Adopting From Haiti: Too Soon?

Indeed it is too soon, says actress Angelina Jolie, who has three adopted children, from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam. In the wake of allegations of child kidnapping and fears of child trafficking in Haiti, Jolie has come out to make the very uncontroversial assertion that “an emergency is not the time for new adoptions.” —JCL

The Telegraph:

The actress, visiting Port-au-Prince in her role as a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, added her voice to concerns expressed by aid agencies and the Haitian government about the risk of child trafficking and misguided actions by prospective adopters.

Ms Jolie, who has three adoptive children from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam, told CNN: “Trafficking has been a huge problem for a very long time.

“Everybody that means well needs to really take that very seriously, and not get frustrated, but really work with the country.

“For somebody who is an adoptive parent, I understand the urge to assist in that way. But now is not the time, an emergency is not the time for new adoptions in any way,” she added.

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AP / Marco Di Lauro

Angelina Jolie, good-will ambassador of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, talks to a 10-year-old Haitian boy who lost a limb in the Jan. 12 earthquake. The actress was visiting a hospital in Port-au-Prince.