Two write-ups on orphans in China came across my radar today.  Both carry special significance for people with a heart for China’s orphans.

They also underscore a broader reality orphan advocates sometimes miss:  that the situation facing orphans in any given country can change markedly over time.  Drivers of change can range from more obvious factors like natural disaster or a jump in AIDS rates, to more subtle drivers like economic growth or decline.  As a result, the number of orphans, their typical characteristics, and the unique dynamics orphaned children face can shift dramatically, sometimes in short periods.

The first article describes a reality we’ve noted for some time:  the dramatic drop in healthy children available for international adoption from China.  It reads, “As China has prospered and government restrictions have increased… the number of U.S. couples being allowed to adopt there has dropped sharply, and experts say there’s little reason to believe the trend will reverse.”

The second piece—actually a blog recap of a talk given by Amy Eldridge on the changing dynamics of orphans in China—carries a deeply insightful view of the factors underlying the superficial “fewer-foreign-adoptions” trend.   (I can’t personally vouch for all the statistics shared, but the claims strike me as entirely consistent with things I’ve heard and observed as well.)  The blog post is a long read, but well worth it for people concerned about China’s orphans.  For those interested in a briefer read, below is a “Comment” posted by Amy Eldridge that synopsizes some of the key issues:

Amy Eldridge said…

As I mentioned to several people after the talk, the important thing for people to remember is that social issues around the world constantly change. We all know there was a time when there were thousands of healthy baby girls who needed homes from Chinese orphanages. Families from around the world sent in their files to adopt those babies. But with the decreased abandonment of healthy girls along with a marked increase in domestic adoption, the orphanage population has changed dramatically. Now when an orphanage gets in a healthy infant, it is the exception. And then there are many Chinese families in the cities who are willing to adopt a healthy child….so there are truly very few NSN children available for international adoption, except for older children.

The bigger issue is the increased number of children with special needs who need homes. More and more orphanages are willing to make their kids with SNs available to families through the waiting child path, but of course many families don’t feel they could commit to a SN adoption. That is why I believe education is so important, and why families considering Chinese adoption should educate themselves about the different special needs and the treatment required to see if it is a path they could handle. I think the important thing to remember, however, is that for most Americans who hear the label “special needs”, they are thinking of much more severe needs (often including mental retardation) than a lot of the kids waiting for homes today on the shared list. Almost all of the kids in our programs are classified as “special needs”, and they are these amazing, wonderful kids who would bless any family. And of course we need to keep encouraging people to at least consider a boy, as so many boys are never chosen, and they would be the most wonderful sons!

Everyone involved in Chinese orphan care is having to adapt. Orphanages are adapting to a changing population of kids and learning how to submit the files of kids with special needs. The government is adapting by increasing the per child stipend needed to provide for the essential needs of children and by introducing programs like the Blue Sky plan. Adoption agencies are having to adapt now that the NSN program has slowed and having to learn how to counsel parents considering children with medical needs. And charities are having to adapt as immediate access to health care has become such a critical need.

I am very happy for the changing attitudes that I see among so many young adults in China who now say it doesn’t matter at all to them if their child is a boy or a girl. But my heart is still burdened in a tremendous way for all of the children who have medical needs who AT THE MOMENT only have a real chance at a family through international adoption. I hope in the next ten years that we will see a marked increase in the number of Chinese families wanting to adopt through the SN path. But for now, finding families around the world is these kids’ real hope. And so anything that we can do to promote special needs adoption is very important. Even if a family decides they can’t personally take that path, they can continue to let other families know that the special needs program in China is a wonderful way to form a family.

Today marks the six month anniversary of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake.   Aside from the small uptick of coverage surrounding the 6-month milestone, the eyes of the world havelargely  turned elsewhere:  to oil leaks, soccer matches and November elections.   Of course, this was all but inevitable.  The 24-hour news cycle is fueled by “new,” and a tale of ongoing struggle, grinding poverty, and a less-than-hoped-for rebuilding is anything but new.

