Now Accepting Families into our Haiti Adoption Program!

3
Mar

adopting from haitiLast year was a big year for our families adopting from Haiti! In 2015, MLJ Adoptions received three referrals for our families. This year kicked off with another referral, this time for a family adopting an older child! Families and children in Haiti are matched by the country’s Central Authority, (IBESR). IBESR is responsible for reviewing the family’s dossier once it arrives in country, reviewing the child’s dossier that has been compiled by the orphanage, overseeing orphanage care, facilitating birth parent education and submitting approved referrals to the Haiti court system for the legal process to begin. So far in our Haiti program, we have received the following referrals:

  • Two year male child
  • Three year old female child
  • Two three year old female children
  • Fifteen year old male child

Adoption Acts Received

Equally as exciting as receiving referrals from Haiti is movement in the process that follows the match. Once a family receives a referral from IBESR, the family travels to Haiti for a two week socialization period. While in country, they will be visited by a social worker. At the end of the socialization period, the social worker must recommend the match to IBESR. Assuming that the match is approved, IBESR submits the necessary documentation to the courts so that the legal adoption process can begin. At the end of the legal adoption process, families receive an Act of Adoption stating that they are now the legal parents of their adopted child!

Two of our families who are adopting from Haiti have received their Act of Adoption! The timeframe for these children to come home is still unknown as the child’s new birth certificate, immigration approvals and the child’s passport still need to be obtained.

Adopting from Haiti in 2016

This month we are also opening up spots in our Haiti program. Because Haiti limits the number of dossiers that each agency is able to submit each month, we have had to limit the number of families we invite into our program. However, we are excited to announce that we now have 10 spots available for interested families!

Haiti requires that married couples who are interested in adopting be married at lea
st five years, and one spouse must be at least thirty years-old. Neither spouse can be over the age of fifty at the time of dossier submission. Single women interested in adopting from Haiti must be between the ages of thirty-five and fifty.

There is great need for international adoption from Haiti, and we are eager to come alongside families as they seek to provide a permanent, loving home for a child.

If you’re interested in learning more about adopting from Haiti, please contact us.MLJ Adoptions is accepting new families into our Haiti Adoption Program!

Photo Credits: Feed My Starving Children

Caitlin Snyder works as the Director of Marketing and Outreach for MLJ Adoptions. Working in international adoption has given Caitlin the unique opportunity to pursue both a passion to advocate on behalf of vulnerable people and a profession at the same time.

Caitlin Snyder works as the Director of Marketing and Outreach for MLJ Adoptions. Working in international adoption has given Caitlin the unique opportunity to pursue both a passion to advocate on behalf of vulnerable people and a profession at the same time.