What Were They Thinking?!

I'm annoyed today. Really annoyed. Several of my poor girlfriends have already been subjected to my impassioned rant about the recent situation in Haiti that left 10 Baptists charged with child trafficking for attempting to put 33 Haitian children (some of whom were not even orphans) on a bus and take them to the Dominican Republic without the paperwork or the authority to remove the children from the country. Now, thanks to some big-hearted people who failed to do the most basic of homework on Haitian law, the Haitian government will be looking at foreign adoption with an even more severe lens. And perhaps, rightly so. I honestly have no idea what these people were thinking. The fact that they thought they could just fly into another sovereign nation, find some kids in need and exit the country with them is mind-boggling to me (can you imagine if someone did this in the United States?!). If you haven't read the full story yet, you can read it on ABC News. CBS also covered the story:


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It seems like just about everybody is covering the story (there is even a story on a leading Islamic news website) and the images being broadcast around the globe are not good ones. They are images of what appear to be rich, arrogant, white people "stealing" darker skinned children - images that reek of centuries of imperialism around the world. What this group did was inexcusable in my opinion, regardless of their intentions. International adoption is complicated, even when natural disasters are not involved, and a certain sensitivity and even delicacy is required. What this group did, whether they meant to or not, was send a message that said, "We think we are better than you, so we will disregard your laws, because we think we know what is best for your children." As I have written before, international adoption is not the first or even the best solution in many of the crisis situations across the globe. Taking children from their culture to be raised in another country by people who do not look like them and do not share their history - even if they really, really, really love them (as we do our precious daughters) - is less than ideal. International adoption is a means by which God is able to bring redemption to broken situations, but it is not an ideal scenario. It is a scenario that grows out of many things in many larger systems being broken. Ideally, birth parents and biological families should be able to and want to raise their own children. It breaks my heart to read stories like this coming out of Haiti right now where parents are trying to decide which child they are going to give away for foreign adoption because the situation is so bad there now that they think entrusting their children to total strangers may be their only hope. Rather than take these children from their parents, we should first do everything in our power to get them tents and water and food and medicine NOW, and then work on rebuilding their city, and then focus on rehabilitating their country and then - and only then - should we talk about whether or not foreign adoption is a necessary last alternative. I, like many adoptive parents I know, am getting lots of questions right now about Haitian adoption. It almost feels like saying you are thinking about adopting from Haiti is THE cool thing to do. One adoptive mom I know told me she was asked, "How do I go and get one of those (referring to a Haitian orphan)?". That is a big-hearted question but it is the wrong question right now and it demonstrates a true lack of understanding of the multiplicity of variables involved in foreign adoption. International adoption is messy for many reasons, as you learn very quickly once you take on a project of this nature. I'm all for adoption becoming more popular provided that those who are now turning to adoption for humanitarian or faith-based reasons are well-informed, rather than just driven by the emotions of watching a lot of CNN. If we are going to go out into a hurting world bearing the name "Christian", let us be cautious. When we go into other countries in sensitive situations like this one and do so openly in Jesus' name, we have the obligation to make sure that we are acting in ways that are respectful of the cultures in which we are attempting to minister and be "helpful". This means making sure that we are informed and acting above reproach. In this case, this group demonstrated minimal effort to gather basic information about Haitian law and their actions are now going to effect others who have been working within the law to help get these kids into safe situations in legal and ethical ways that prevent children from being exploited. What this group did was misguided, particularly in a country where the potential for child trafficking is very real.

Follow-Up: Since last night's post, this has been filed by the AP. Note that the individuals charged lacked "any significant experience with Haiti, international charity work or international adoption regulations." Let me reiterate: What were they thinking?!