Would you adopt a Haitian orphan? Do they really need us?
Before the quake, Haiti had about 380,000 children in orphanages and now the U.S. State Department is estimating there could be tens of thousands more children left without parents.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says:
“One area we are urgently focused on is the plight of Haitian orphans,” she said of the thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of children who were left without parents after the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck last Tuesday.
” ‘We will also be doing everything we can to unite the many children and families that have been separated in the aftermath of the earthquake and to do all that we can to expedite the travel of children who were in the line for adoption who have a legal, permanent home [or] guardianship waiting for them. We will not let red tape stand in the way of helping those in need.’ ”
“According to The New York Times, that process was already under way, as a group of 53 Haitian orphans touched down in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the first of what is expected to be a large wave of children who will arrive in the U.S. after the country loosened its policy on visa requirements to expedite the adoption of parentless Haitian children by American families. It normally takes up to three years to adopt a child from Haiti.”
According to a Canadian Web site France will immediately take in 276 children from quake-hit Haiti who had been matched with French parents for adoption, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday.
While researching for this story I found another site from a children’s organization in Haiti saying that the situation is not as dire as the State Department is thinking and believes they will have far fewer children to place.
Here’s what SOS Children’s Villages reports on its Web site:
“Despite making a public statement discouraging people from trying to adopt earthquake orphans We have been inundated with offers from around the world from well meaning couples wanting to know how to set about adopting. Please could we make the following points very clearly:
- Despite exaggeration in the media by people who wish to make a dramatic story, the actual number of children orphaned by the earthquake is likely to be 5-10,000, based simply on the experience of other major disasters. After the tsunami reports of 1.5 m orphans from the same sources turned out to be quite false, with the final figure of about 5,400. There were similar ratios of overall fatality to number of orphans created in each country.
- There are hundreds of thousands of children in need of immediate help but most will have some traceable family somewhere. These children will need schools, homes and so on and longer term donations are needed to support them.
- Of the 5-10,000 orphans typically, with support from family strengthening programmes such as those we already run in Haiti, 80-90 % would have family whom they know in some position to care for them. This leaves perhaps 1000 newly orphaned children aged 0-18 from the earthquake the older of whom with have deep linguistic and cultural routes and would have a difficult time adapting to competitive Western schooling etc. We expect to end up with many of these older children, in the usual pattern of events. Perhaps 50 babies orphaned by the earthquake may be suitable for adoption whereas many children already orphaned were already in the process of adoption.
- The total number of fatalities from the earthquake is likely to exceed 200,000 which is 2% of the population of Haiti, with a heavy concentration in poor urban areas. The current number of orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti is about 380,000 of whom more than 2% have probably died in the disaster. There are therefore probably fewer actual orphans in Haiti as a result of this disaster, although the number is still horrific and the conditions of they and other children have deteriorated sharply.
- Children who have just been orphaned by the earthquake will not have been properly assessed with families traced etc until at least 18 months time, given the state of records and so on in Haiti.
Many thousands of couples worldwide have stated an interest in adopting an earthquake orphan. There is a huge mismatch between offer and actually need.”
I’m not sure what to make of the differential in numbers. I guess we will have a much better idea as the rescuers are able to match children up with their families. If there is a need, would you adopt an orphan from the Haitian earthquake? What would it mean to the children we already have?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
242 comments Add your comment
JATL
January 21st, 2010
1:55 pm
Ahhh -RM -I think the blog is supposed to call attention to the fact that Haitian children need adopting, but are there as many as we think? There are many REAL, legitimate issues with any type of adoption that people REALLY need to think about -especially since you’re dealing with a several people’s lives. Maybe you should read it instead of just having a spastic reaction!
Tiger needs me on his PR team
January 21st, 2010
1:56 pm
whoops…meant to say “I think for those WHO have given their reasons why they would not adopt”
oneofeach4me
January 21st, 2010
1:57 pm
RM ~ I don’t think anyone here has really made negative comments about adopting. Most comments have just been realistic in that adopting a child from ANYWHERE should be taken extremely seriously and should be throughly thought out. No one is taking away the importance of adopting, actually, Theresa is shedding light on it. The discussion is not primarily what the numbers are (that’s just a fact that is blurry) it really is about whether or not you (as an individual) would or could adpot.
