I've discussed here on the blog that as a pioneer family in Haiti's new adoption process, we have to expect the unexpected. Eric and I certainly aren't novices to the world of international adoption, but I can say I am very relieved this isn't our first adoption. This process is nerve wracking! Praise God, we know Who to trust!
Haitian officials and creches and adoption agencies are all slowly walking out the new procedures with families. The process is gradually unfolding. I'd describe it as walking a rickety footbridge with the next wooden plank appearing only after your foot is raised for your next step!
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And then comes the news earlier this month-- Haiti has joined the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention. (What is the Hague? Read here for the details.) This was expected but no one knew exactly when it would occur. I have to admit that this news has concerned me (and other adoptive families I know). In the past, countries have been shut down to international adoption due to failure to correctly implement Hague procedures. This would be devastating for children and families on so many levels.
"Haiti has deposited their instrument of ratification to the Hague Permanent Bureau as of December 16, 2013, joining the 1993 Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention. The Convention will go into force for Haiti on April 1, 2014, provided the Bureau approves. The deposit means that following April 1, 2014, adoptions from Haiti must be Hague compliant." Read more HERE
To break it down, the U.S. State Department is now preparing to fully evaluate Haiti's adoption procedures to see if they are in full compliance with Hague standards. In fact, next week representatives from the State Department will travel to Haiti to meet with IBESR officials to begin the evaluation process. On April 1, 2014, the State Department will announce Haiti's Hague status to the public. Eric and I and many others are praying that the news will be positive and that there will be no interruptions in Haitian adoptions. Read more HERE
Now here's where the happy, hopeful news comes in. :)
I had been debating for several days whether or not to email our adoption coordinator to ask about how this Hague process may affect the progress of our adoption. The thought of things being put on hold in our journey to W while waiting for 2 nations work out their "issues" is just awful! Then on Wednesday I received an email from our agency coordinator written to all of her Haiti families. My heart began to race. Would this be good news or bad??
Here are a few portions of that email. My comments are in red.
"Dear Haiti Waiting families,
As you all know the Haitian government submitted their instrument to the Hague in December 2013, and on April 1, 2014 Haiti will be officially a Hague country operating under the Hague convention. Let me share with you what I know for today and hopefully it will help you with your questions and how we are planning on moving forward.
Right now the US government (USCIS/DOS) will review Haiti’s implementation of the Hague to determine if they are in compliance. Haiti has worked hard over the last couple of years to put everything in place that needed to be done to be compliant, things like; licensing foreign agencies to work in their country, forming and approving new adoption laws that provided for international adoption, and naming a central authority, just to name a few. Haiti is already operating under all these new laws and regulations so hopefully once the US government does their review they will find that Haiti is in compliance and adoptions will continue between US citizens and Haitian born children.
One of the biggest changes to adoption in Haiti is that The Hague does not allow for pre-identified children to be placed for adoption unless it is a relative adoption.
This is where I got a bit nervous. Our adoption for W is a pre-identified case.
There should be no contact with a child prior to being approved by the US government, and a family cannot meet with or have contact with a biological parent/family.
Whew! Ok, we're good. We've only "met" our guy via videos and photos and stories from other families who know him.
The US government will give their guidelines and suggest that Haiti honor all cases in process, and we are hopeful that they will, but in the meantime, I will be working closely with the crèches in Haiti so that we get our pre-identified cases into IBESR before March 31.
We are already in the IBESR review process, as of December 3rd.
I want to note here that members of USCIS and DOS (i.e. U.S. Immigration and U.S. Department of State) will be traveling to Haiti sometime in the next couple of weeks and meeting with government officials and IBESR and going over the current laws and the implementation of the Hague. They will discuss grandfathering cases on this trip, along with many other things in conjunction with moving ahead with international adoptions under the Hague regulations.
Lastly, I think it is important for everyone to be aware and be prepared that from this point forward the two week visit trip will be required. Once your case is approved with IBESR and you are officially matched with a child, you will be required to travel to Haiti for the two week visit trip.
Our family is waiting and praying, and praying and waiting to hear that we've been approved with IBESR!
A social worker will observe you with your child/children {eeek!} and make a report that is submitted to IBESR as the final portion of the matching process. {Ohhhh I hope that last part is fast!} We do not have word as to how IBESR is monitoring these trips, but from this point forward we know that it is a requirement.
We are hopeful that we will be able to travel to Haiti before the winter ends! This is our continual prayer. :)
I just want to end by saying that I am very optimistic that Haiti is Hague ready and that they will be able to continue processing adoptions after March 31, 2014. There should only be a few changes to the process at this point, as many have already been made and we have been able to work through them. I am planning on forging ahead with a positive attitude!"
Yay!! This is very good news!! Thank you SO much for this encouraging and informative email. :)
I felt SO much better after reading her email. But I did have one more very pertinent question: How would this affect adoptions currently in IBESR (like ours)? Will IBESR halt with processing cases currently the system until Haiti is Hague approved? Gulp...
I shot our coordinator a quick email and she responded very quickly:
Good question Jennifer and the answer is they will in fact try to process as many as possible!
Hallelujah! That sounds really, really hopeful.
"...process as many {cases, like ours} as possible {before the March 31st deadline}!"
Like maybe we receive our approval soon and actually travel to Haiti before the end of March to meet W!?! Oh my heart...
Our dear friends, if you've made it to the end of this post, Bless you, you are awesome! I know my posts tend to be long. (My sweet hubs agrees with this--ha!) There are just so many thoughts swirling around in my head and heart. ;)
I do ask one thing: Will you please pray continually with us for W and this whole adoption process?
Thank you all!
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| image from poweryourparenting.com |
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