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American Morning

Interview With Barbara Taylor, Sherry Archer

Aired August 11, 2003 - 09:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to a heart-breaking story from war-torn Liberia. Orphans there hoping to join adoptive parents here in the U.S. but they can't leaved country.
Six-year-old Niama Sumo (ph) and 7-year-old Doretha Ruben (ph) live in a squalid Monrovia orphanage. But it isn't the Liberian government that is keeping them there, it is the United States government. The orphans have a new family waiting for them in Arizona, but the U.S. embassy has yet to issue the immigration visas they need to enter the U.S.

We are joined now from Phoenix by Barbara Taylor who has adopted the girls under Liberian law. And we're joined from Los Angeles by Sherry Archer, executive director of Angel's Haven Outreach. That is the agency that is trying to arrange these adoptions. Ladies, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

BARBARA TAYLOR, ADOPTING TWO LIBERIAN GIRLS: Good morning. Thank you.

KAGAN: Barbara I'm going to start with you and your story. We can tell part of your story there by your two daughters that were adopted from China that are there with you. How does a retired Air Force colonel end up as a mother of two girls from China and then also now wanting two more girls from Liberia?

TAYLOR: Well, this mother had always wanted children, and found out that there were some countries that would let older, mature ladies, like myself, to adopt. And that's what happened.

KAGAN: Quickly, introduce us to the young ladies that are with you, your daughters there.

TAYLOR: This is my daughter Amanda Lynn (ph), who's 10, and this is my daughter Samantha Sue (ph), Sammy Sue, who's 8 1/2.

KAGAN: Ladies, glad to have you with us as the big sisters. Now tell us about the little sisters that you're trying to bring over from Liberia, Barbara?

TAYLOR: My daughters in Liberia are Doretha, who's 7 and Niama, who is 6. And they've been in the orphanage since 1999.

KAGAN: And the snag in trying to bring them over here, if you can explain?

TAYLOR: Well, the snag appears to be that the consulate there, the American consulate there in Liberia, doesn't have any faith, I guess, in the agencies, in us, and in the Liberian government because they say that there's a lot of fraud and they want to check out every adoption.

However, in China, when we did the processing for the visas there, adoption groups -- and I mean groups -- went through every 15 minutes. So your group was in and then out.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: ... jump in here because our time is really short. And actually, Barbara, let me bring Sherry in here to help us explain exactly what's happening.

Now the U.S. government and State Department has issued a statement saying that they are trying to protect children and they have to certify that before a child is released to the U.S. that these children are in fact orphans.

SHERRY ARCHER, RUNS INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION AGENCY: Yes, that's correct.

My frustration, in terms of where we stand in this position, is that we have gotten children out. We are following and have followed the procedures that were already established and approved by the American embassy and the Liberian government.

If this last round of fighting hadn't taken place, these children would be home by now. What's happened is that we can't complete the adoptions because the American embassy is short staffed, they've got security problems, they can't get people out to do the physical investigation, to go see the children in the orphanages. And, therefore, give us the approve that we know would be coming under normal circumstances.

What the State Department is saying is that because Liberia has a higher risk of fraud, that they feel they have to do a physical investigation, rather than in other countries, where once they've done a thorough investigation, they don't feel they have to do it over and over again.

My feeling on this -- and I'm confident I'm correct -- these children are starving to death. And if we wait until things stabilize and the staff at the embassy is back intact and able to conduct these investigations -- and I'm sure the children would come home then -- I don't think they're going to live that long.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Time of is the essence, is what you're saying?

ARCHER: Yes, yes. These children, under best conditions, were malnourished. And they've gone so long without food now that I'm just afraid that if we wait, they're not going to live. And so that's why my plea to the State Department is to bring these children home. I'm confident that we've dotted every "I," that we've crossed every "T." But even if, God forbid, something happened and all of the documents weren't in exact order, we can correct it later. But we can't give these children that time back.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: ... Sherry, and I guess also Barbara, the last thing you want -- of course you want these girls to go to good homes -- but the last thing you would want would be any children to go from what is a terrible situation in Liberia to another situation where they are with people who are trying to take advantage of them.

ARCHER: Well that's not where the argument is. All of the families on -- first of all, we're only talking a total of 27 children. All 27 of these children already have approved adoptive families. What the American embassy wants to make sure is that there wasn't a case where a birth mother has been bribed or coerced into giving up her child.

And at least in our ten cases, all of these children have been in orphanages for at least two years without contact from any birth mother. They are wards of the state, we've got all the documents to verify that. So it's just a matter of rubber stamping it, basically.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: I'm sorry, I don't mean to cut you off, but it's just that our time is short and mainly because of events we're trying to follow coming out of Liberia today.

Sherry, thank you for pointing that out. And, Barbara, we're going to wish you well in getting all four of your girls together and raising them well in Phoenix, Arizona.

TAYLOR: And we'd like to thank the media for focusing on the children.

KAGAN: Thank you so much. A pleasure to meet the big sisters this morning as well. Thanks for joining us.

