In the nightmarish aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, millions of children have been left without families -- and many compassionate onlookers (including celebs like Kristin Chenoweth) have wondered if they could help by adopting Haitian children. But legal adoption is temporarily closed due to the tragedy, and on Saturday, Angelina Jolie -- the world's best-known advocate for international adoption -- encouraged potential parents to wait.
On a visit to Haiti in her capacity as goodwill ambassador for the U.N., Jolie talked to CNN recently about why Americans shouldn't try to "help" children by taking them out of Haiti.
"Trafficking has been a huge problem in this country for a long time," Jolie explained, meaning that the government needs to keep track of all children who exit the country to prevent abuses. While those who want to adopt right now may "mean well," Jolie continued, it's important that they "not get frustrated, but really work with the country."
The star's plea then took a personal turn: "For myself, as someone who's an adoptive parent, I understand the urge to assist in that way, but now is not the time. An emergency is not the time for new adoptions in any way."
Jolie admitted to CNN that she herself had considered adopting from Haiti ("We're that kind of family. Brad and I talk about that," she said), but insists the most important thing right now is to reunite existing families. "We don't know who is an orphan. I've met women... who were saying they haven't spoken to their children. They have no cell phones, they have no way to tell their children they're alive."