Lori
January 21st, 2010
1:57 pm
I just saw this on the CNN website:
————————————–
London, England (CNN) — Three aid groups called Thursday for an immediate halt to any new adoptions of Haitian children after last week’s earthquake.
Save the Children, World Vision and a unit of the British Red Cross said the focus first must be on tracing any family members that children may still have and reuniting them.
“Any hasty new adoptions would risk permanently breaking up families, causing long-term damage to already vulnerable children, and could distract from aid efforts in Haiti,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
—————————–
Those are big groups. Sounds like people are literally grabbing children off the street and trying to orphan them out. This is bad.
The link is: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/21/haiti.adoptions/index.html?hpt=T1
oneofeach4me
January 21st, 2010
2:01 pm
@Lori ~ that is what worries me. Black market adoptions.
Julia
January 21st, 2010
2:04 pm
I am not sure they are just grabbing them off the street to send them some where else for adoption I hope they are talking about these children that are in all those orphanages over there….
Carolyn
January 21st, 2010
2:14 pm
I have been following the plight of the orphans since the earthquake. We have to have the Haitian and US Governments remove all the red tape around adoption in humanitarian interest and airlift these orphans out of Haiti and into the arms of all the Americans who want to open their homes to them. I am one of those families and find it disgusting the amount of red tape and time involved with the adoption process. Remember the airlifts at the end of the Vietnam War, that is what we need here. I hear those that say these children may not be orphans but there were so many orphans living in orphananges before the quake. Let’s get those kids out, what benefit is it to them by making them wait three years for a family. I would love to take in one or two of these angels and they do not need to be babies. Please if you can help me in any way email me at Jimk75@gmail.com. Thanks so much. I wish celebs like Ellen and Oprah would get involved. It disgusts me to no end how celebs squander money when they can use it with their power and status to change the lives of suffering people.
Tiger needs me on his PR team
January 21st, 2010
2:20 pm
I’ve got $10 that says Brad and Angie adopt one of these kids!
Jane
January 21st, 2010
2:25 pm
You folks are getting all upset about the amount of time it takes and the amount of red tape? IT’S BEEN A WEEK PEOPLE!!
As Christina pointed out earlier – it takes 6-9 months to adopt in the U.S. and we’re fast!
Let the dust settle (literally and figuratively) before you rip these kids away from their country. It’s not like the U.S., family members there may be looking for their child inch by inch. They don’t just look at a computer screen.
It’s been a week – don’t cry about red tape. I don’t want a child molester in the U.S. getting a few kids he shouldn’t, just because you don’t want complete checks.
Debbie
January 21st, 2010
2:26 pm
A-MEN Jane!!!
Geez, Carolyn
January 21st, 2010
2:30 pm
Why do you want celebrities to lead the charge here – while I am not Oprah fan, from what I can tell she does quite a bit of philanthropy in public, and probably just as much out of the public eye. So, please tone it down a bit.
Julia
January 21st, 2010
2:34 pm
I think now I am just gonna grab a snack, sit in the corner and just watch the fur fly
Lisa
January 21st, 2010
2:38 pm
fur fly = cat fight!!!
hehehe
Tiger needs me on his PR team
January 21st, 2010
2:42 pm
for the record…this time I had nothing to do with the claws coming out. there’s a first for everything.
summer
January 21st, 2010
2:44 pm
As much as I want to help and believe me I do – I’m with Jane!!!
Julia
January 21st, 2010
2:45 pm
LOL Tiger :).. Me and you both! I am just gonna mind my own business :)
Julia
January 21st, 2010
2:47 pm
With out everyone getting there undies in a wad.. I think most of us have enough IQ points to rattle around in our head to “know” we can NOT go over there tonight and start grabbing up kids… This is just talking compassion……
HB
January 21st, 2010
2:52 pm
I think the recommendation makes sense for a lot of reasons. First, as many mentioned, you need time to check out adopting familes. Haiti seems to be trying to remove a lot of the red tape for families who were already in the process of adopting — if they were pretty far along, knew the child, and had been checked out, there’s a lot of effort going into speeding up that process.
