I learned about our daughter, Georgia, from my friend, Tana. She had met Georgia on a Parent Trip to Haiti. She had noticed Georgia, standing off by herself, afraid of all of the commotion. Tana spent a little time with Georgia, but never got her to smile. Our adoption coordinator sent me lots of photos of Georgia in the beginning—photos she had been collecting for nearly a year. Georgia was not smiling in any of them. In fact, she was downright sobbing in some. We learned that Georgia... more

I try and look for news articles about or from Haiti on a regular basis. This morning, I found a happy story, as well as a tragic story. I thought these two stories well-represent Haiti—a country filled with sorrow and strife; but one with great promise and hope.

MONTREAL - A freelance photographer was gunned down in his home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, apparently a victim of gang wars, Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday.

Jean-Remy Badio was shot Friday at his home in Martissant, a... more

Continued from Part One...

In October of 2006, a new IBESR director was assigned. Her name is Madame Beaudin, and so far she has improved the process in IBESR and signed out hundreds of files.

The new hang-up is now with Civil Court. Adoption files are getting stuck there for months. Who knows what the reasons are? Civil Court was recently vandalized. They say they need time to clean-up before they can get back to signing files out. In Haiti, that could mean just about anything.

I have heard that files have been held up due to pride, stubbornness, and possible lack of bribes. If you ever travel... more

Probably the most common question we have received during our Haitian adoption is, “Why does it take so long?”

I recently received the comment from Thomasina:

Wendy,

I'm following your story with great interest. Somehow, though, I missed the part where you talk about why the government of Haiti (or whoever) is drawing this process out for you and your children. Why can't you go and get them? Please link me to your blog entry where you explain. Sorry for my naiveté about such things and best of luck to you!

After reading her comment, I realized that there may be many of you who do not understand why it can take so long to adopt... more

Flights to Haiti just got cheaper:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Discount carrier Spirit Airlines will offer flights between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Haiti's capital beginning in March, the airline said.

The Fort Lauderdale-based airline will have three flights per week to Port-au-Prince starting March 22 and will offer daily flights starting in May, Spirit said in a statement. Spirit's one-way fares between Fort Lauderdale and Port-au-Prince will start at US$93, according to its Web site, compared to US$255 for American Airlines flights. Barry Biffle, the airline's chief marketing officer, said in a statement that the new service would give the 250,000 people of... more

Our adoption coordinator and a group of adoptive parents traveled to Haiti on January 11th. They returned home last week on the 18th with heavy hearts, adorable photos, and great travel stories. I should have been on that trip. I had been planning on joining the group up until a month before they left. I suddenly felt like I shouldn’t go. I was still exhausted from the previous trip. I realized it would be a big financial burden right after Christmas. Our kids at home were dreading our departure, and I started to wonder just how good it actually... more

Last week, I received a lovely email from a new reader. She was sharing with me how her heart was for adoption. She had spent quite a bit of time with research for Chinese adoption, only to discover the new rules would exclude her from being able to adopt from China. She had felt drawn toward Haitian adoption in the past, and with the recent news about China, started looking more at Haitian adoption. She told me that she was happy to find my Haiti blog, because there wasn’t much available in regards to personal stories about adopting from Haiti. She is right.... more

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to bring your child or children with you to their new sibling’s country of birth, you might find this list helpful:

The Pros

• Your child will get to see his sibling’s country of birth. He/she will be able to tell his/her sibling about their country from personal experience. • Your child will be able to bond with his/her new sibling without the distractions of regular life. • He/she will be able to understand exactly where their new sibling is coming from. It may enable them to treat them with more love and patience, and possibly feel less threatened by their arrival in the family. • Your child will... more

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to bring your child or children with you to their new sibling’s country of birth, you might find this list helpful:

The Cons

• Traveling might be too intense for your child. • Your child might get sick (Ryland did. We gave him Cipro, and thankfully he recovered quickly. However, it was worrisome for us at the time). • Your child will most likely be bored on the trip. This can be draining; trying to keep him/her entertained when you are busy with your new child and adoption arrangements, too. • You quite possibly will have to deal with siblingitis much sooner than you’d care to. This could make a stressful... more

Continued from Part One...

Last July (2006), my husband and I went to Haiti to meet our two new daughters. While we were there, we decided that it would be great for our older children to experience Haiti. Haiti is like nothing I have ever personally seen before. It is the perfect description for extreme poverty. Around the same time we went to Haiti for the first time, our son, Ryland was constantly complaining about his “rough”... more