Haiti Trip #4 — Paperwork and Decisions
In November 2007, we had reached the point in our adoption process where I was required to travel to in order to sign some paperwork for the U.S. government. It does sound a bit odd that I had to travel to Haiti for U.S. paperwork, but that is how it worked at that time for file the I-600 form when adopting in Haiti if we wanted United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) in Port-au-Prince to do the field investigation while we were waiting in the Ministry of Interior (MOI) for passport approval.
Given the torturous parting in May 2006–note the number of months between trip #3 and trip #4–I was feeling quite torn about whether to meet with my children or not. The entire trip was only four days, with only 48 hours in Haiti at the hotel.
Visiting Rhett and Claudia was optional. I had to weigh the negative impact of another goodbye with the positive impact of personally reassuring them that I am still trying to complete the adoption so I can take them home with me. Not mention fulfilling myself selfish need to hold them in my arms again.
It was an agonizing decision to make, but, in the end, the decision was taken from me. The orphanage directors brought all of our children to the hotel to stay with us in the 48 hours we were in Haiti. They simply could not imagine us coming all that way without spending time with our children. I was relieved to have the weight of the decision taken from me, but I still feared the impact it would have on my children.
{ Part Two - Visiting }
{ Part Three - Leaving } Coming Friday!
Copyright © 2008 Becky Wilson. All rights reserved.
adoption, travel, older child adoption, Haiti, Haiti adoption, adopting in Haiti, inter-country adoption, international adoption, adoption process, I-600, USCIS, Ministry of Interior, MOI
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