In the US, adoptions of children from Haiti have increased over the past years to 330 in 2009. In Canada, the number of Haitian children adopted increased to 148 in 2008 making it the fourth most popular country Canadians adopted from that year. For both countries, the number of children adopted from Haiti is expected to rise considering the recent earthquakes in Port-au-Prince.
Why Do People Want to Adopt Orphans From Haiti?
An event such as the earthquakes in Haiti, often prompt the general public to think about how they can help the people, particularly children, who have been affected by devastating events. Some common motivations for adopting orphans include:
- Feeling the need to rescue helpless children whose parents have died
- Wanting to become a parent and are interested in adopting internationally
- Desire to offer help globally but in a personal way
Those who are considering adopting an orphaned child needs to be honest with themselves about their reason for adopting from Haiti. The international adoption process is challenging and prospective parents need to be sure about their desire to adopt before beginning the process.
What are the Benefits of Adopting an Orphaned Child From Haiti?
The most obvious benefit of adopting an orphaned child is that the adopting parents will have a child and the child will have a family. Other benefits of adopting an orphaned child are:
- The child will likely have a positive life experience in the adoptive home.
- The adoptive family will have a broader cultural experience if they adopted a child of a different culture or race than their own.
- The adoptive family may feel more at ease around birthparent issues because there is no possibility of birth family contact if the child is truly orphaned.
Despite thousands of Haitian children being available for adoption after the earthquakes, adoptive families still need to do a homestudy and paperwork required by their state or province. Adoption agencies that facilitate adoptions from Haiti are the best resource for providing information on how to begin the adoption process.
What are the Risks of Adopting Orphans From Haiti?
There are, however, many risks in adopting an orphan from a country such as Haiti and prospective adoptive parents need to consider all issues before choosing to adopt from a devastated country. Aside from the issues of cost and timelines that are prevalent in intercountry adoptions, adoptions from Haiti have some unique considerations.
- Haiti is not part of the Hague Convention which provides guidelines for foreign adoptions.
- Costs and length of time to wait for a child may increase due to administrative issues as a result of Haiti’s circumstances.
- Difficulties getting the child out of the country based on delays in paperwork and security issues.
- Possibility of illegal activity such as bribery and baby trafficking especially when the country is experiencing economic difficulties.
- Orphans may have unknown health problems due to lack of healthcare and the current state of the orphanages.
In addition to the issues that happen at the time of adoption, adopted Haitian children may experience huge losses as they begin to understand the nature of their circumstances. It will be very important for adoptive families to put supports in place to help adopted children adjust to a new culture, as well as to process their adoption status.
It is natural for people to want to help orphans by considering adoption, when a country such as Haiti experiences catastrophic events. However, prospective adoptive families need to make sure this is in the best interest of both themselves as well as the Haitian child. For information on how to proceed with an international adoption read How to Adopt a Child from Another Country and Paying for Adoption in Canada.
References
Family Helper Website
Office of Children’s Issues, United States Department of State Website
Unicef Website
Angela Krueger - As an adoptive parent and PRIDE adoption trainer, Angela uses her insights to help others on their adoption journey.
