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I normally post at Ukraine Adoption Blog and I will continue to do so. But I was given an opportunity to post on my recent research.
I would like to adopt a second child and I have been exploring my options; foster, domestic, international. Getting Started with my second adoption has been so much harder than my first adoption.
Maybe I am just more aware of what can go wrong. And this is why my research and decision making are taking so much longer. I have been researching for more than 1 year now.
I started exploring adopting from Haiti because they allow single mothers to adopt. But then I moved onto the statistics. I am an analytical person and really appreciate numbers.
The United States Office of Immigration Statistics produces a document called the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. It breaks down all international adoptions completed by American families from 1996 to 2006 by country, gender and age.
From 1996 to 2006, Americans adopted 2,060 children from Haiti.
- 42% were male
- 58% were female
- 11% were under 1 year of age
- 48% were 1 to 4 years of age
- 41% were 5 years or older
I would like to adopt a girl over 5 years of age. This is very possible based on the above statistics.
I have also been reading the US Embassy in Haiti’s 18 page document on adoption. I found out via this document that the Institut du Bien Etre Social et de Recherches (IBESR) certifies orphanages. And many of these orphanages are privately run by charities.
So I started reading about the orphanages. Many have their own web sites. The reading just never ends. 
It is at this point that I discovered a problem. Many of these privately run orphanages have specific religious requirements. One for example will only allow “bible Christians” to adopt children.
So I started emailing orphanages, agencies and facilitators to see if there is any chance that I could adopt. And it turned out that I wasn’t the right flavor of Christian for many of these orphanages.
This was fine. I understand that everyone makes their own rules. But the rejection frustrated me. I started to give up when I found Crèche Enfant de l’Jèsus and Foyer de Sion. Neither one seems to have a specific religious requirement.
With that barrier out of the way I started looking at other factors. I would only be in Haiti for 3 to 5 days after the adoption was completed. And the estimated cost of $15,000 and $18,000 is very reasonable.
I understand there are challenges. But Haiti is looking like a good adoption option for me.
Videos
God’s Littlest Angels – video 1, video 2
For His Glory Adoption Outreach – video 1, video 2
New Life Orphanage
Petits Anges de Chantel orphanage
The children of Haiti are waiting
We used Wasatch adoptions for our China adoption. They work with Foyer de Sion. We adopted Lilly from a orphanage nemed Petit angels de chantel in port au prince. You can do an independent adoption through them. The kids are amazing and the director takes the best care of her kids and their families. There website is http://www.littleangelshaiti.org
Heidi
Thanks so much for the link.
Angela, I too am just now exploring Haiti adoption and found your post very informative, thank you. Are you proceeding with Haiti adoption, and if so, what agency are you using and how is it going?
Jane
Jane: We adopted from Haiti in late 2005 from New Life Link, using Heritage Adoption. The difficulties with IBESR and the Ministry of Interior resulted in my husband having to make a trip to Port-au-Prince to facilitate the passport and other papers. But our son is a complete joy, very healthy and loving. He was in the orphange for 1 year and was 20 months when we brought him home.
Laura
My family is in the process of adopting a 5 year old girl from the Bresma orphanage in Port Au Price. We have been at it since Late January and entered IBESR mid May. We were recently told that due to the current delays in MOI, we can expect to get our daughter home next spring. We have traveled to Haiti twice this year and will return again in December. We are able to spend the entire time with our daughter. She is only 5 so we need to reassure her that we are still here for her and that eventually she will join our family.
I stronly recommend making the trip to Haiti. You will appr34eciate the plight of the Haitian people as well as the orphans and at the same time spend important time bonding with your child.
If you choose to go, please write back to me. There is much you need to understand BEFORE making this journey.
Hey guys
My husband and I are thinking about adopting a child in Haiti, my husband was born in Haiti and lived in an orphanage for 2 years. He found his family and came to America. It’s something we always wanted to do. We just don’t know where to start. Please help
Twillacey@msn.com
We are in the process of adopting a 1 year old boy from Haiti, we are working with CASI Foundation for children. We started the whole thing in Feb. 07, our Dossier just got out of Minister of Foriegn Affairs, and is being prepared for IBESR. We had thought from the beginning that we were not going to go to Haiti at all for the adoption process, but now CASI is saying it will be hard, if not impossible and possible delays if we do not go to Haiti. I have no problem with going to Haiti, anything to make the process quicker, but my husband is really against going to Haiti.(Safety reasons) Can people that have been there, please let me know how it is down there,
I am very new to this chatting thing, I am not even sure how you read all this stuff!
Thanks for help from anyone!
kkcascio@comcast.net
The Creating a Family website has a recently updated adoption chart for Haiti. I found it helpful in learning about the basic factors you need to know when considering a Haiti adoption. Hope you find it helpful as well.
http://www.creatingafamily.com/index.php?content=adoption/charts
are there any less expensive adoption routes. Less than $10k? Do you have to be married?
I’m trying to find someone who has adopted from Haiti successfully. My husband and I are looking to adopt two siblings…