KTM News

This article was in the paper in KTM yesterday.

US ban leaves couple heartbroken
BABURAM KHAREL
•
•
•
•

HOPING FOR THE BEST: American couple Haydn Hillling and Edvige Hiling with their adopted children—Kailash Kailash from Nepal and Liliann (right) from Guatemala. Also seen in the picture is Mark Barrett, who is an adoptive American father of a Nepali kid.
KATHMANDU, SEP 19 - American couple Haydn Hilling and his wife Edvige Hilling desperately want to take their adopted Nepali child home. Three weeks ago, the Nepali authorities approved their adoption petition. They are now waiting for the decision of the final authority — the Kathmandu-based US embassy.
The adoptive couple along with their two-year-old adopted son is running from pillar to post hoping that their call will be heard. But that seems unlikely since the US government has imposed a ban on adoption of Nepali children citing “malpractice in adoption process”.
Following the approval from the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, the couple went straight to the embassy seeking approval of their adoption process to take Kailash home. However, their request was turned down by embassy officials who said that they were dissatisfied with some of the adoption documents. “I am really disappointed and embarrassed,” said Envige, who already has a seven-year-old adopted daughter Liliann. She added that there was no valid reason to suspect the documents that were already approved by Nepali authorities. Though the American couple that hails from Louisiana sate of the US spent more than one-and-a-half years getting the necessary paperwork required for the adoption of Kailash, the process has come to a standstill following the recent US decision to halt adoption of abandoned children from Nepal.
The couple is in such a bind that it can neither leave the child in the orphanage from where it brought him nor can it stay here long. “We cannot think of leaving the child in a destitute home as we have developed a close bond with him,” said Haydn. “We are having a tough time deciding what to do.” Their little daughter Liliann, within a short span of time, has started playing with her prospective brother and snuggling up to him in bed as if he were her blood sibling.
The couple are struggling to convince Liliann why her brother is unlikely to be allowed to travel to the US. “It is a violation of our rights,” said Haydn. “The US officials should trust the Nepali authorities’ investigation and protect our right to adopt the child.” Enraged mother Envige even went on to say that she would leave the US and stay here if US authorities do not allow them to take the child home. In the wake of growing allegations of child trafficking and falsification of documents, often in connivance with government authorities, the US government imposed a ban on the adoption of Nepali children indefinitely.
Haydn said he was ready to hand over the child if his biological parents are found. “Kailash had been staying in Sagarmatha Orphanage for two years without knowing about his biological parents,” he said.
Documents show that police had found Kailash unclaimed in the Capital and handed him over to the orphanage.The US department of State maintains that the step was taken to protect the rights and interests of Nepali children and their families. Haydn says the US decision is not in favour of the children as it is the right of the children to live in a good environment and lead a healthy life. Haydn is now planing to return home, leaving his wife here to convince the embassy officials.
He says he will take the child home at any cost. “I am ready fight a legal battle for the rest of my life to take the child home,” he said. As luck would have it, the HIllings couldn’t have a child even after 20 years of marriage. They had decided to adopt a child from Nepal. The Haydn couple is not alone. There are several American couples facing a similar situation in Nepal, according to another US citizen Mark Barrett, who is a prospective father of Nepali children. They all hope that their call will be heard by the US authorities.


Posted on: 2010-09-19 08:06