After watching the news reports and seeing/hearing the terrible stories about what is going on there, people are feeling very emotional and have a real desire to reach out and take care of these children — understandable. But by speeding up the process too much and skipping important steps, you run the risk of making it too easy for well-meaning people to act on impulse before really understanding the challenges of raising traumatized children uprooted from their home country.
And then there’s the most important reason — orphans are not necessarily without family who can care for them. It will take time to make sure they don’t have other family members in Haiti, who at this point may not even know their relatives have died, and may want to care for the children themselves.
Of course living in a tent with no food or water would be terrible, but adoption is not the only solution to that problem. Your donation or sponsorship of a child can help provide food, shelter, and medicine during the search for a child’s family members and/or the process of placing a child with a suitable family. If you are interested in adopting, try taking a step back and separating your feelings from the disaster itself. Ask yourself if you feel as strong a desire to adopt a child from another country who may be facing hardships as great as the earthquake survivors, who you haven’t seen on the news all week. If so, do your research and start the process to either adopt a Haitian child a year or so from now when they become eligible for adoption or find a child from another country. Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of impoverished, often war-torn, countries to choose from.
ATLnative
January 21st, 2010
2:55 pm
I would adopt in a heartbeat. Cut out some of the red tape and the astronomical cost and my home is wide open.
summer
January 21st, 2010
2:57 pm
The red tape is for the safety of the child – Please keep this in mind!!!! Well put HB!!!!
Jen
January 21st, 2010
2:58 pm
We would definitely adopt one or even two. We are already in the process of adopting internationally, but, if you are at all familiar with int’l adoption, it takes a long time, sometimes years. Sad, because there are hundreds of thousands of legitimate orphans all over the world who need homes. We are one of those couples with no bio children who want to adopt. We are already approved by the US gov’t to adopt, not necessarily from Haiti, but we’ve got clearance. We’re just waiting for someone to tell us what the next step is.
Smith
January 21st, 2010
3:01 pm
A family from my church was one of the families going to Pittsburgh to pick up her now adopted daughter. It is my belief that mercy evacutions such as this are good. These were children who had no family before the quake and now in many cases cannot remain in the orphanage safely. They also are already matched with prospective parents for the most part. These are the children that need to be focused on first. Newer orphans because of the disaster need to be cared for in country so that parents or grandparents have a chance to locate them. It would be a double tragedy if they were sent to a family in the US when they still have family in Haiti searching for them. As a mother I can only imagine what it would be like to go through that.
amy
January 21st, 2010
3:12 pm
Whereas this article left me feeling hopeful for the orphans of Haiti, there are still millions more from all around the world that are desperate for parents to take them in. There are several organizations set up to aid in the process for orphaned children from China, Ukraine, Russia, and Ethiopia – just to name a few places. So even if there is much help and an exaggerated number of Haitian orphans, there are still so many that need a home and love.
Lynda
January 21st, 2010
3:13 pm
Are you all listing to yourselfs????? Im sorry that all of these kids have to go through all of this(I am a mother of 4 and have fostered up word of 200 over 15 years) but, we DO have Children right here in The US of A that NEED families and homes also. What about them? Do for our little part of the world FIRST then think about the rest.
My prayers and hopes are with all in Haiti
David
January 21st, 2010
3:18 pm
Being Involved and dealing with this kind of trama and being Adopted my self several years ago. What SOS is trying say is there is always support at this time but wait access the cituation after the recovery and rescue after the rebuilding has begun and try to raise these children with their Families in Haiti where the hurts can heal and they can build and suport the other love ones that suffered loss. Adoption is not always the answer but is an option I live my life now never knowing my Birth parents or if I had birth siblings from my Parents. Haiti can be a Beautiful place and the children of next Generation may be the ones to bring change we have to be patient and support the caring oganizations that are there laboring to bring relief to this area of disaster
Tweets that mention Would you adopt a Haitian orphan? Do they really need us? | A Blog for Busy Moms - MOMania -- Topsy.com
January 21st, 2010
3:21 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Femme Brulee, HaitiFor.me. HaitiFor.me said: News Update Would you adopt a Haitian orphan? – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) http://ow.ly/16ohyc [...]
summer
January 21st, 2010
3:25 pm
I too foster children and we are adopting 3 of them! But Lynda, I believe a needy child is a needy child no matter where they are from. Yes, we chose to help with in our own community but God Bless any parent that helps a child – no matter where they were born!!!!!
