When Canadian Sarah Wallace became pregnant in Haiti, she and her American husband Jean-Pierre thought they would be able to get the paperwork in order so they could come to Canada to have their baby.
Wallace grew up in Devon, Alta. She moved to Haiti permanently more than 10 years ago to run an organization that works to help children in need in that country. She and her husband have three children: two are nearly adopted and the other is their biological son.
Wallace had complications with her biological son during a home birth in Haiti. She had to rush to hospital for an emergency C-section.
The baby wasn’t making sounds when he was born, and Wallace said she could hear the doctor slapping him. The boy survived but she worries about giving birth again in Haiti now that she is once again pregnant.
“I just don’t feel comfortable staying here,” she said.
“It’s been too frequent in the last two years that hospitals have shut down, roads have been blocked and hospitals just being inaccessible.”
The problem is Wallace can’t bring her whole family home with her. While she, her husband and her biological son would be exempt from COVID-19 travel restrictions, the other two children — whom they consider to be their own — likely can’t come because they are still going through the adoption process.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Canada extending international travel restrictions, mandatory quarantine until Sept. 30
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said while Wallace and her husband are the legal guardians of all three children in their care, at least one of the two children that are being adopted aren’t yet considered immediate family.
“It hadn’t crossed my mind that my kids wouldn’t be considered immediate family,” Wallace said.
She said they applied for their daughter Eva-Maria’s visa first. Her visa request was denied. Her son Jean-Moise hasn’t received his letter from the IRCC yet. Wallace said she believes it would likely get the same response.
In a statement to Global News, the IRCC said “the officer reviewing Eva Maria Doris’ request for exemption from the COVID-19 travel restrictions was not satisfied that the definition of a family member was met. Base on the information submitted, she has not been adopted by a Canadian citizen.”
A petition has been started on behalf of the family to ask the IRCC to reconsider its decision.
Wallace reached out to Sturgeon River-Parkland MP Dane Lloyd for help.
In a statement, Lloyd said “Wallace needs to return to Canada as she is due to give birth in October 2020.”
“Access to appropriate medical services in Haiti is understandably a concern for Sarah, and her desire to return to Canada is only natural. It is also only natural that she should wish her family to accompany her.”
Lloyd said he supports Wallace’s family coming to Canada and is going to reach out to the Minister of Immigration.
“The minister has discretionary powers that he can exercise and I believe this is a situation where he should use them,” Lloyd said.
Wallace said the family has been able to secure Haitian passports for Eva Maria and Jean-Moise. They have also been in touch with the U.S. embassy and she said they have been very helpful.
If they get approval to go to the U.S., Wallace said the family will fly there and then hope there will be enough time to get the OK to go to Canada. The family would then drive to Alberta.
If they don’t get approval to go to Canada, Wallace said she would have the baby in the U.S., but that would leave them with a big hospital bill.
“In Canada, we know we can trust the care, and beyond that, we have family to support us there. It’s home,” she said.
If that doesn’t work, Wallace will try to have a healthy home birth in Haiti.
“The stakes are high,” she said. “The worst-case scenario in Haiti is not being able to get access to a hospital and me — and or the baby — dies.”
Wallace has four more weeks during which she says she can safely travel on a plane.
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