Haitian Orphans

The recent tragedy in Haiti has caused many to inquire about adopting Haitian orphans. The media has reported that plane loads of orphans have left Haiti for the United States. Our firm has received numerous inquires about adopting these children. The United States ratified the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption. Therefore, all adoption involving a person who is an habitual resident of one country by a person who is an habitual resident of another country must be done in compliance of the Hague. While I am no expert on the Hague Convention, one would think that boarding children onto an airplane and flying them to the United States without going through the proper channels would violate the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption. Certainly those children desperately need care, but I believe that care will be in the nature of short-term foster care rather than permanent adoption, until inquires can be made in Haiti, at the very least to determine whether or not the children are, in fact, orphans and to determine if there are other family members capable of raising, and perhaps desperately searching for, the children.

Families interested in adopting Haitian orphans might want to look into adoption opportunities in the United States. Typically, it is very difficult to find homes for minority children and children with special needs in the United States. Families are always needed. In fact, Indiana considers those children to be “hard to place”. If a family would consider adopting a Haitian child, they might want to consider adopting an African-American or African-American mixed child from the United States. Additionally, children whose birth parents have a history of mental illness, bipolarism, in particular, and children who have been exposed to alcohol and drugs prior to birth are also “hard to place”. There are plenty of opportunities to adopt those children right here in Indiana.

For more information about the adoption of “hard to place” children, please contact us at Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C.