Thurs., 12/9/10 -- Obama Gave HHA His Left-Hand-Scrawl

Help Haiti Act eases adoption process for local family
Ernst Lamothe • Staff writer • December 9, 2010

"Agencies told Josh and Liz Daby to expect 18 to 24 months and the occasional bureaucratic hitch before the paperwork for adopting two children from Haiti was finalized.  While the process remains unfinished more than two years later, the Greece couple received good news from Congress this week that could make their two adoptive Haitian children —Johnny, 3, and Marie, 4, U.S. citizens.

Congress approved the Help Haiti Act and President Barack Obama signed it into law today. The measure instructs the secretary of homeland security to ensure that Haitian orphans receive permanent resident status just like other children adopted abroad by U.S. citizens.

'There is always something that comes up during the adoption process, and we’ve been waiting and trying so hard to finish everything — so anything that makes it easier for us is a blessing,” said Liz Daby, who picked up her adoptive children in Orlando, Fla., in January, almost two weeks after the earthquake. “Now we don’t have to wait years for our children to be U.S. citizens.'

After the Jan. 12 earthquake in the Caribbean country, about 1,000 Haitian orphans were brought to the United Sates for adoption by American families. However, they were placed in a legislative holding pattern in April because the earthquake disrupted the final administrative steps of the adoption process. The Help Haiti bill was introduced to Congress a month later. Without passage, the children might have faced being returned to Haiti if something were to happen to their adoptive families.

'The unprecedented devastation has turned the international adoption process upside down, where it could take years before these children could have any legal status in the U.S,” said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. “In this moment of great uncertainty, we must ensure that these children have the legal protections that they deserve.'

The Dabys, who already had two biological children Emma, 6, and Josiah, 5, recognize the adoption process remains far from finished. With their drafting documents almost completed, they plan to go before Monroe County Family Court in the coming months. Then a judge will determine whether their paperwork is sufficient. Until then, they continue to help their children navigate a new home, culture and language less than a year after they experienced massive calamity in their homeland.

'When the earthquake happened, it was so devastating. We lost some friends there and we were so nervous about getting our children home safe,” said Liz Daby. “We didn’t know how they would adjust in the beginning but they are speaking almost complete English and have adjusted to being part of our family. The process has been difficult, but the end result of us having our kids here has been amazing.'"

This is an article I borrowed from a Google alert; nobody in it I know, personally, and I knew the President's signature was a matter of formality.  Yet, in a process with so many formalities, and many of which put familial relationships on hold for painful amounts of time, it felt really good to see something in the "done" category.