Haiti has long been known as one of the more difficult countries from which to adopt. I confess, though, that I find myself a bit perturbed at comments like, “I don’t know how you could ever stand to adopt from Haiti. It’s so LONG (or hard, or rocky or unstable other unpleasant adjective),” because the thing is, I believe you go where your kids are. We may not enjoy every moment of a difficult adoption journey, but those of us with kids in Haiti must simply grin and bear it. And darn it – some of us need to be adopting from Haiti!

"Grinning and bearing" an adoption from Haiti has taken on a whole new dimension, of late. Over the past few months, Haitian adoption... more

"So, when are your girls from Haiti coming home?"

I hear this question nearly every time I leave my house. There are days that I don't even want to go out in public, for fear I will see someone I know, and then hear this question. I understand that people are just trying to be supportive and interested. However, it only reminds me that my girls are very far from me and that I have zero control over what happens to them.

In the beginning of the adoption, I tried to be upbeat and positive. I would respond with a smile and a chipper attitude, "In about a year!" As time passed, my attitude soured. After I met my girls and my love for them blossomed and deepened, the questions... more

Here is a sample IBESR letter that our agency, Foyer de Sion wrote and included in their adoption packet. We used it as an idea for how to write our own. I am providing this information because I have been asked how to go about writing the IBESR letter. Please do not copy it and “fill in the blanks”. Use it as a guide only.

The IBESR letter should be a positive letter, not apologetic. This is the one chance the clients have to personally prove themselves. The other documents are about them, but they are not written by them. The whole point of this letter is to explain to IBESR why the client would be a wonderful parent for these... more

Continued from Part Four...

The day we returned home, I flew to Idaho for a reunion for another orphanage. I had become acquainted with and developed a friendship with their wonderful, intuitive orphanage director. She invited me to meet some of the board members and staff because I was considering becoming a volunteer for their orphanage. One perk would also be to meet Mr. Cadet and his assistant. I asked him why he did not sign our... more

Continued from Part Three...

On his 6th birthday, we met for the first time. The moment my eyes met his, I knew him though I feared that I would not recognize him. Oh, to hold him was a sweet experience. The same as when I held my newborns for the first time at their births. This was our birth, our first meeting. I was able to spend four glori-ous days at the hotel with Nathaniel.

I studied Kreyòl before I arrived, but it was not enough.... more

Continued from Part Two...

The following week, John asked to see the photos of the children on the website. As we went through the photos, he saw Nathaniel's photo, and he exclaimed, "Him! I want him to be my brother!" That was enough to initially cause me to take notice, but I brushed it off as a coincidence believing that I must have influ-enced John in some way. However, Ellen asked to see the children's photos the next day, and her experience could not be rationalized nor denied.

When she saw Nathaniel's photo, she exclaimed, "That is my brother right there, and I am going... more

Continued from Part One...

A few months later I met with a family who was adopting a group of four sib-lings. One child was with them on a medical visa due to a heart defect, but the other three were still in Haiti. While I visited with them, we talked a lot about adoption, which kept moving back toward adopting in Haiti. Later that evening, I went to a website where their children's photos were located among others at their orphanage. These children... more

Here is the first of hopefully many Haitian adoption stories. It is written by my friend, Becky:

Our youngest was not quite four months old in when I first felt the inclination to assess our options regarding adoption. Megan was only our third child via birth, but my pregnancies were progressively more painful than the last due to a ge-netic anomaly with my hip. We were considering whether our family was now complete or whether we would continue welcoming children into our family via adoption.

Once I overcame the initial exhaustion of the newborn months, I knew that our family was not complete though subsequent pregnancies were not an option. I knew our other... more

Continued from Part Four...

The question posed:

If adopting from Haiti, particularly in the case of an older child, should parental visits to Haiti be allowed or encouraged before the adoption is finalized? I have heard the pros (early bonding) and cons (feelings of abandonment when you leave without the child) on this subject.

And one last response:

Agency 10

I would have to say YES, I believe parents should be allowed to visit prior to the adoption being finalized. I do not believe it is essential for families... more

Continued from Part Three…

If adopting from Haiti, particularly in the case of an older child, should parental visits to Haiti be allowed or encouraged before the adoption is finalized? I have heard the pros (early bonding) and cons (feelings of abandonment when you leave without the child) on this subject.

And more responses:

Agency 5

It is a matter of opinion.......about half of our parents do and the others do not. I myself from a personal stand point think it would be very difficult to leave the child once I held... more