Duchess
January 21st, 2010
3:40 pm
If I were stable financially I definitely would consider adopting.
mom2alex&max
January 21st, 2010
3:41 pm
In re: adopting domestically. It is my understanding that it’s extremely difficult, expensive, and that it takes forever. I know several families that chose to adopt abroad simply because it had become prohibitive here in terms of money and time.
Actually Dar is right..
January 21st, 2010
3:43 pm
@ATLnative, I’m in agreement with you on this..I don’t understand why it takes so long to adopt, a criminal background check can go thru in about 2 days (or less)..I know that prespective parents should be checked out, but come on..I had a very good friend that adopted (here) and it took them 3 years for it to go thru..The man owned his own company, was a Shriner, lifetime friends with the county Sheriff, already had a grown son that is a Preacher and the list could go on and on..BUT, they kept telling him that they had to check him out..
FCM
January 21st, 2010
3:54 pm
@ Carolyn — John Travolta has offered his services as pilot and his personal aircraft. Clooney has a telethon gig in the works and many stars are signed on to help him. There are probably other “celebs” helping too…or does that not count?
Tiger needs me on his PR team
January 21st, 2010
3:54 pm
@Actually Dar is right….I’m in agreement there has got to be a way to streamline the process, but I think that has got to be for everyone and I don’t think that anyone’s personal vita should allow them to fast track their way through. The goal should be to establish thorough, dependable, and expedient background checks for all.
Julia
January 21st, 2010
3:55 pm
Actually Dar is right.. did you forget to change your screen name, Dar has not been on this one yet :)
summer
January 21st, 2010
3:57 pm
The adoption process is long for many reasons but what has taken so much time in our 3 cases – is to make sure the child does not have a relative that is able to care for them. This really is for our protection too! You don’t want to love this child and then a family member comes out of the woodwork after you have adopted them and POOF – your family is in shambles. So although yes it does take a very long time – in my 3 cases – it is truly the best for the child and for us the parents. Patience is very important in all aspects when it comes to a child!!!!!!
FCM
January 21st, 2010
4:00 pm
World champions BRAD PITT and ANGELINA JOLIE have donated $1million to Doctors Without Borders
Rumors are, even the embattled TIGER WOODS is said to have donated money for a mobile hospital.
MATT DAMON’s OneXOne Foundation has been helping Haiti’s children since 2006 and is ramping up efforts to help during the disaster.
JEAN WYCLIFF, TOMMY HILFIGER, DREW CAREY, DAVID ARQUETTE, SHEILA E and DAVID HASSELHOFF reveal what they are doing to help the people of Haiti…
Carolyn go Google it.
Julia
January 21st, 2010
4:00 pm
Actually Dar is right.. no offense here… but I know of Mason’s and Shiners I would not trust to baby sit my cat…. These are personal experiences with these men….
Heather
January 21st, 2010
4:01 pm
I have always wanted to adopt. My husband and I have three happy, healthy children and he was not lead to do so, until the devastation that Haiti has seen. The problem with the SOS stance is that there are at least 380,000 orphans (weather new or old) in an area that has been hit by total devastation. I have made several calls to see what we need to do to begin the process if they bring children to this country that need a home. Problem is no one has been able to tell me what I need to do or who I need to contact.
I understand that bringing a child to another country isn’t going to fix the problems in Haiti; however, these are children and they need medical attention, food, water, shelter and a chance at life.
FCM
January 21st, 2010
4:04 pm
@JATL I apologize if it came across as you felt that mixed families were wrong. I never thought that. My point was that I think that view is changing drastically these days.
Dar
January 21st, 2010
4:05 pm
Cool, I am right and haven’t even said anything. And I won’t. I have no dog in this hunt. It takes all my energy to ruin the one child that I have now….I couldn’t possibly make the time to destroy another one. God Bless all of those who have room in their homes and hearts to bless a child with a family.
