Homestead Couple Awaits Final Ruling On Haiti Adoptions
MIAMI (CBS4) - At just two years old Charlie Francis has quite a story.
He was one of the youngest survivors of the earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 12th, 2010. Pascale and Jacques Francis from Homestead were in the process of adopting Charlie when the quake hit.
"We didn't know if he survived," recalled Pascale Francis.
For two heart wrenching days, they prayed he was not buried under rubble. They finally received word that not only did he survive and was okay.
"(It was a) dream come true," said Jacques Francis.
Two weeks after the quake, Pascale got to hold her son in her arms. It's a day she'll never forget.
"As I went there and I saw that he was okay, with all of his 10 fingers and 10 toes, it was really that time," Pascale remembered, "that I said 'God, I thank you before but now I'm saying to you thank you for saying that you were really there with Charlie at that time'."
While Charlie and his older his old sister Myia, who was also adopted, are part of the Francis family, it's not quite legal yet. Because of the quake, adoptions from Haiti have slowed to a crawl.
"So right now it's just in legal limbo," CBS 4's Ted Scouten asked Pascale.
"Of course," she said. "But we have faith in God," she said. "God was there on January 12th, 2010. As it is, you have to suffer to have a child, so that's our labor pain. For what it's worth, it's priceless."
The Francis said they're willing to wait because they've already made it through the worst part and they're stronger than ever.
