As some of you know, my family has been in the process of adoption for about 18 months.  We have been in the process with Haiti since this past Fall.  Watching the earthquake coverage has regularly put our hearts in our throats and made us wonder “how long will we sing this song?”  While I hope for a faint hope for children and families who were in the adoption process before the earthquake I am wary of behaviours which would either weaken the sovereignty of Haiti in regard to her most valuable trust or would move children before establishing clearly that there is no one available within the country to parent a child.

Meanwhile, the debate regarding adoption rages on.

Adoption has become a lens through which many other staggering needs and tragedies come into focus.  Looking around through this lens you will see people who have persistently cared and advocated for children, you will see people who use and abuse vulnerable children, you will see people who rush in with good hearts, you will see families at their wits end because they love their children yet struggle to supply their needs, you will see families yearning to be united with their child as bureaucratic processes grind on-slowly, you will see many people debating the merits of adoption, you will see the children.

I appreciated this collection of voices in the New York Times for their varied views in the Haitian adoption situation.