As Haiti adoptions resume, US families brace for uncertainty and delays

Wariness and uncertainty as Haiti adoptions resume

Officially, Haiti’s international adoption process is back in business — four months after the devastating earthquake.

Yet U.S. adoption agencies remain wary of the situation, and families may face years of limbo as they seek to adopt children orphaned by the quake.

Right after the disaster, Haiti shut down its adoption system, though it allowed more than 1,000 children whose adoptions were pending to be airlifted to the U.S. That special program has ended, and Haiti’s adoption officials are is now accepting some new applications.

Major U.S. adoption agencies are not rushing back on a large scale. Instead, they’re counseling interested families to expect delays and frustrations as the Haitians try to figure out which seemingly parentless children should be available for adoption.