Haitian Adoption Status

Parents that have been in the process of adopting from Haiti are distraught at prospects that their adoptive children could be kept from them indefinitely as a result of the destruction of government records and systems and the loss of key documents, as well the deaths of key government officials. Meanwhile, a large number of American families are indicating their willingness to adopt newly-orphaned children.

The current focus of most organizations at present needs to be addressing immediate issues—medicine, water, food, shelter and other necessities. Even beyond the immediate crisis, it is unlikely avenues for new adoptions will open in the near term. However, officials in the U.S. State Department have begun looking seriously at alternative ways for families already in the adoption process to complete their adoptions as quickly as possible. (See their most recent public posting at http://adoption.state.gov/news/haiti.html).

The details of what alternatives will look like have not yet been revealed, and adoptive families should not yet raise expectations of immediate processing. What we do know is that in-process adoptions are the first-wave priority, and the State Department has committed to working to secure adoption visas (IR 3 and 4s) whenever possible as quickly as they are able. In addition, some members of Congress and advocacy organizations are urging the State Department to allow what called “humanitarian parole” for children who have been referred, which would allow the child to travel to the U.S. without a visa.

In the coming days, we anticipate an announcement from the State Department with greater details on visa and/or “humanitarian parole” options. In the meantime, per the U.S. State Department: U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti are requested to contact the Department of State at askci@state.gov for information about their adoption case. In your inquiry, please include in the subject line, Haitian adoption Information. The inquiry should include the full name and contact information (including e-mail address) of parents, full name(s) of child(ren), date(s) of birth of child(ren) (if possible), a brief summary of the status of the case, and the name and contact information for the orphanage, and the file and/or case number.

Source: LifeSong for Orphans