| Parental Age | Currently couples between the ages of 30 to 60. The pending adoption law will limit ages to one parent 30 or over and both no older than 50. Single women between the ages of 35 and 60. (Some agencies have more restrictive age requirements.) |
| Length of Marriage | - Currently couples must have been married for very close to 10 years or more.
- Under the new law, which is pending, couples will need to show five years of marriage.
|
| Divorce | No country requirement but some agencies impose a requirement |
| Children in Family | Currently: Childless couples strongly preferred. All families that have biological children living in the home need a Presidential Waiver to adopt. Haitian social services will submit dossiers of families having a maximum of three biological children living in the home for Dispensation. Some agencies no longer accept families with biological children in the home because the waiting times for Presidential Waivers were excessive and often refused. Waivers are more often granted if children in the home are adopted. Under the pending adoption law, childless couples will be allowed to adopt any child. Families with a maximum of two children, biological or adopted, will be allowed to adopt children with medical needs or those over age five. |
| Single Applicant | Single women allowed. Haiti is one of the few countries with less restrictive policies toward single woman than for couples. |
| Sexual Orientation | Does not knowingly place with homosexuals The pending law specifically excludes homosexual families. |
| Children Available | All ages of children, from birth to young teens, including infants, toddlers, older children, sibling groups, and special needs |
| Race/Ethnicity | Black |
| Gender | Boys and girls; parents may request gender |
| Adopting more than one unrelated child at same time | Yes |
| Travel in Country | - One parent must travel, although escorts may be allowed when it is not safe to travel to Haiti.
- 3-7 days
- Parents do not travel in groups
|
| Referral Method | Standard; Depending on the orphanage, either orphanage director or agency matches referrals to families, or families are allowed to choose from a private data base once home study is approved. |
| Wait for referral (after dossier submitted) | Since referrals are made to the agency to match with families on their waiting list, there is great variation from no wait to up to two years depending on the flexibility of the family and how many parents are on the list. |
| Wait after referral | Varies greatly 12-30 months (Those who meet the letter of the law are going through in as little as nine months, those who need Dispensations/Presidential Waivers are taking far, far longer) |
| Approximate Cost | $13,000-17,000 + travel |
| Youngest Age Upon Arrival Home | 10 months, but most are at least 24 months due to the waiting times. |
| Orphanage/Foster Care | Orphanages run by charitable organizations, some children in large group homes. |
| How children enter government care | Abandonment or relinquishment of rights due to poverty or death. |
| Prevalence of FAS | Not enough placements to get a consensus from IA doctors interviewed. Given the nature of Haitian society, agencies and families report that they have not seen many substance exposed children. |
| Adequacy of medical reports | With privately run orphanages, the reports are fairly good since children get regular medical care. |
| Program Stability | Variable |
| Number of children placed in the US 2002- 2009 | 2,155 |
| Growing/Declining | Growing |
| Post Adoption Reports | There is some confusion on what the country itself actually requires, but most agencies are telling families that family prepared reports are required annually until the child is 18. Pending law states the following: “These reports must arrive at IBESR every 4 months during the three (3) first years and twice (2 times) a year during the following two (2) years. “ |
| Hague Treaty | No |
| Additional Information | Adoption finalized in Haiti. The US State Department periodically issues travel warnings for travel to Haiti due to political unrest. Go to www.travel.state.gov to check the current status. Delays are common in Haitian adoptions and are often outside the control of even the best agency. Some Haitian orphanages prefer to place with Christian or Jewish families, others have no restrictions. Adopting parents are required to submit a psychological evaluation and cost should be factored into total cost. May be possible to meet birth parents. |
| Useful Links | US Department of State US Department of State Adoption Inquiries Joint Council on International Children's Services click on country information Yahoo group Haitianadopt Creating a Family blog on Adopting From Haiti Post Earthquake |
| CAF Sponsors that place from Haiti | Dillon International Adoption Agency |
