Haiti

Probably like 99% of all of us, Haiti has been on my mind almost non stop these past few weeks. How could it not be? Everybody has posted about the tragedy it is, and about getting aid to the country, who to give to, and how to help on the ground. Not as many people have written about what has me pretty concerned.

It has happened over and over again in history. Everybody has a soft spot for "the poor orphans." First was Vietnam, where we airlifted babies out, some of which had existing family in Vietnam. We don't often hear about that part of the story. Then came Romania. Some news program did a story on orphanage conditions there, and America's response was to "save" those poor babies. A thriving international adoption program started in Romania because of a single news story. And eventually the same program stopped because of horrific corruption. Now it is Haiti's turn to be the "benefactor" of American pity. I'm not saying that those who would "save" a Haitian orphan are wrong to feel that way. But I am very concerned about how some want to go about it.

Let me say that I applaud the efforts of USCIS and DOS to this point. They have REALLY worked hard for the children of Haiti who were already in the adoption process. My friend who has waited for her son for 3.5 years was united with him yesterday. Finally. What needed to happen for Isaac, happened for Isaac. And for hundreds of other children .

I believe that all children who were in orphanages BEFORE the earthquake AND had been declared orphans by the legal process in Haiti, should be eligible to come to the United States eventually, even if adoptive parents weren't yet identified for them. And that's as far as I go.

There are very well-meaning people out there who are reacting with raw emotion rather than common sense. There are people who think we should allow every child who doesn't currently have a guardian to come to the U.S....to be put into sponsor homes here...and to eventually be adopted. This is ludicrous to me. People have been separated by their loved ones in this tragedy. It is way too early to tell who is an orphan and who has a loving family member desperately trying to find their child. Are we really going to add insult to injury by taking their children?!

I've seen media coverage where people are lining up outside of American adoption agencies, wanting to adopt from Haiti. Again, I have no doubt that these are well-meaning people. But really? Why weren't you interested in adoption 2 weeks ago? Two weeks ago Haiti was still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Two weeks ago there were still hundreds of thousands of Haitian orphans to be adopted. Did you really not know about them then?

There was barely a functioning adoption process BEFORE the earthquake. Like I said, my friend has been waiting for her son for over 3 years. She got her referral of Isaac BEFORE we got our referral for Bright, and Bright has been home 2.5 years!!!! Families who adopt from Haiti are the toughest of the tough. They know they will battle every minute of every day for years to bring their children home, but they still do it because they are THAT committed.

If the adoption process was so wrought with complications before the earthquake, just IMAGINE what it would be now. Well, honestly, it can't BE now. There is no way to process a Haitian adoption at this point. Orphans are not the number one issue for the Haitian government right now, which is the way it should be. Haiti needs to focus on getting their government in working order again for basic care of their citizens. They need to work on caring for all citizens of Haiti; all children, including orphans but not especially orphans.

There are already rumors of child trafficking. [And someone I know says this is not a rumor but fact.] I thought it would take a bit longer before folks decided to try to profit off these children, but I guess I had rose colored glasses on. People are stealing children who have not been identified as orphans, and selling them to families in Europe. All in the name of "saving" the children. Maybe US agencies aren't going to go that far, but I GUARANTEE that there are going to be US agencies who try to check in and see how they can profit from these children.

So my plea is this: PLEASE, pray for the children of Haiti. If you have been touched by the plight of orphans in Haiti, send aid! LOTS of aid! They cannot be taken from their country at this time. There is no infrastructure to do so, ethically. If the plight of Haiti's orphans have opened your eyes to international adoption, great! There are 150 million orphans around the world that are not in Haiti, and can benefit from your open heart. Eventually, people will be able to adopt Haiti's orphans again, but not right now. In the mean time, consider opening your heart to adopting one (or more) of the world's other orphans. Their plight is no less moving. It just doesn't happen to be front page news. Please, stand up for the rights of these children to be with their remaining family if at all possible. Do not accept any plan that would take children out of Haiti before they have been legally and ethically declared orphans. This means they have no living or capable parent or relative who can care for them. This means they cannot be adopted within Haiti by another Haitian family. Stand up for these children. This is how we can show them the most love.

Anita