Haitian adoptions getting fast-tracked

(NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A week after the devastation in Haiti, 53 Haitian orphans landed in Pittsburgh. They were taken to hospital for medical care and will be put in group homes until their adoptions are finalized.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and other officials escorted the kids from Haiti, where they had spent five days in dire need of food and water following the quake.

Many across Haiti have been without food and water in the aftermath of that quake. Locally, Bethany Christian Services in Grand Rapids is stockpiling applications for new adoptions. The organization isn't sure how long those will take, but existing adoptions with Bethany for children in Haiti will now get fast-tracked.

Bethany Christian Services has an orphanage in Haiti that was affected by the quake, but says the children there were alright.

“All 100 children in the building were safe and they're doing okay,” said Brad Keller of Bethany Christian Services.

Now, more than half of the children in that orphanage are headed to America.

“It was a wonderful experience, bringing them from the Caribbean tropics in December to a bank full of snow in Grand Rapids,” said Marc Andreas of Bethany Christian Services.

Andreas is a vice-president of marketing with Bethany. He and his wife waiting about 18 months to adopt his Haitian daughters a few years previously.

“So you stay connected, you begin to get very attached, very connected to them,” said Andreas.

Now, the government in Haiti plans to fast-track pending adoptions.

“It's our understanding that the rules have changed very quickly here,” said Keller.

“We want to have families ready,” said Mary Holtapp, an adoption coordinator with Bethany Christian Services. “We'll have a huge need at that point.”

Bethany says they received 300 applications in just two days after the quake hit Haiti.

Andreas says he's not sure how long new applications will take, but hopes parents already in the process of adopting will soon get to experience the joy he feels for his adopted daughters.

“We've been told to tell families, get them ready to travel at any day, we hope it's a matter of days, not weeks,” said Andreas.

Bethany Christian Services currently has 58 children from God's Littlest Angels Orphanage ready to meet their new parents. 16 of those will come to West Michigan.