A British Columbia man is flying to Ghana where his wife is currently in hospital as the couple awaits paperwork to bring their adopted son home to Canada.
“This has really become our worst nightmare,” Clark Moran told CTV News from the Vancouver International Airport before his flight. “It’s just not what we imagined. This isn't the way we pictured it. This wasn't the plan.”
Kimberlee Moran, who has multiple sclerosis, has been in Africa since early August, when she arrived with her husband to adopt Ayo, their two-year-old son, in Nigeria.
After spending several weeks finalizing their son’s citizenship documents, the couple then travelled to Accra, Ghana in September to drop off Ayo’s paperwork at the High Commission of Canada to Ghana. Not long after that, Clark returned home for work.
Tangled in bureaucratic red tape as she awaits Ayo’s paperwork to be approved by the federal government, Kimberlee has been in Ghana ever since. Kimberlee’s health, however, has recently taken a turn for the worse.
“She can’t walk on her own,” Clark explained. “She's lost the ability to really use her hands properly and she’s got some paralysis now that's moved into her face.”
On top of health issues, Kimberlee also has mounting medical bills. The couple only recently found out that her travel health insurance ran out more than a month ago.
"I'm being forced to choose right now,” Clark said. “Do I stay with our son and take care of him in this foreign country? Or do I fly home with my wife who is unable to take care of herself?"
Clark says he will stay with his son if needed, knowing that once in Canada, Kimberlee will have support from family friends, like Brent Cantelon.
“You'd think that we could work our way through this red tape, so that’s just been hard for everybody,” Cantelon said while seeing Clark off at the airport. "We believe in prayer. We believe in miracles at Christmastime. We’d love to see this one."
While the couple is understandably frustrated with being in limbo in Africa, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told CTV News that when it comes to foreign adoptions, “it is not unusual for the process to last for two years or even longer” as the department rules out issues such as human trafficking.
“Time frames vary widely from country to country and even from case to case within a country,” it added.
Considering the months Kimberlee has spent in Ghana, as well as her deteriorating health, Clark hopes that the government can do more to help bring Ayo to Canada as the adoption process is finalized.
“I'm just hopeful that they can find it in their hearts to recognize that all we're asking is for a temporary visa to be handed over to our son so that we can come back as a family,” he said.
Clark, who only travelled with a carry-on for the roughly 30-hour journey, will not know until he lands if he will be saying goodbye to his wife and staying with their son, or if the whole family will be able to come back home to Canada together in time for the holidays.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Allison Hurst and files from CTVNews.ca’s Jackie Dunham
