As most of you know, on our trip to Haiti, Eddie and I intended to obtain two pieces of information: 1 - Is Catrina eligible for adoption; 2 - Would Madame Soliette give us her blessing to begin the adoption process. However, through God's grace, guidance, and the amazing friends He has provided along the way (Jenny, Gilles, & Edmonds - you all are wonderful!!!), we were able to accomplish far more than this!
Because our trip had been postponed from August, we had the opportunity to meet with an adoption lawyer on our first night there. At this meeting, we were able to establish a relationship with our lawyer, get answers to many questions we had about the whole process and develop an ambitious plan for our visit. At this point, we thought Catrina had only a living mother from whom to obtain permission for the adoption.
The next morning (EARLY Thursday morning), we got to fly to the island of La Gonave with one of the MAF pilots we had already befriended on our first trip to Haiti. We had so much fun on that flight! (It wasn't ALL work, no play...) Then what we thought was to be a day of liesure resulted in two long meetings. The first impromptu meeting was with Madame Soliette. In this meeting, we got her blessing to begin the adoption process, and we found out that Catrina does have a living biological father, which makes it all a little more difficult, especially considering no one really knew where he was and we'd have to track him down to get his permission, too. After our meeting with Madame Soliette, we were taking her and some of the children back to the orphanage and arrived to find Catrina's biological mother and sister waiting on us at the door. So, we took the opportunity God laid in front of us to invite them back to the Wesleyan church compound (where we were staying) to chat. At the end of this meeting, we had explained to Catrina's mother our intentions. She had the opportunity to ask about us and was going to think about our request and would let us know something Friday morning. Her very first question was "Are you Christians?" We took that as a pretty good sign!
On Friday morning, we met with Madame Soliette and Catrina’s biological family again. In this meeting, Catrina’s mother decided that she would, in fact, sign for us to begin the adoption. This was truly a bittersweet moment. Part of me wanted to jump up and down while the other part of me mourned this mother’s loss. It certainly takes a lot of love to give your child up to a better life; not knowing when/if you’ll ever see them again!
As it turns out, Catrina’s mother actually had all of the necessary paperwork with her (birth certificates for both Catrina and herself and her social assurance card) for us to be able to go to court and sign for guardianship. This would be a feat in America and was certainly more than a coincidence in Haiti! Since the older children from the orphanage were coming to the compond after lunch that day, Madame Soliette gave us permission to keep the Catrina a little later and tell her about our plans to adopt her. I’m not sure our friend and translator Jenny was expecting this responsibility, but God gave her the exact words to say. At first, Jenny asked Catrina if she knew what was going on, since her mother had been there at a time she wouldn’t normally have been and there had been many meetings with us. Catrina did not. So then, Jenny asked Catrina if she knew what adoption was. At first Catrina’s response was a heartbreaking “It’s when they take you away.” After some more discussion, she made mention of getting a new family, so we think she understood. For the next half hour or so, we got to converse with Catrina through Jenny and get to know her a little better. Then we spent a few hours playing with her and the other kids around the compound before taking her back to the orphanage for the evening. When we dropped her off, Catrina asked if we would be back the next day. Jenny told her we had to go take care of some business in Port-au-Prince, but we would be up to see her in the afternoon.
On Saturday morning, we took the 5:30 AM fly boat with Jenny (did I mention she’s a saint?!!!), Madame Solietete, Catrina’s mother, and Catrina’s sister, Francesca. T-Prince, a co-worker of Jenny’s, met us at the wharf to drive us into Port-au-Prince where we met with Catrina’s older brother James, who is a tap-tap driver in Port-au-Prince. For the next 2 hours, we sat in a small, crowded room in the courthouse with no electricity (so it was hot and the fans weren’t working) while the judge handwrote the necessary paperwork for us to sign to become Catrina’s legal guardians. This was certainly another bittersweet moment, but oddly I felt nothing but peace all around.
After meeting with the judge, we were rushed to get back to the island on the last ferry, so we had lunch in the car while T-Prince drove us back out to the wharf. Once back on the island, we had a late lunch. Then, I headed up to the orphanage to get Catrina. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing, jumping rope, drawing all over our front stoop with sidewalk chalk, and showering Catrina with lots of love. While walking through the yard this afternoon, Catrina put my arm around her, looked up at me and said in perfect English “I love you Bethany!” Oh wow! That was one of the sweetest moments of our whole trip! That alone makes all of the paperwork and adoption struggles worth it!
After church on Sunday morning, we got Catrina just before lunch and got to keep her until after dinner. We also received great news from Madame Soliette: she had managed to track down Catrina’s birth father and he was willing to approve of the adoption! We are still waiting on Madame Soliette to be able to bring him into Port-au-Prince to sign the necessary paperwork.
On Sunday, once again, we just spent lots of time playing with her, spending time with her, and just showing her as much love as we possibly could! We went swimming in the ocean, where she and Eddie really got to spend a lot of good time together. Catrina, Haley, and I baked peanut butter cookies, we danced, we sang, we colored, we had so much fun! Then after dinner (where I found out that Catrina does NOT enjoy chicken noodle soup J ), we had to try to explain to Catrina that we would not be back the next day, but that we would be back. Once again, our dear friend Jenny got to take on this task. As I prayed and tried my best not to cry, Jenny explained that we had to go back to the states and would not be around for a while, but that we would certainly be back for her. The entire drive back to the orphanage (where we were a little late…praise God for Madame Soliette’s forgiveness!), I held Catrina close and kept promising myself I wouldn’t cry in front of her. Once we got back, I hugged her and told her how much I love her before walking up the hill to the orphanage. At the top of the hill, Catrina pulled away from me and ran into the orphanage, where she ran to a corner and started sobbing! I broke my promise…I went after her and just held her, both of us crying until she calmed down. Leaving my child at that orphanage was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I long for the day that I will never have to do it again.
Back in the States, Eddie and I immediately got to work on filing for our Home Study and gathering the necessary documents for both the US and Haiti. We have also found out since our return that there is another reason we need to put a rush on things. The US is pushing Haiti to pass additional adoption laws that would outlaw private adoptions. Since we aren’t yet eligible to go through an agency, this would put a hold on our adoption and by the time we are eligible, Catrina would likely be too old to be adopted internationally. God has blessed us beyond measure and we praise Him for all the mighty works He has accomplished so far and will no doubt continue to provide. Please keep us in your prayers that our Home Study will go well (I’ve heard some horror stories, so we’re a little anxious), that the Haitian authorities will approve our adoption, that the US will approve Catrina’s visa and that this adoption process will continue to move with the same momentum we experienced in Haiti.
Please don't hesitate to let me know if you would prefer not to receive these emails, as I intend to send out regular updates so you all know how to pray specifically for this process.
Thank you so much for your love and prayers!
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