Nearly a year after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, the first of three groups of children to be adopted by French parents finally make it to Paris
In Transition
More than 300 children who were in the process of being adopted before the devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake struck Haiti have finally been cleared to travel to France with their adoptive parents. This photo shows some of the children waiting in Port-au-Prince on Dec. 21. The French government chartered an aircraft to fly the adoptive parents to Haiti and fetch the children. Another flight was anticipated by Dec. 24. A total of 318 children are expected to arrive in Paris.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
Last Goodbye to Haiti
A little girl looks out of the plane before it takes off for Paris.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
With the Sisters
Missionary sisters of St. Teresa wait with the children for their 105 adoptive parents. French television station France 24 reports that the children have been in the process of adoption for well over two years, with some of the parents having waited even longer. When the earthquake struck, many documents critical to the adoption processes were destroyed or lost, substantially delaying the unions of the families.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
Marked
A volunteer draws an X on one of the 113 children. Mass adoptions of children from Haiti have proved controversial in the past. In January 2010, some members of an American church group tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper documentation, resulting in the temporary imprisonment of 10 of them. It was later revealed that each of the children had at least one living parent.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
Waiting Area
Some of the children sit in a tent at the French ambassador's residence before leaving for France with their adoptive parents.Thony Belizaire / AFP
Health
A French rescue worker checks an adopted child at the French ambassador's residence. The adoptive parents have been pressuring the French government to expedite the adoption process, a plea that grew more urgent after an outbreak of cholera. According to a group representing the adoptive parents, six children in the process of adoption died.Thony Belizaire / AFP
New Parents
French parents hold their adopted Haitian children. One of the mothers, Isabelle Frapat, described her experience as "pure happiness, and all that at Christmastime."Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
Haiti’s Loss
A Haitian mother cries after her son's adoption. Some of the children adopted were not orphans, though it is not uncommon for parents in Haiti give up their children to orphanages. Even before the earthquake, according to UNICEF, some 400,000 children, or about 1 out of every 10 Haitian kids, lived in some type of orphanage. Of those, only a few thousand were actually orphans. The rest were relinquished by parents who feared they wouldn't be able to feed and clothe their children at home.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
All Aboard
Haitian children board the flight to France with their adoptive parents.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
New Family
A French woman holds her adopted Haitian child.Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images
