Far from home
Adoption | Congolese authorities are keeping hundreds of adopted orphans from joining their new families abroad
by Kiley Crossland
Posted 7/11/14, 01:00 am
Alima and Masalay, two 5-year-old children from Congo, are legally part of the Stroud family in Fort Wayne, Ind. Their adoption occurred last July, and they have passports and visas to leave Congo. But a year after their adoptions were finalized, they remain 7,000 miles away from their adoptive family.
The reason: Last September, Congolese authorities suspended issuing exit papers to children adopted by foreigners. The suspension left hundreds of cases stalled, with some parents already in the country but unable to get their children out.