A Langley couple trying to adopt a Haitian baby girl welcomed news that Canadian immigration officials were fast-tracking adoptions but called the process like walking in the dark.
“Every day, you wait for news from Haiti and then you wait for news from Canada – you are walking in darkness but you keep walking because you have to find that light,” said Michelle Eisler, who along with husband Michael are trying to adopt infant Nathalia, born last Oct. 10.
“This is my family. This is my first-born. But sometimes you feel it is a very vicious circle you are in. It is a roller-coaster of emotion.”
Eisler said she was “thrilled” when Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced last week that authorization has been secured for the adoption of 154 Haitian children. Kenney urged parents to be patient – a term the Eislers have come to know very well.
The Eislers thought Nathalia, from Thomassin about 20 kilometres from Port-au-Prince, would be home in a matter of weeks, but the two-year-long adoption process is up in the air now due to red tape in both countries.
“It has been very overwhelming because we don’t know where we stand,” said Eisler, 38. “There is still a lot of confusion for many families.”
Rachel Timmins, of the Adoptive Families Association of B.C., said there is a lot of interest in adopting Haitian kids but added the fast-tracking only applies to families already in the adoption process.
“So many people want to help and do what they can,” Timmins said. “The best way to immediately help is to donate to orphanages.”
Timmins suggested people donate only to established organizations like the Haitian Children’s Home, God’s Littlest Angels-Haiti or the Canadian Foundation for the Children of Haiti.
Meanwhile, a Burnaby mom was relieved to learn that the two families of her adopted daughters, aged 13 and 11, survived the massive earthquake.
“We had a happy reunion on the phone,” mom Deborah Duncan said. “It was a long wait but personally we have had pretty good news.”
Duncan said the birth mother and brother of her eldest daughter, Taphatna, survived the quake but it destroyed their home in Port-au-Prince and they are now homeless.
The house in Port-au-Prince belonging to the birth mother and siblings of Duncan’s youngest daughter, Camaciz, was damaged but no one was seriously injured.
“It has been hard for them to hear and see what has been going on in their home country, but they are pretty resilient girls,” said Duncan, a 59-year-old children’s librarian in Coquitlam. “They have been through a lot in their young lives.”
Duncan added she, too, welcomed news of fast-tracking for prospective adoptive parents.
“I think it is great that they want to expedite the ones already in progress,” Duncan said. “It is not a good idea to just open the floodgates.”
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