Haiti adoption advocates urge patience

AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) - Thousands of kids in Haiti now may be without parents, and many people across the world and in Austin, Texas are wondering how to care for them.

But with the pressing need, adoption advocates are urging patience.

"I would advise you to wait and pray," said Jamie Ivey in a blog post, who just recently adopted a daughter from Haiti, and is waiting on her adopted son, Amos, 4, to come home from the country.

On his blog, Ivey's husband Aaron, urged patience as well.

"Right now, it’s impossible for these orphanages in Haiti to process new adoptions, as all efforts are in 'survival mode,'" Ivey said.

Chris and Necole Marlow are looking to adopt from Haiti after the earthquake.  The Marlows run a non-profit group called Help End Local Poverty.

"We were thinking about countries like Ethiopia and Uganda," said Chris Marlow.

But when the news came last week that Haiti needed help, Marlow said his family had a change of heart to adopt from that country.

"I think now is the time to think about it," said Marlow. But he, too, recommended an approach that helps with immediate needs first.

"If you just donate a simple five dollars to an organization that you trust, that can make an immediate impact now, and that can be the same kid that's adopted in six or seven months," Marlow said.

Adoption experts say the kids that surface after a natural disaster may still have mothers and fathers that are still alive.

"In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, it is often difficult to ascertain that a child is truly an orphan," said Martha Osborne, a contributor to the adoption advocate site RainbowKids.com. "It is not ethical to place a child for adoption unless it is clear that no parent able to care for that child will be found."

In 2009, the U.S. State Department approved 330 adoptions from Haiti.

Many parents, like the Iveys, are in the final stages of their Haitian adoptions.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Friday, said it is considering a Humanitarian Parole for pending adoption cases.

"The State Department continues to make adoptions a priority and we are continuing to work on adoption cases," DHS officials said in a recent blog post.

The Haitian government considers those waiting to bring children home legal parents. The adoptions are finalized in Haiti, but it can still take months to bring children home.

Since the earthquake, the process has come to a near stand still, as adoption advocates report the buildings holding many of the adoption papers are destroyed.

Executive director Kathleen Strottman of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute said staffers from more than 30 congressional offices met Friday with the State Department and other agencies involved in foreign adoptions.

Strottman said that the State Department is considering what is an appropriate use of its authority to ensure the children are safe. Many families have been pushing for emergency visas that would allow the children to come to the United States.