International Adoption - Haiti Observer Blog

Evangelicals have been urging foreign adoption of Haitian children, following 2010's earthquake, which left hundreds of children voluntarily surrendered by their parents.

Christian-affiliated Orphan Sunday, held for the fifth year, has been created to raise awareness of children, who need loving, stable homes. The event is also a learning opportunity to let foreign adopters know they must adhere to adoption laws, to reduce international child trafficking.

Countries, such as Russia, have tightened their adoption laws, to make it more difficult for foreigners to adopt children. The change in adoption laws is a response to obsessive Christian do-gooders, who have been getting children adopted in defiance of adoption laws.

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Adoption is a process of providing couples with new members to add to their family, and most especially a process of giving abandoned children a loving family and a home. That is why a nation's adoption regulations and policies are highly essential in ensuring the well-being and protecting the rights of every child. In Haiti, thousands of smuggled orphans have been reported and most orphanages that cater to about 50,000 Haitian children are poorly managed and have very limited resources.

Based on the poor state of the country's adoption system, the Haitian governments moved to reform and strengthen its legislation on the adoption process of Haitian children. According to several officials, the proposed reform in legislation is committed in ensuring that the state's obligation to the protection of children is being met. It included the policy of having both biological parents to give legal consent when filing their child for adoption. Other requirements noted in the new legislation is that couples trying to adopt a child should have been married for at least five years, with one of them being at least 30 years of age while a single individual filing to adopt should be at least 35 years of age. It has already been thoroughly discussed and documented in the Senate and is now awaiting an approval from the country's Houses of Parliament.

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