Adoptive Parents Must Wait For Haitian Orphans
Process To Adopt Orphans From Haiti Takes Years
POSTED: Thursday, January 21, 2010
UPDATED: 6:21 pm EST January 22,2010
MIAMI -- The last week has been an emotional rollercoaster ride for families waiting to adopt a child from Haiti.
Schelomy Jerome already has the bed made and a teddy bear waiting for 16-month- old Shelderson, the baby boy she has spent six months trying to adopt from Haiti.
"I have everything here for him. I have food, I can put clothes on him, I have everything, " Schelomy Jerome said.
But before Shelderson can take his first steps in Jerome's home, more paperwork and documents need to be filed.
"It's a long process, a whole lot of paperwork," Jerome said.
Candace O'Brien, of Adopt International, said it can take up to several years just to adopt a child from Haiti.
"You have to go through U.S. Immigration, then you have to go through a legal process in the courts. I this case, the legal process in Haiti is a slow process," O'Brien said.
But the parents do not want to have to wait so long.
"I hope as soon as possible, even if it's temporary, just to be here. He doesn't have to be out there," Jerome said.
"Were still pretty nervous, pretty scared because we don't know the exact condition of the kids and nothing is final until they are actually here on the ground," said Chad Becker, who is working to adopt a child from Haiti.
Becker and Jerome said that until that happens, all parents can do is wait.
For more information on Adopt International, visit
www.adoptintl.com.
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