“I Knew I Had No Other Choice” How the Adoption of 3 Haitian Kids Made a Family More Complete

Sometimes, our lives change in a place and at a time we don’t expect. One of those unexpected twists of fate brought the hero of our article, Megan Boudreaux, to Haiti, thousands of miles from her home, to find and build her new family. Though, her journey was not easy. This is a recap of her 11-year-long struggle for well-being, happiness, and family.

We at Bright Side adore Meghan’s courage and strength, and we want to share her family’s story with our readers.

Her arrival in Haiti was unexpected, even to her.

Meghan was sent to Haiti due to her previous experience working in malnutrition centers. At the time, she was working in PR and marketing for a hospital in Baton Rouge. So when the hospital organized an expedition, Meghan was asked to join. She never saw herself in that field, however, soon she found herself working with Respire Haiti, an organization “dedicated to educating, encouraging, and empowering restaveks orphans and vulnerable children.”

Restaveks is a Haitian word meaning “to stay with.” It describes children who work in alien families as housekeepers and cooks.

The day it all began.

Meghan was working in one of the cities in Haiti, called Gressier. They hosted feeding programs, built a school and a medical clinic, and organized sports programs. One day, Meghan noticed a girl throwing rocks at a bird. Soon, Meghan realized that the girl had nothing to eat and was trying to get the bird to feed herself.

The girl’s name was Michelle, she was a 6-year-old restaveks orphan. Meghan encouraged the girl to attend their feeding program and tried to enroll her in their school. Sometime later, Michelle showed up at Meghan’s house in the pouring rain. “They said they don’t want me anymore,” the girl said. “You can have me.”

Meghan was only 24 years old. “I was in shock that anyone would tell a 6-year-old child this, but knew I had no other choice,” she recalled. “Knowing in my gut that Michelle staying with me was the right thing, I immediately took her in.”

Turned out, Michelle was not the only one.

They had been living as a small family for some time already, when one night before going to sleep, Michelle turned around in her bed and said, “Look, mom, we have room for one more.” Looking through Michelle’s documents, Meghan found out that Michelle was not the only child in her biological family — she had a sister.

3 weeks later, Meghan received a phone call: “Megan, you need to come home immediately. A little girl who looks exactly like Micha [Michelle] is on our front porch.” They rushed home to see Jessica, Michelle’s sibling sister, who immediately was welcomed into the family.

Finding the love of her life.

Being a young single mom to 2 children, living in a foreign country, Meghan believed she’d never find someone ready to dive into this amazing but challenging life of hers until she met Josh. The first time they met was in an orphanage. Later, Josh started coming to Haiti more and more. Eventually, he “joined the journey of Haiti, raising 2 girls, and running a nonprofit organization.”

Miracle number 3, as they call it.

One night, Meghan and Josh heard a knock on their door and their names being called out. Once they reached the porch, they saw their student, Saintil, a 9-year-old boy who had walked for 3 days, over mountains, to find shelter at their place. He said, “he knew he would be safe with us,” said Meghan.

Saintil stayed with them for several months while they were searching for any biological relatives he might have. When they realized that all of Saintil’s family members were deceased, they “knew he was meant to be part of our family.”

Making it official.

However, their journey did not end there. Meghan, Josh, and their 3 kids were living as a family, but they were struggling to make it official. The adoption process in Haiti is quite complicated.

“Over the course of 9 years, we fought for our children, making sure we had handled every single piece of paper correctly and that we had crossed every T and dotted every I, and yet, it still wasn’t made easier,” remembered Meghan. Finally, in March 2022, Meghan and her husband officially welcomed their children into the family.

And they lived happily ever after.

Meanwhile, the family did not stop getting bigger. Meghan and Josh resolved to give birth to 3 more biological kids because they knew they “weren’t done growing our family.” They moved to the USA, though they continue embracing Haiti there, helping those who’d like to help or adopt. “My husband and I are now advocates for orphan care, ethical adoption, and education,” said Meghan.

“Raising teenagers and toddlers (and a new infant), running a nonprofit, and adjusting to America all within the last few years have been challenging and overwhelming,” she said. “However, it has also been incredibly fulfilling and life-changing.”

What part of Meghan’s story was the most inspiring?