Until all efforts to trace relatives or identify local caregivers have been exhausted, separated Haitian children must not be put up for adoption, says the International Rescue Committee, a leading aid organization reuniting families in Haiti.

There’s no telling how many children became orphaned or separated by Haiti’s earthquake on January 12, but there are no doubt many thousands.  Some have been taken in by caring neighbors or strangers in homes still standing or in the hundreds of makeshift settlements scattered across Port-au-Prince and other devastated cities. Others have been placed in orphanages across the country.