There’s certainly a place for frustration at the reality that guides news programmers:  most consumers of news can sustain concern for tragedy for no more than a few months at most.  But, of course, that is the world we live in, as much a testimony to the Fall as the earthquake itself.  Equally significant, if we tried to sustain concern for every tragedy we’ve ever seen, we’d likely break down in paralyzed sorrow.

So what do we do with that?   Here are just a few thoughts:

1)       Do what we can. Prayer requires no news cameras, and it is a commitment any believer can make to a tragedy—for months, years and even more.

2)      Support the ongoing work. Many Christian Alliance for Orphans member organizations served in Haiti long before the earthquake and are now as hard at work as ever.  Buck the give-when-an-issue-is-fresh trend and support their ongoing work.

3)      Be reminded. As news outlets mark the six month anniversary with stories on Haiti, take a moment to renew concern with a window into what is happening now: from The Independent’s story of Wideleine Fils Amie, to CNN’s report on an adopted Haitian orphan to ABC News coverage from this weekend.

4)      Focus on your calling. Feeling obligated to address every need we’ve seen can paralyze us, finally dissolving into a blend of apathy and low-grade guilt.    I’m pretty sure that’s not how God would have us respond.  Rather, in each moment He invites us to focus on a single task He’s set before us:  the broken individual we encounter on the Jericho road.  Yes, we often can give prayers and financial support to a broad range of needs.  But ultimately, to truly love our neighbor requires focus on particular needs in particular places.   If that’s Haiti for you, pour yourself into it with abandon, joining with others who share your calling.  But if you sense it’s elsewhere, let Haiti remind you that there is a higher calling for our abilities than just feathering our own nests.  Our gifts, our strengths, our money, our time, our creativity, our passion are needed for Kingdom work.

Following a firestorm of response, the 700 Club has removed Pat Robertson’s commentary on adoption from the clip they’d initially posted.  (For those who feel the need to review his remarks, both the news report on Summit VI and the commentary by Robertson that follows is still accessible—embedded video below—beginning at minute 14:00).

We appreciate the 700 Club’s decision to take this modest step to remove the commentary from news clip.   However, we would encourage further steps to more directly correct the troubling comments and convey the deeper truth that Mr. Robertson missed as he mused on the “risks” of adoption.   Five core truths need to come through loud and clear:

1)       Many orphans do indeed carry deep wounds and real needs—emotional, physical, relational and spiritual.  Any Christian contemplating adoption, foster care or other ministry to children from hard places should do so with a full sense of both the joys and the challenges that may lie ahead.  We must “count the cost”—not just theoretically, but via serious reading, study and discussion.

2)      The potential difficulty of caring for orphans, does not diminish God’s heart for the child that has no family, nor His call to His people to join Him in the sacrifice-requiring work of “defending the  cause of the fatherless.”

3)      What every child most needs is a loving, permanent family.   Certainly, Christians should be at the forefront of every form of caring for orphans, and sometimes the vast expanse of need may call for larger-scale, institutional response, even orphanages.  But to the fullest extent possible, the priority should always be to move toward the most family-like setting that can be achieved—the permanence of loving adoption whenever possible.

4)      If God’s best for children is a loving family, then Christians must be willing to be that family.  We must be challenged to confront the fears and take the “risks” associated with adoption.  Certainly, not everyone is called to adopt, but we all have a role to play in supporting, encouraging and enabling it.

5)      Finally, after we have weighed the costs, we can also know that God offers unparalleled blessings along the road of adoption.  This is a discipleship journey; it will not leave us the same, thank God.   Each adoption experience is different, of course, but, speaking for myself and countless others I know, this is what I’ve seen:  alongside real difficulties, adoption brings some of the deepest joys life has to offer.

Alongside a compelling news report on Summit VI, commentary from Pat Robertson on why Christians would…or would not…adopt is likely to stir serious controversy.   It’s worth watching the polite but highly-charged exchange between Robertson and co-host Terry Meeuwsen.  (Embedded at bottom of post).

