It has been 17 days since we flew out of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and 18 days since we last saw our son in his bright red graduation cap and gown. The first few days home were a roller coaster of tears and frustration at the oddest of triggers. We have settled back into American lifestyle, and Haiti seems like a dream that we wish we could return to while we sleep.
We had thought we would be able to travel back to visit with our kids this summer to spend time with W but after speaking with our agency at length we have been asked to wait until after we receive an Exit Letter from IBESR. This letter is the final “approval” of the match viability between parents & child and solidifies the Haitian authority’s support of our adoption process.
We are coming up quickly on the month of August which looms over the heads of Haiti-adoptive-families like a dark cloud. The month of August is typically a very lax month at the IBESR and the running trend is that not much comes out by way of referrals, exit letters, or any kind of signatures.
We are asking for prayer that we would receive an exit letter by July 31st – that would mean we could travel with our kids at any point following (like August as we were hopeful for, before school starts). If we do not, it is likely that we wouldn’t receive it until September or later. We are already missing W and his presence in our arms and are dying for our kids to be able to experience him and his world.
Please pray with us that our exit letter would be issued this month!! It would quite literally be a miracle, but we are not afraid to ask for one!! 😉
Thank you so much!
Laura & Kris
Capture My Heart 
Hi Laura and Family!
I’m praying you get your exit letter very very soon and can travel by August! Maybe it’ll be a birthday miracle 😉 Been great to pray with you and be updated through your blog!
Anna
Thank you!!!
I am also in the process of adopting a child from haiti. I have not yet been proposed a child, but I am so excited and so anxious! I am Canadian, but I have been told the process is quite similar. I pray you get yuour miracle soon!
Let me encourage you, Nicole, all the waiting in the world is worth it!! 🙂 congrats and feel free to ask any questions you have!
I was wondering what your initial two weeks was like. What do you do while there, were you able to leave the orphanage with your child to visit parts of the beautiful country? Did you have an interpreter with you??
For some reason I can’t reply to your other comment about our 2-week bonding. If you didn’t see it, go back in my blog to June 6th or so – I blogged our entire bonding trip – that will give you a good idea! However to answer a couple of your specific questions – parents are not allowed to remove their child from the crèche until the adoption decree has been issued. The adoption decree is issued in parquet, which comes after your exit letter from IBESR. (“After” being a loose term…sometimes it is a month after exit, sometimes longer). During the bonding trip we spent every day at the orphanage from about 10am-3 or 3:30pm. Evenings were spent at the hotel. Our agency provides us with a driver and interpreter during our stay (for a daily fee, but it is a required add-on). 🙂
I read and devoured each word from Day 1 – Day 15. I poured over the pictures you are allowed to post and I am praying you hear something soon!