To the editor:

I have been horrified by the devastating tragedy unfolding after Haiti’s recent earthquake. However, there was a story beneath the story that caught my eye.

I was shocked to learn that, before the quake, there were over 300,000 orphans in Haiti. The major factor in the large number of orphans is economic! Parents are giving up their children so that they might have a better life through adoption.

What a tragedy! Haiti is 80 percent Catholic and very family-oriented. To give up a child in the hopes it will have a better life is the ultimate act of sacrifice and love.

If someone really has the interest of a Haitian child at heart, and the economic means to adopt a child, why not simply embrace the intact Haitian family with the financial assistance needed to stay together as a loving unit?

This outrage of undermining the Haitian family unit, exploiting the poverty of these people, and wrenching these children from the arms of their families and their culture should be stopped immediately!

In closing, before you tar and feather me, I know of nothing in life that is all black and white. I am sure there are Haitian children in real need of adoption. Nonetheless, I believe there is reason enough for a full-scale investigation into the “adoption mill infrastructure” that appears to exist in Haiti and to search for alternatives to keep Haitian children within their family and cultural structures.