Many orphan advocates likely will wince as they hear Robertson express sentiments like, “It [adoption] can be a blessing, if you get the right child.”  The troubling statements, however, offer a striking reminder of three important realities.  First, that many people harbor deep and understandable fears about adoption that must be gently and honestly addressed.   Second, that even many Christians still hold the mistaken view that a successful adoption is primarily about building a family by finding the right child, rather than a decision born of both obedience and love–both of which spring from response to God’s loving adoption of us.  And third, that much has changed even in the past several years, as Christians have re-awoken to the biblical call to care for orphans in their distress–not merely by sending checks overseas, but by opening their hearts and homes.

Explicit in Robertson’s concerns is an important theme wise adoption advocates repeatedly sound as well:  “Count the cost.”  Yes, many adopted children come from very difficult places, and the journey to a full sense of belonging and permanent family often is rife with difficulty, sacrifice and even sorrow.  But this is only one piece of the story, and not the most important.

A segment of Robertson’s exchange with his co-host Terry Meeuwsen, who powerfully defends a truly Christ-hearted view of adoption, captures the issue well.

Robertson expresses serious concerns about adoption, warning of serious emotional, developmental and spiritual problems, and worrying, “If they’ve been brain damaged as a child, what’s going to happen?”

Meeuwsen affirms Robertsons’ fears, but then challenges: “…I think all children who’ve been through any kind of trauma certainly have emotional needs, for sure, and as you’re saying, spiritual needs.  On the other hand, I would say, ‘If not us, who?  Who sets those children free?  Who teaches the truth to them?  Who loves them to wholeness?  It ought to be Christians.”

Robertson:  “Well, I think it’s all real lovely but…”

Meeuwsen:  “Well, it’s not ‘real lovely.’  I mean I think that lady that talked at the end [Lisa Harding] said it all when she said, you know, ‘I have the privilege of being daily being delivered from my own selfishness, from my own irritations.’  And you are.  I’ve always said that if there’s a flaw in your marriage, in your family, in your character, it is all going to rise to the top.  But it’s a bigger picture and if you’re called for it, go for it with gusto!’”

Terry Meeuwsen would know; she is a mother of seven, five by adoption.

See the full story and commentary here:

April’s edition of Christian Today contains an important editorial on international adoption and the biblical call to care for the fatherless.  Significantly, the editorial holds together two elements that are sometimes falsely presented as being at odds with each other:  support of in-country orphan care efforts, alongside strong affirmation of inter-country adoption for children that otherwise would grow up on the streets or in institutions.

The article pulls no punches in condemning unnecessary barriers to adoption:

The political and cultural barriers [erected by governments to make adoptions very difficult] stem from warped ideas about what is in a poor child’s best interest. It isn’t in the best interest of abandoned children to grow up destitute and barely literate, regardless of the imagined cultural benefit of remaining in their home country. Haiti itself is a vivid example of injustice. The government tolerates a modern form of child slavery by allowing 225,000 children ages 6-14 to work as restavecs (unpaid, indentured domestics).  Adoption, domestic or inter-country, should not be looked down upon as inferior at best or as a last resort.

If the article were to be extended, two small additions would be helpful.  First, given the natural inclination many people have towards seeing orphanages as the solution for kids that can’t be adopted, it’d be helpful to make clear that orphanages should be viewed most of the time as temporary, last-resort solutions.  Children need consistent, personal love and nurture that rarely can be provided in an institutions.   Solutions that are as close to a home environment as possible, ideally via adoption, are most often far preferable to an orphanage.

Second, given the confusion over orphan statistics, it’d be helpful to clarify that current estimates of the number of orphans in the world (whether the numbers the U.N. provides or the 210 million referenced by the article) include children that have lost only one parent.   Thus, the vast majority of these orphans—while often facing great difficulties and in need of help—are not in need of adoption.   Adoption, both in-country and inter-country, is vitally important in situations where children have no parent or relatives that can care for them.   But that portion of the overall orphan statistics is relatively small.  (For a fuller discussion of this topic, see here.)

Coming from a voice with the gravitas of Christianity Today, this article represents a very important affirmation of the Biblical call to “care for orphans in their distress”—via adoption as well as other means.

