Why Haiti? Why Frankie?

 

On May 26th At 10:21 PM Eastern Standard time the Rhodes hit “send” on our official application in the new journey that we are embarking on…. the adoption of our son from Haiti.

We are excited, nervous, overwhelmed, scared, unsure of what to expect, but confident that this a way we are to expand our family.  It really is such a wonderful adventure and blessing to be in this process.

So what makes you want to adopt?
There are many reasons but I think it is safe to say that “our” desire to adopt came out of our struggle to conceive our second child Izzie.  We had fertility issues and when all hope was gone in me being able to physically have more children, Dave and I as a couple really became open and aware to the idea of adopting.  We had contacted a local agency and had even begun reading through their paperwork when wouldn’t you know it… God decided to intervene miraculously in our situation and thus we have Izzie.  Since Izzie’s arrival I think one of the more interesting things we have discovered is that there was still that desire to help a child in need of a family.  The desire to adopt did not go away. So that is what we are going to do.  God really brought Dave and I on the same page about adoption through our journey and struggles with Izzie.  Isn’t it just like God to use hard times in our lives to set us up for much greater things in our future!

Why Haiti?
Well, why not Haiti?  For us, it’s been more about our journey and finding ways that we can plug into our passions and what God is doing in our lives.  Haiti has always played a special role in my life and through that I think Dave is finding his own place and love for Haiti as well.  So when we determined that we really felt like we wanted to add to our family by adoption, the next conversation was then how will we do that?  Even though we talked about adopting from Haiti even before my trip there this past May, we still were not certain that was the direction we needed to take.  But let me just say, I don’t think we’ve ever been more sure about something than knowing we are to walk this process through Haiti.  When I was in Haiti I really felt the Lord totally confirming things.  There is a HUGE need for people to adopt from Haiti, as well as other countries.  And to these kids it’s not just a matter of if they can have a family or education if someone takes them in, it’s a matter of life and death.   There are children in Haiti dying everyday of starvation (see Liberson’sStory), there are children being abandoned, there are so many children in orphanages that are simply not wanted or are there because their families felt that the best way for them to survive was to be placed there.   So what better way for Dave and I to play a role of redeeming brokenness in this world.  We long and desire to help and since we desire to adopt what a wonderful thing to be able to adopt from Haiti. Haiti holds such a special place in my heart.

Why Frankie?
I saw Frankie in May when I was visiting Heartline.  I made eye contact with him.  That was it.  Then as we started the process with Heartline we assumed a referral would come later in the process.  Frankie was referred to our family on 7/16/08.  I remember the morning I checked email and saw the referral.  Dave and I had already been talking about Frankie since I knew he was not placed yet and we had a few other families that we were emailing with you mentioned him as well.  After praying about it for a bit …we had some concerns with the closeness in age that he and Izzie will be…. and after sharing with family and friends we felt confident that we would love to have Frankie as a part of our family if that would be the best thing for him.  Turns out it is and so thus we have  a Frankie Rhodes.

How Long is the Process?
Glad you asked!  It’s pretty long.  We are in the final stages of getting our ”dossier” together.  Once we get that finished and sent off we will have about a 2 year wait.   It’s exciting to trust and know that God already knows who the next member of the Rhodes family will be.  And then from there we will have about a 24 month wait as our papers go through the process.  We know it’s long and that is part of the reason we are starting this process now instead of later.  Why is it so long? Who knows but it is… and it could honestly be longer than 24 months.  We just don’t know.  In a nutshell, a corrupt and ineffective government system in Haiti causes adoptions to take months, even years, to process. The average time for an adoption right now is 18-24 months. The rules change constantly in Haiti.  The timeline looks something like this:

2-4 weeks = First Legalization. This is where all of the papers are authenticated.

1-4 weeks = File prepared for IBESR

2-6 months = IBESR (Haiti’s Social Service Department, aka the black hole), where a social worker will look over all of your documents and decide whether to approve your adoption request.

2-12 weeks = Parquet is the head commissioner. This step involves one person releasing the child’s file. Civil Court Legalization
2-8 weeks = The adoption is finalized. After this point, the children are legally yours.
2-6 months= Minister of Interior Affairs (MOI)/Haitian Immigration. The file is submitted into the passport process. The passports are printed in the adopting parents last name. This step takes the longest and yet could be done in a day.
1-3 weeks. U.S. Customs approval. I-600 is filed by adopting parents.

1 week = Consulate/Visa Appointment. Child receives visa in preparation for travel to their new home

Where are you Adopting From?
During my trip in May, I was able to see many orphanages.  This was good and bad.  It was good because I saw children who had someone to take them in but it was bad in some instances  the conditions of some of these places were horrible and not acceptable.  With the wait being so long my mind began to wonder as to how could I “know” who my child was and know that they were living in certain conditions as we wait for them.  It was just hard to process.  But when I was in Haiti, the missionaries we were staying with told me about Heartline Ministries.  They arranged for me to go for a visit.  When I saw the place I just knew that this could be a place that Dave and I could make our adoption journey through.  Beth and John run Maranatha Orphanage.  They’ve been in Haiti for 18 years and in that time have helped over 250 children.  They are a smaller facility that only takes 20 kids in at a time so that they can help everyone involved in the process have the best experience possible.  Plus they are doing other things there as well to help educate woman so that they can provide for their families and meet the needs of their children.  You can check them out.  They do a better job explaining what they do.  Needless to say, we have such a peace about making our adoption journey through Heartline. 

Can you afford this?
Not really.  But when has that ever stopped anyone who has considered adopting or from doing what they feel God is calling them to do?  We know it’s all going to work out.  We are going to be applying for some grants as soon as our home study is completed.  We’ll try some creative ways to raise money and I’m sure we’ll just put our needs out there at times and let people respond if they want to.  It’s hard for me coming off of my trip to Haiti and asking for support for that and now turn the corner with another need.  But please pray for us these next 6 months.  There are a lot of up front costs in getting our dossier done and at the moment we don’t know where that money is going to come from but we’ll just take it a day at a time and trust God.  It’s kind of exciting to sit back and wait and watch to see how God will work.

Raising a Child From Another Country?
Um, yeah… we do realize what we are doing and have put a lot of thought into the dynamics of our family.  And for us, it’s just a non-issue.  And in a fairy tail world we would love it to be a non-issue for everyone but we know better.  Our only hope is that as people encounter “our family” they will get past any barriers and realize what a wonderful picture of love and redemption all or our family represents.