Adoption. More than 20 families reunited by journalist Michel Joseph in five years

In five years, Michel Joseph, 32, has brought together about twenty Haitian families divided by adoption, a phenomenon that, in Haiti, owes its existence in most cases to the poverty that is at its height in the country. In this interview, he talks to us about the dismay of children and families, their cries of despair and the heavy emotions that run through him and the families, following his life-saving interventions.

There are legions of adopted or abandoned children who become adults, without ever knowing their real parents. They languish waiting for the day to meet them and often knock on every door to find help from people who can help them trace their origins, meet their biological parents. But often, without success. Some die without their eyes meeting.

Cries of despair, sadness, pain, regret: these are among other characteristics of the malaise of parents and children who are found in the context of adoption. Often approached by children who are light years away from their biological parents, the journalist and information director of Radio Télévision Caraïbes, Michel Joseph, answers our questions.

Loop Haiti: You have several distinctions to your credit, including the "Philippe Chaffanjon" prize, which you won in the 3rd edition with your report entitled "Adoption- Cry of Despair". Why did you choose this subject and not another?

Michel Joseph: It all started when one day a friend said to me: "Michel, there is a young man who lives in France and who would like to reconnect with his biological parents in Haiti. Do you think you could do something?" I said yes. I worked with the girl, in 24 hours she was able to reconnect with her origins in Haiti. I remember her name well: it was Katia Marie.

And there was the 3rd edition of the Philippe Chaffanjon multimedia reporting prize. I thought it was a good topic. Nobody was talking about it, but the problem was real.

Cry of despair why? Because there are so many children abroad who are looking for their biological parents in Haiti, so many parents also who are looking for traces of their children after 10 to 30 years of adoption. I proposed the subject to the competition, it caught the attention of the jury and I won the prize.

But what struck me most at the awards ceremony was the presence of an adopted girl living in France who had already found her biological parents in Haiti thanks to my reporting. I helped the girl, and when I won the award she was living proof of my work. That was in 2016. I had helped this girl and two other brothers find their biological parents.

I am now (August 2020) at 21 families in five years.

Michel Joseph receiving the 2016 Chaffanjon Prize/ Photo: Philippe Chaffanjon Prize Facebook page

Loop Haiti: The subject of adoption, of family reunions, has it become a real cause supported by Michel Joseph today?

MJ: But of course. Because today, I am the only one who does that. Without wanting to boast too much, today if a child is looking for his biological parents in Haiti, if Michel can't do anything about it, well, he's a lost cause. That's what people say. I have a reputation in the field. There are people across all continents who have been contacting me to ask for help for almost 5 years. And as far as possible, if the person has important information, I think I will help them.

Today I have made a name for myself in the field. It is suddenly a mission that I could not refuse, that I have embraced for 5 years. And now I am making my own way with it. I am not complaining. I am never tired when it comes to helping a person who is looking to reconnect with their origins in Haiti.

Loop Haiti: After having done such work, allowing very distant and long-separated families to reunite. What is the resonance on you, first as a human, then as a journalist and also on these families themselves?

MJ : In fact, I say that it always feels good to see the impact of one's work. And for me, for 5 years in this field, I have experienced enough. I have seen enough, frankly, in terms of positive repercussions compared to my reports on adoption. Do you imagine yourself being the reason for the joy of a person, of an entire family?

This child who had been adopted 30 years ago. These parents who had given their child up for adoption 30 years ago. And when they were finally able to rejoice, and you realize that you are at the center of it all. Honestly, it is indescribable as happiness. I have already cried when faced with these reunions, faced with these emotions, but it is completely human, completely normal.

You ask yourself how is it possible that I do all this? It becomes easy thanks to the magic of technology, radio and television broadcasting, especially with Radio Television Caraïbes which has a wide audience, not only in Haiti but also in the diaspora. It becomes very very easy.

With every adoption story, every achievement, it always comes as the same shock. You ask yourself: is this true?
You imagine how shocking it must be for the person you are helping. It makes me happy to be at the center of it all. 

Loop Haiti: What does such work require? Could you explain the process to us a little?

MJ:  All it requires at first is humanism. You have to be human to do it. I'm the news director at Caraïbes, I'm a presenter, a reporter. Yeah, I get paid for that. But I don't get paid to look for the biological families of the children. I do it for free.

A child who comes to me through social networks to say: "Michel, I'm looking for my biological parents", the first thing that makes me accept this mission is my humanism.

Another thing: it requires professionalism, because telling people's stories is not easy. You have to have people's trust so that they can tell you their story. And the method too. It also requires a lot of discipline. Knowing when to stop, knowing when to interfere in people's lives. It's true that the person is telling you their story, but after all, you are not a member of the family, but just a professional doing their job. It requires a lot of mastery.

Another thing: it's true that I do the work of a journalist, I tell people's stories, but then I have to check the information carefully. Is it really about the parents? It's an investigative, archival work, it requires a lot of discernment and insight too.

And before reconnecting parents with their children, this requires talking to them for at least forty minutes, telling them: "This child from whom you separated 20 years, 30 years, 15 years ago, does not know you. You are a stranger to him even when you gave him life and you have to accept that"...

Loop Haiti: Apparently there is a psychological dimension to the work...

But of course. It is so heavy for the child. It is so shocking. Sometimes I say "look, these are your biological parents" and the child does not even believe it. They sometimes react by saying to me: "I spent 30 years looking for them, and I told you my story 24 hours ago. Do you think they are my real parents?". A lot of questions. And the parents too, I have to take care of them for a while, to tell them what to do. It is heavy for the parents and for the children. So I play the role of social worker, psychologist, journalist.

Loop Haiti: In addition to the excitement of the reunion, don't there happen to be disappointments?

MJ: Disappointments, shocks, of course. Here I think of this girl who had found her father in Haiti, but the first news she had: her mother died. She had her mother's pictures in the coffin the day she was buried and she never had the chance to meet her eyes again. Her mother died a few years after she left.

Loop Haiti: What case has left the biggest impression on you in these productions?

MJ: Each report on adoption is a unique case. Each report has a particular imprint. Each person who tells their story is a particular story. And each of these stories is a new page in my story too. Each story on adoption, I keep very particular memories. Shocks, disappointments, emotions, joys. Each report has been very particular for me.

Loop Haiti: How can such an initiative be sustained over time? So what are the issues?

MJ:  The issues, I can say that it is trust. There are some listeners sometimes who question the effectiveness of the work, who say to themselves yeah the guy only took 24 hours to find the biological parents; are they really the biological parents; am I not making up stories, introducing children to parents who are not theirs. I know what I'm doing and I do it very well, with professionalism. I distance myself when I have to distance myself. I go all out when I have to go all out. 

To perpetuate this initiative over time, I believe that we must work for posterity. It is very important. Today, after a year, I manage to work for 5 to 6 families. While I could have worked for 100 people.

Loop Haiti: And how?

MJ: By using other strategies, other methods. That is why I intend to set up a structure that can support many more families, especially since there are so many people all day long who ask for my help. This structure will have many more arms, who will be able to take care of their related needs.

Loop Haiti: Michel, you have many young people who take you as a model, a message to them.

Michel Joseph: I must tell young people to continue to dream, to work, because I might not have been the Michel I am today without work. So, you must not stop cherishing your dreams and working on them accordingly.

Peterson Nelson