There’s a glimmer of hope for many of Haiti’s orphans following last week’s devastating earthquake. The earthquake left over one million children without parents but the country already had over 380,000 orphans. This has increased pressure to speed up the adoption process of the existing orphans.

Many of these children already have a legal home and permanent guardianship waiting for them in America, where families have spent years trying to adopt Haitian orphans, to little or no avail. Since the disaster, the US hopes to speed up the adoption process of Haitian children.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said they would "not to let red tape stand in the way of those in need." She continued, “we are doing everything possible to locate these children and expedite their arrival into our country."

Other countries such as France and Canada have also fast-tracked the adoption process to allow hundreds of Haitian children access to their countries.

However, many aid agencies and British charities have stated their disagreement to the fast-tracking process, saying more time should be allowed to reunite the children with their families.