Haitian baby makes it home to Huntersville

After countless sleepless nights, a lot of waiting and political wrangling, 2-year-old Avery Bonoffski is home with her family.

Tracy Bonoffski, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte lecturer, and her husband, Michael, welcomed their adopted Haitian-born girl home Monday after days of fear for her safety after an earthquake decimated the island nation. But after numerous problems getting the girl to Huntersville, the couple still has a great deal of work to do.

“She’s never seen running water before, so it scared her. When we took her to the doctor,  she wouldn’t let them take her temperature,” Tracy Bonoffski said. “…There’s so much that we are trying to get her prepared for.”

Tracy Bonoffski and her mother, Gail D’avesa, flew Saturday to Orlando after the Bonoffskis’ adoption agency said a military plane would fly Avery and other children to Orlando.

The plane landed shortly after Bonoffski and her mother did, and after several hours of waiting with parents from around the country at the airport, tensions began to show.

“We got on the phone with everyone we knew,” Bonoffski said. “All the parents did. We were telling anyone we could about what was going on and asking anyone for help … We were terrified that they’re not going to let us take our kids home.”

Immigration officials wanted to review paperwork before giving children to the parents. At least once, officials said some parents may not go home with their adopted children, and some children might go first to foster care.

After Florida leaders leaned heavily on immigration officials, Bonoffski finally held her new daughter. It was 3 a.m. Monday morning.

They had been waiting for 40 hours without sleep, a shower or much to eat.

The Bonoffskis began the adoption paperwork two years ago. They still had several months to go before Avery would be theirs. But the earthquake earlier this month destroyed the Haitian agency that regulates adoption and all its files.

The general lack of supplies in Haiti also heightened the need to get hundreds of orphans to loving parents. Avery’s orphanage, Maison Des Enfants de Dieu, collapsed in the quake, and the children lived on the street for days afterward. American and Haitian officials worked to expedite adoptions in the past two weeks.

The Bonoffskis’ two other children, Caden, 8, and Preston, 5, are enjoying their new baby sister, and the family is trying to get Avery’s bedroom ready.

“It’s really been a roller coaster,” Tracy Bonoffski said. “But it’s worth it.”