25437: jhudicourtb (reply) adoption (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JHUDICOURTB@aol.com

I think that people who worry about why the adoption laws in Haiti are so
complicated need to think a little bit about the thinking of those who write
the
laws in Haiti.   There has not been an active legislature for many years, and
adoption in the mind of those elected in the last 10 years was not on the
priority list.   Their main issue was whether the money goes to the government
or
to the NGOs. Who would modify the laws to make them more flexible?   The way
that some people in Haiti deal with a difficult adoption, is that they simply
go to the "officier d'etat civil" and declare the birth of a child.   On paper
it looks like they are biological parents.   It is not uncommon for chidlren
to get official birth papers many years after their birth.   In fact I did not
get an official birth certificate until I was to register for the Certificat,
I was 10 years old.
Some Americans have found it easier to take the child to the US on a tourist
visa first, then complete the adoption in the US.   If your lawyer in Haiti is
not giving you satisfaction you should go talk to another, and get some
advice from different people who run orphanages.

One of the sequels of the slavery history of Haiti is that some of the
Haitian legislators have worried about adoption being a way to re-enslave
Haitians.
 Since so many Haitians accept the Restavèk type relationship, there are many
in Haiti who think that if you   want a Haitian child, you might want that
child to serve you.   So in the mind of those who make the law they have to
find
a way to protect Haitian children from slavery.   When you think about it,
how many black people adopt a white child?   Just think about the incongruous
thoughts this brings to those in the US to think of a two parent black family
who already have their own biological children, who would decide that they
will
go to an orphanage in Eastern Europe, and adopt a white child to bring back in
raise in their black family in New York City.
Those of you who see a poor motherless child in Haiti may think mainly of
your relationship with that particular child, but as all legislators, those
who
wrote the laws in Haiti thought about the society in general.   To them
adoption was an option that childless people would consider after trying hard
to have
their own, otherwise the adopting parent must have other motivations.

There are also many Haitian scary stories about white lougawous wanting
Haitian children... There are children who find the change very traumatic...
Many Haitian mothers would do anything for their child to have a good life,
and when we see a happy Haitian child living with a white foreign family we
think that child is very lucky.   But it is not always a rosy love story.