CNN is preparing to air a potent documentary on orphans in Haiti early next month.   The special, titled Rescued, will share the journey of Haitian orphans through the eyes of two children, also telling the story of American missionaries who’ve given their lives to serving Haiti’s orphans.  The stories and imagery are sure to stir much emotion, as well as much discussion, when it airs on May 8.   The documentary project began long before Haiti’s earthquake, filmed by Alliance Member organization Discover the Journey, which helps tell the stories of orphans worldwide through excellent cinematography.  You can see the CNN trailer here, and remarkable clips of Haitian orphans talking about the earthquake that devastated their country here.   You’ll also be able to see a fuller preview of the documentary during an optional dinner discussion on Friday evening at Summit VI, where one of the filmmakers involved in the project will show clips and lead discussion around the themes raised in the film.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced they will conclude their Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphans on April 14, 2010.  This special provision allowed for expedited immigration for children that had been determined to be orphans and officially matched with an adoptive family prior to Haiti’s earthquake.  To date, more than 1,000 children have come to the U.S. under these special provisions in the past 2 ½ months, and several hundred more cases are currently under consideration.  (Approximately 14 percent of applications for humanitarian parole were deemed ineligible, primarily due to inadequate documentation.)

Adoptive families that are currently in process or have already applied for the Humanitarian Parole program by midnight on the 14^th will still be considered for humanitarian parole.  After the 14^th, all adoptions will need to go through the normal adoption process, including application for an I-600 visa.  Also of note, CIS has now resumed its normal adoption process as well, and has begun accepting applications for I-600 visas for children that would not have been eligible for the special Humanitarian parole.

See below for the official US CIS press release on this issue.

Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphan

Final Opportunity to Request Consideration

Introduction

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will stop accepting new requests for parole under the Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphans effective April 13, 2010, because the Haitian government has requested that the United States bring the program to a close.  While USCIS believes that the vast majority of requests for special parole have already been submitted, any remaining prospective adoptive parents or adoptive parents will have until April 14, 2010, to submit a request under the special program.

Background

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the special parole policy and process as part of the overall U.S. government response to the January 12, earthquake.  The policy and process was designed to address the circumstances of a specific group of vulnerable Haitian children:

• those who either had full and final adoptions completed by United States citizen parents before the earthquake or,
• who were far enough along in the adoption process that both the governments of Haiti and the United States could verify the identity and eligibility of the children for adoption, and the United States government could confirm the suitability of the adoptive parents.

To date, more than 1,000 Haitian orphans have been approved for travel to the United States to join their adoptive families under this expedited process.  USCIS is in the process of considering several hundred more requests and anticipates that ultimately some 1,200 children will benefit from this program.

USCIS will process all requests for parole under the special program received at HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov by April 14, 2010. USCIS is no longer accepting “walk-in” requests at the USCIS embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Initiating a Case

If initiating a case by sending an e-mail to the HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov mailbox, please include in the subject line the last name of the prospective parent(s) and the name of the child to be adopted.

Please also provide the information below to help us process the case as expeditiously as possible:

• The name(s) and date(s) of birth of the adoptive parent(s);
• The name(s) and date(s) of birth of the orphaned child(ren);
• The address and contact information for the adoptive parent(s), the adoption service provider, if applicable, as well as the caregiver for the child(ren) in Haiti;
• A signed Form G-28 or privacy waiver if you wish USCIS to communicate about your humanitarian parole request with an attorney or other representative;

• A recent photo(s) of the child(ren); and,
• Documentation showing that the child was either:
  • Being adopted prior to January 12, 2010 and was legally confirmed as an orphan available for inter-country adoption by the government of Haiti through an adoption decree or custody grant to suitable U.S. citizen adoptive parents; or

• Identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for inter-country adoption and matched to prospective American adoptive parents prior to January 12, 2010.

