Saturday, January 30, 2010

Misinformation about Haitian Adoption: Potential Arrests without the Right Paper


American adoption agencies say they are being swamped with calls from people so moved by Haiti's tragedy that they'd like to adopt an orphaned child.
The U.S. government is fast-tracking visas for hundreds of children whose adoptions were already in process, but officials say any wider effort will have to wait.

Kelly Rourke runs Building Arizona Families, an adoption agency in Surprise, Ariz. She says her agency has gotten calls from across the country.
"Some are Haitian originals who have become U.S. citizens and want to go back and help their country," she says. "Others are families who are just looking to help and make a difference in somebody's life. We've had everybody from the family next-door to someone in Alaska."
Rourke has also fielded a good deal of misinformation.

"We must be vigilant not to separate children from relatives in Haiti who are still alive but displaced, or to unknowingly assist criminals who traffic in children in such desperate times."

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