

Only with the original author's explicit permission, or if it's an announcement that is clearly intended for public distribution (e.g., of an event related to Guatemala and/or adoption).

Sure -- if it is for their personal use only, is not to be re-forwarded beyond that person, and is forwarded because they need the information the message contains.

Forwarding messages for any other purpose -- e.g. advocacy, journalism, research, to let your adoption agency or anyone else know someone on the list was talking about them, etc. -- requires the original author's explicit permission before forwarding.

Of course you can also forward any message that came from a clearly public source and was intended for redistribution (e.g. a press release, or an online newsletter which may be redistributed).

You may find that other families on the list had the same foster family. If you know your child had a birth sibling placed for adoption their family may be on the list also. You are welcome to use the list to search for these connections -- just do so as described below.

To make such a request on the list, use initials or first name and last initial only (e.g. "I am looking for anyone whose child was cared for by Maria S. in Guatemala City"). This may generate a few extra responses but there won't be many, and it protects the privacy of the others involved.

In order to protect the privacy of others, do not post full names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, or other personal details of birth or foster families. This includes not posting your own child's full birth name.

Also please do not post personal information about others involved in your adoption, unless that information is about an organization, not an individual, and is readily available from public sources anyway (e.g. an agency address or phone number).

Think carefully about what you want to reveal in public, and keep the entirely public nature of the list in mind when deciding what details you wish to post about your family, your child's life story, travel plans, etc.

We strongly recommend that you do not reveal personal identifying informaiton about yourself (address, phone number, etc.) on the list as it can be read by anyone. This is a good guideline for any online venue, not just for this list.

We also recommend that you use caution in posting details of your child's life story. Many adoptive parents believe or come to believe that a child's adoption story belongs to the child, and that the child should be able to decide how and when it is shared. This must be balanced with your desire as parents to share what is happening in your adoption or parenting and get feedback, or to give advice to others based on your own experiences. People have wide-ranging views about the level of privacy required in this area, and we simply recommend that you consider the various issues and follow your own best thinking.