Please see the Fact Sheet on the Humanitarian Parole Policy for Certain Haitian Orphans for additional details on the evidence that supports a request for parole.  If you do not have all of the evidence necessary to establish eligibility for parole and are in the process of gathering that evidence, you may still submit a request to the e-mail box before the deadline, with an explanation of the evidence you are seeking to obtain.  You should also, at a minimum, provide the following information:

• Full name(s) and date(s) of birth of the Haitian child(ren);
• Full name(s) and date(s) of birth of the U.S. prospective adoptive parents;
• Contact information for the prospective adoptive parent(s).

-USCIS-

It’s a relief to hear that the group of six Haitian orphans stopped this week while leaving for their adoptive families in the U.S. will be in their new homes soon.  One line from today’s AP story on the matter particularly struck me:

“Police briefly detained the women [who’d been accompanying the children] and the orphans — ages 1-5 — spent three nights sleeping on the ground in a tent city.”

Notably, this is a situation in which the Haitian government, the U.S. government and the U.N. were all aware and involved.  Most orphans, of course, can hope for far less “accommodation.”

This story highlights vividly what is very often the real world alternative to inter-country adoption.  Adoption advocates should certainly put robust energy into backing a full array of in-country supports for orphans.  But individuals who support these efforts to the exclusion of adoption should keep in mind what it means to children to make them wait for years for far-off reforms:  sleeping on the ground in a tent city…and often much worse.

An article in yesterday’s Miami Herald captures one particularly heart-breaking edge of Haiti’s pain:  the anguish of parents who feel they have no capacity to care for their own children.  Even as the first hints of “compassion fatigue” start to show and news programs flash images of Haiti a bit less frequently with each day, the need–if anything–only grows deeper:

Nearly four weeks after the earthquake, Port-au-Prince remains a place defined by ruin, smoke, dust, stink, chaos, hunger, tears. But the most telling measure of the escalating despair afflicting Haiti comes in three stark words: Take my child.

Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory walks into a sprawling, filthy, stinking survivor camp this past week, not far from the Port-au-Prince airport. In a place where hope has been reduced to a desiccated memory, the sight of a American woman provokes unfathomable requests.

“Take my child away. Take my child to America.” Not the words of one or two parents. Kat’s besieged by a tragic chorus. At first, about 10. “Then I was swamped. Suddenly, there were 40 or 50 people.”

They said: “You’d like my baby.”

“My girl would make a great daughter. She is very obedient.”

Across town. Same day. Another camp. Another place choking on its own filth, where the smell crawls across your flesh and into your hair like a rodent. Kat enters in pursuit of a story about parents begging orphanages to take their children. Instead, she encounters more parents begging her to take their child away from Haiti. “My little boy doesn’t get in trouble,” a father tells Kat. “He works hard.”…

As Haiti’s crisis unfolds, of top priority for the Christian Alliance for Orphans is to promote immediate response while also encouraging commitments that will last long after the TV cameras have turned to other matters.

The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is a collaborative effort of Alliance member organizations to do just this, with focus on partnering U.S. churches with Haitian churches to care for orphans.  Lead coordination is being provided by World Orphans, in partnership an array of Alliance members and a team of disaster response experts from the University of North Carolina.

An initial HORT on-the-ground team will deploy for a two week period beginning on February 14, 2010.  In addition to more immediate response & recovery efforts, the team will work to identify churches in Haiti that can be paired with U.S. churches for ongoing partnerships in caring for orphaned children.  Alliance organizations will also provide ongoing support and guidance to these church-to-church partnerships to ensure healthy, effective long-term partnership.

For individuals and churches interested in being part of this initiative, we invite you to:

1. Register for further information - If you have interest in the possibility of partnering your church with a Haitian church, enter your information on the “Awakened by Haiti” page and answer “yes” to question one.
2. Pray – Pray for the churches in Haiti the HORT team will be working with, and for the HORT team as they travel, serve and lay foundation for the long term initiative.
3. Support Financially – You can donate several ways – send a Valentine eCard or give a gift at www.haitiorphanrelief.org.
4. Advocate – Spread the word about HORT via its blog based information center, via HORT’s Facebook page, viaTwitter (@haitiorphan) or via e-mail. If you belong to a church, let your pastor know that HORT is looking for U.S. churches interested in partnering with the churches of Haiti.