Julia
January 21st, 2010
4:08 pm
Heather start at a church that has missions there… Its just a thougt…
Julia
January 21st, 2010
4:09 pm
Oh come on Dar – play with us :)
DB
January 21st, 2010
4:22 pm
To answer the question: No, I wouldn’t adopt from Haiti — or probably not from anywhere else, either. We’ve given some serious thought to being short-term foster parenta for kids who find themselves caught in acute situations in an often impersonal system, and it’s something that we may do when my husband’s out-of-state project is finished later this year. However, adopting a child at this point in our lives, taking them into our family and our lives for all time — I’m just not there.
The thing that I always find fascinating when there are tragedies such as this is how many people talk about adoption of these poor, ravaged kids — as if there hadn’t been at-risk kids throughout the world before this earthquake. Is it because they have suffered a terrible experience that makes us feel like they “need” us more than kids who are stuck in orphanages and foster care throughout the world? I’m all for providing aid where it can do the most good, but let’s face it — bluntly, none of us gave a rat’s ass about Haitian children BEFORE the earthquake, except in a vague, “Oh, that’s too bad, let’s pray for them and send them some shoes and library books” sort of way, and many of them lived in the most devestating poverty known to man. I’m not saying that we should STILL continue to ignore it — but I do find it interesting how this sort of thing awakens some pretty radically protective reactions.
Teonda
January 21st, 2010
4:29 pm
My husband and I have wanted to adopt for years. We had just felt it was the right time and this happened in Haiti’s we were torn to adopt from Haiti or Hong Kong. We could offer a child a good christian home but am having a hard time getting any information.
Julia
January 21st, 2010
4:31 pm
DB you break my heart over you saying that NONE of us gave a rats ass about the children there before this. I beg to differ, I go to a VERY large church in Ga that has missions there all the time, children were being adopted. Did you not see the miracles of the orphanages down there and american families that had adopted these children before this happened and was just waiting on their VISA’s???? If you google Christian adoptions from Haiti, you get oodles of hits.. Look at this website http://newmissions.org/ these people go to churches all over the US making people aware of the needs of children there….
Tiger needs me on his PR team
January 21st, 2010
4:31 pm
@FCM….by the way…that was Tiger’s idea to donate before I even mentioned it to him…you know with me being in his PR inner circle and all! I just tried to get him to publicize his generosity more, but he thought it would appear self serving….he’s really a nice guy.
Logic
January 21st, 2010
4:40 pm
My eyes get watery every time I see the children from Haiti. I my heart so wants to adopt a child, but I don’t have the room & resources to raise the child. I know what its like to be a single parent I raised two girls one is in college and the other will leave for college in 2 1/2 yrs. Getting older is another issue, than I raised the point in my mind what about the children here in the US that need homes. My heart really wants to adopt a child from Haiti so much I had a dream about it last night. Just needed to get it off my chest thought this blog would help. So, if I am not called at this moment than I know God will use me in another way to help the Haiti children. God Bless all those that can…
Becky
January 21st, 2010
4:49 pm
I would love to adopt, since I was never blessed to have children of my own. But due to cost, time, money and other red tape, I don’t think that will happen any time soon.
I don’t think that any of us are not caring of these children, it’s just that there are so many children here that need our help. So, there isn’t any right or wrong in this (IMO).Heck, I have enough to worry about with just the kids in my family that have parents that are first class idiots..
FCM
January 21st, 2010
4:55 pm
@(our) Tiger…i was grinning thinking of you when I copied and pasted that in to my machine….I figured you had a hand in it of course ;)
Tiger needs me on his PR team
January 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
@FCM….as we all know..I’m really the scoundrel here. I wanted him to do it to help his image…HE actually wanted to do it to help the haitians…..he’s a good guy…awful hubby…but a good guy in every other respect!
Connie Jenkins
January 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
I believe the culture shock to these children would be too much for them. My husband and I adopted 5 children from here and the difference in lifestyle was very hard on them even though we are a pretty normal family. I think it would be better for the children of Haiti if people here sponsored some of the orphan homes there so the children could grow up in their own environment.