Britt and Leo go back to life already in progress and I get to work!

The time to leave came way too fast. On August 12 it was really hard to watch them go. Leo curled up into Britt’s lap in the back of the vehicle on the way to the airport and cried. He wouldn’t even look at me. Poor buddy. This process has required such huge sacrifices from all of us. We have been adopting for more than half of Leo’s life.  This needs to conclude. It’s so far past time for the boys to come home. And I never want to have to see my children cry because they don’t know how long it will be before they see mom again.

With an ache in my heart for the three family members that would be on the other side of an ocean in a few hours, I decided that it was really time to roll up my sleeves and get to work here in Haiti.  The following week I went to the embassy and met with the director, Mr. Kefi. We thought that our passports would be issued soon, and he told me that as soon as I had our files to bring them and ask for him in person. He confirmed that he would be evaluating the files for approval himself!

As the days passed and no passports were printed, we came to find that MOI would not release the boys’ files and print passports until the birth certificate extract for Parker was received.  Considering that Djedly’s file is complete, we were confounded that MOI decided to hold even his file hostage. They will not release his file without his brother’s extract. So essentially, a child who has been legally adopted under Haitian law since December of 2012 is not eligible to go to the U.S. until his brother’s documentation is ready. What a colossal injustice. At this point in time, I turned back to the agencies and the orphanage to ask for increased advocacy. This process has failed our children at every single step. And now we had another incredibly unreasonable wait. We have asked for months for our agency to send someone to Haiti to help improve this process and advocate for our children to come home.  We have been told, “they are working on it”. But with our daughter’s case in the balance, we fear that being bold will only secure that she will not come home to us. So August wasted away. On August 31 I woke up with an ache that filled the emptiness that was delivered to my heart by knowing that I would not be spending the day with Britt on her 14^th birthday. To make matters feel that much better, I couldn’t reach her that day by phone or message to tell her how much I love and miss her. She was amazingly understanding about and said, “mom, you are never with Parker and Djedly on their birthdays. You’re only missing one of mine. It’s ok. It’s important for you to be there with them right now.”