France, January 15: Hundreds of French parents who were about to adopt a child from Haiti, a former French colony, have been asked to contact authorities to see if the children survived Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.
Between 1200 and 1500 French families were in the process of adopting a child from Haiti when the powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit, leveling buildings, schools and homes across the impoverished country.
“We know that some nurseries were spared and that the children have taken refuge in a church,” said Yves Nicolin, president of the French Adoption Agency (AFA).
“Unfortunately, we have also received information that some creches (nurseries) were destroyed and that the children are dead,” said Nicolin.
The French parents, who have been in an agonising wait for news from Haiti, were told to call a crisis centre hotline set up by the French government and provide information on the children they were about to welcome into their homes.
French officials will draw up a list of the missing children and try to determine their whereabouts.
“We don’t have any firm figures (on the children due for adoption),” said Nicolin, but he speculated based on data from previous years that at least 1200 to 1500 children were to be taken in by French families.
Despite the devastating quake, there are no plans to speed up adoptions, he said.
In 2008, there were more French adoptions from Haiti than from any other country.
—Agencies