53 Haitian Orphans Arrive in Pittsburgh

Haitian orphans, whose orphanage was destroyed by last week's massive earthquake, finally arrive in Pittsburgh after the families of Jamie and Ali McMutrie, two Pittsburgh sisters who operated the orphanage, used Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about their plight and finally arranged the evacuation.

The 53 orphans were among the first to arrive in the United States after the federal government loosened its policy on visa requirements to expedite Americans' adoptions of parentless children living in the post-earthquake ruins.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and other officials escorted the children from Haiti to Pittsburgh, where they will be taken to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for medical care and be placed in group homes until their adoptions are finalized. The flight almost didn't happen - taking a lot of coordinated efforts by officials from UPMC, the Red Cross and Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh, along with political intervention by U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and Gov. Ed Rendell. The chartered plane went to Haiti loaded with 4,000 medical supplies, and was given a one-hour window to unload those supplies and bring aboard the orphans for the return trip. The timing didn't work out and the group arrived at the airport in Port-au-Prince to find their plane was gone. The military were able to finally get them all out on a U.S. Air Force C-17 military transport which took them to Orlando, where they boarded another plane for Pittsburgh.

Of the 150 children originally in the McMutries' care, two were picked up by relatives in Haiti, five were sent to Miami, and 87 were taken by the French and Dutch governments. Of the remaining children who came to Pittsburgh, 40 are going to previously arranged adoptive homes in the U.S., four are headed to Spain, three to Canada, and seven are still available for adoption.