TAYLOR: Thank you.

ARCHER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 11, 2003 - 09:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to a heart-breaking story from war-torn Liberia. Orphans there hoping to join adoptive parents here in the U.S. but they can't leaved country.
Six-year-old Niama Sumo (ph) and 7-year-old Doretha Ruben (ph) live in a squalid Monrovia orphanage. But it isn't the Liberian government that is keeping them there, it is the United States government. The orphans have a new family waiting for them in Arizona, but the U.S. embassy has yet to issue the immigration visas they need to enter the U.S.

We are joined now from Phoenix by Barbara Taylor who has adopted the girls under Liberian law. And we're joined from Los Angeles by Sherry Archer, executive director of Angel's Haven Outreach. That is the agency that is trying to arrange these adoptions. Ladies, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

BARBARA TAYLOR, ADOPTING TWO LIBERIAN GIRLS: Good morning. Thank you.

KAGAN: Barbara I'm going to start with you and your story. We can tell part of your story there by your two daughters that were adopted from China that are there with you. How does a retired Air Force colonel end up as a mother of two girls from China and then also now wanting two more girls from Liberia?

TAYLOR: Well, this mother had always wanted children, and found out that there were some countries that would let older, mature ladies, like myself, to adopt. And that's what happened.

KAGAN: Quickly, introduce us to the young ladies that are with you, your daughters there.

TAYLOR: This is my daughter Amanda Lynn (ph), who's 10, and this is my daughter Samantha Sue (ph), Sammy Sue, who's 8 1/2.

KAGAN: Ladies, glad to have you with us as the big sisters. Now tell us about the little sisters that you're trying to bring over from Liberia, Barbara?

TAYLOR: My daughters in Liberia are Doretha, who's 7 and Niama, who is 6. And they've been in the orphanage since 1999.

KAGAN: And the snag in trying to bring them over here, if you can explain?

TAYLOR: Well, the snag appears to be that the consulate there, the American consulate there in Liberia, doesn't have any faith, I guess, in the agencies, in us, and in the Liberian government because they say that there's a lot of fraud and they want to check out every adoption.

However, in China, when we did the processing for the visas there, adoption groups -- and I mean groups -- went through every 15 minutes. So your group was in and then out.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: ... jump in here because our time is really short. And actually, Barbara, let me bring Sherry in here to help us explain exactly what's happening.

Now the U.S. government and State Department has issued a statement saying that they are trying to protect children and they have to certify that before a child is released to the U.S. that these children are in fact orphans.

SHERRY ARCHER, RUNS INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION AGENCY: Yes, that's correct.

My frustration, in terms of where we stand in this position, is that we have gotten children out. We are following and have followed the procedures that were already established and approved by the American embassy and the Liberian government.

If this last round of fighting hadn't taken place, these children would be home by now. What's happened is that we can't complete the adoptions because the American embassy is short staffed, they've got security problems, they can't get people out to do the physical investigation, to go see the children in the orphanages. And, therefore, give us the approve that we know would be coming under normal circumstances.

What the State Department is saying is that because Liberia has a higher risk of fraud, that they feel they have to do a physical investigation, rather than in other countries, where once they've done a thorough investigation, they don't feel they have to do it over and over again.

My feeling on this -- and I'm confident I'm correct -- these children are starving to death. And if we wait until things stabilize and the staff at the embassy is back intact and able to conduct these investigations -- and I'm sure the children would come home then -- I don't think they're going to live that long.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Time of is the essence, is what you're saying?

ARCHER: Yes, yes. These children, under best conditions, were malnourished. And they've gone so long without food now that I'm just afraid that if we wait, they're not going to live. And so that's why my plea to the State Department is to bring these children home. I'm confident that we've dotted every "I," that we've crossed every "T." But even if, God forbid, something happened and all of the documents weren't in exact order, we can correct it later. But we can't give these children that time back.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: ... Sherry, and I guess also Barbara, the last thing you want -- of course you want these girls to go to good homes -- but the last thing you would want would be any children to go from what is a terrible situation in Liberia to another situation where they are with people who are trying to take advantage of them.

ARCHER: Well that's not where the argument is. All of the families on -- first of all, we're only talking a total of 27 children. All 27 of these children already have approved adoptive families. What the American embassy wants to make sure is that there wasn't a case where a birth mother has been bribed or coerced into giving up her child.

And at least in our ten cases, all of these children have been in orphanages for at least two years without contact from any birth mother. They are wards of the state, we've got all the documents to verify that. So it's just a matter of rubber stamping it, basically.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: I'm sorry, I don't mean to cut you off, but it's just that our time is short and mainly because of events we're trying to follow coming out of Liberia today.

Sherry, thank you for pointing that out. And, Barbara, we're going to wish you well in getting all four of your girls together and raising them well in Phoenix, Arizona.

TAYLOR: And we'd like to thank the media for focusing on the children.

KAGAN: Thank you so much. A pleasure to meet the big sisters this morning as well. Thanks for joining us.

TAYLOR: Thank you.

ARCHER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com