NYT - Russian Orphanage Offers Love, but Not Families

From my archive of press clippings:

New York Times

Russian Orphanage Offers Love, but Not Families

James Hill for The New York Times


A child at Orphanage No. 11. Of the 45 to 50 children there, just one has been adopted this year.


By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
Published: May 3, 2010


MOSCOW — There is nothing dreary about Orphanage No. 11. It has rooms filled with enough dolls and trains and stuffed animals to make any child giggly. It has speech therapists and round-the-clock nurses and cooks who delight in covertly slipping a treat into a tiny hand. It has the feel of a place where love abounds.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The case of a Russian boy who returned alone to Moscow, sent back by his American adoptive mother, has focused intense attention on the pitfalls of international adoption."

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"Ms. Mizulina noted that for all the complaints about the return of the boy, Artyom Savelyev, by his adoptive mother in Tennessee, Russia itself has plenty of experience with failed placements. She said 30,000 children in the last three years inside Russia were sent back to institutions by their adoptive, foster or guardianship families."

CSM - Why 27 Haiti orphans, adopted by US parents, are stuck in Haiti. The Haiti government, concerned about child trafficking, has stalled adoptions

From my archive of press clippings:

Christian Science Monitor

Why 27 Haiti orphans, adopted by US parents, are stuck in Haiti

The Haiti government, concerned about child trafficking, has stalled adoptions of orphans in the wake of the earthquake.

By Howard LaFranchi Staff writer / January 28, 2010

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

A group of 27 Haitian orphans – with documents in order and the blessings of the US government to travel to their adoptive American families – have been stopped from leaving by the Haitian government.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Marc Bellerive decided Jan. 22 that even children granted “humanitarian parole” by the US government in order to expedite their departure from Haiti’s post-earthquake disaster will have to complete an exit process with the prime minister’s office.

But the new process has yet to be defined. For now, the 27 adoptive families in the US who had thought they would be united with their children are still waiting."

"The Haitian government halted the adoptions even as it faces what is arguably Haiti’s biggest crisis in its history. The government’s decision to slow the adoption process is especially galling to adoption advocates in the US and in Haiti since it comes as millions of Haitian children face such adversities as deteriorating living conditions, exposure to disease, and lost schooling as a result of the quake.

At the same time, the Haitian government faces a chorus of warnings from some domestic and international child advocates who say the aftermath of such disasters is often a time of increased child-trafficking."

"In a statement issued Wednesday by the State Department in Haiti, the US government said it is “seeking to expedite the departure of children approved for humanitarian parole so they may be united with their U.S. adoptive parents.”

But the US was also careful not sound critical of the Haitian government’s decision, saying the US government recognizes that “in the aftermath of a crisis such as the Haiti earthquake, children are especially vulnerable,” and that there is “an increased potential for abuse of, and trafficking in, children.”"

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"The US says it has approved 500 Haitian orphans for “humanitarian parole,” 200 of whom are already with the American families."

POLITICO - Senators speak out for Haitian orphans

From my archive of press clippings:

Politico

Senators speak out for Haitian orphans

By JAMES HOHMANN 1/27/10 4:41 AM EST

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), eager to capitalize on the goodwill engendered by the month's earthquake, held a news conference with six other senators to push a bill that would create a new office in the State Department that coordinates adoption policy. Photo: AP

A bipartisan group of senators pushed Tuesday for the federal government to ease requirements for Americans to adopt Haitian orphans.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), eager to capitalize on the goodwill engendered by the month’s earthquake, held a news conference with six other senators to push a bill that would create a new office in the State Department that coordinates adoption policy."

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Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32055.html#ixzz0dqr874nf

ABC12 - Local man tries to get daughter out of Haiti

From my archive of press clippings:

ABC12

Local man tries to get daughter out of Haiti

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Autumn Perry

FLINT (WJRT) -- (01/24/10) -- A local sheriff's deputy whose daughter was injured in the earthquake says he's running out of time.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Prisnor Pascal found his little girl nearly a week ago, but, but can't get her out of the country.

Pascal is a U.S. citizen. His daughter isn't."

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"(T)he number-one priority is evacuating U.S. citizens.

When the earthquake hit, 45,000 U.S. citizens were living in Haiti. American officials are still trying to get many of them out of the country.

The second priority for the State Department is Haitian orphans who were being adopted by U.S. Citizens."

JO - 'Jamaican couples want Haitian children too'

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

'Jamaican couples want Haitian children too'

BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, January 24, 2010


AMERICAN couples are apparently not the only ones lining up to adopt Haitian orphans, thousands of whom are without a home following the deadly January 12 earthquake which flattened sections of the country.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Wealthy Jamaicans, many of them unable to have their own children, also seem poised to join that race if a channel should open up to allow them a quick and smooth transition into parenthood."

"Dr William Aiken, consulting urologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, said he is aware of some Jamaican couples who are willing to adopt Haitian orphans if given the opportunity."

"While many will argue that Jamaica has its fair share of orphans to be adopted, Aiken insists that this is easier said than done. He told the Sunday Observer that there is a lot of bureaucracy and red tape which make it a long and tedious process for Jamaican children to be adopted."

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"Tens of thousands of Haitian children are believed to have been orphaned by the earthquake, according to reports from aid groups on the ground in Haiti. But officials have not yet been able to provide a number. However, even before the deadly magnitude-7.0 earthquake, Haiti -- one of the world's poorest countries -- was awash in orphans, with 380,000 children living in orphanages or group homes, the United Nations Children's Fund reported on its website.
Some of the children, it said, lost their parents in previous disasters, including four tropical storms or hurricanes that killed about 800 people in 2008, deadly storms in 2005 and 2004, and massive floods almost every other year since 2000. Others were abandoned amid the Caribbean nation's long-running political strife, which has led thousands to seek asylum in the US -- without their children -- or by parents who were simply too poor to care for them."