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Carole Mikita ReportingAn Orem family is watching the unrest in Haiti for more personal reasons than the majority of us. Four children they want to adopt are unable to leave. Rodney and Annie Bliss have already adopted children from other countries, but not four at a time and not from a place in political upheaval.
Lawlessness rules the day in the neighborhoods of Haiti's capitol city. By contrast, children's giggles fill this household in Orem. There are six, four of them pre-schoolers, three of those are adopted. Four-year-old Ammon from China, three-year-old Isaac an Asian-American, and two-year-old Anuja from India.
Right now the Bliss family is waiting for word about four future brothers and sisters who live now in a Haitian orphanage.
Annie Bliss: "My oldest daughter came to me one day and said to me, 'Mom, you're worrying about all of this other stuff and all you really need to figure out is, are these the kids that are supposed to come to our family. And I really think that they are'.'"
Rodney and Annie Bliss were originally planning to go to Haiti and bring them home in about six months.
Rodney Bliss: “It was a week ago last Saturday that we sent the Fed Ex package off and we've tracked it as far as Miami. But we don't know if it actually got to the Fed Ex office in port-au-prince, and if it did, if it got to the government."
What has made the adoption more urgent is a medical problem. One of the twins, James David, has a heart condition, a malfunctioning valve.
Annie Bliss: "The doctor in Haiti, who diagnosed him with this said that he needs surgery. This was a few weeks ago. Within the next couple of months, she wanted him here in the U.S., getting treatment."
The Bliss’s were in the process of getting a medial visa for him when the government shut down. Now they are appealing to our Congressional delegation to humanitarian groups.
Rodney Bliss: "It would be easy to take care of, if we could just get him out and get him out with the government's blessing."
If you think you can help, email the family at blissbunch@hotmail.com.
