A Moore County family is feeling the aftershocks of the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti.

Christopher and Amie Fraley, of Whispering Pines, are the soon-to-be parents of an adopted Haitian boy, 1-year-old Jefferson.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake demolished Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands dead, injured or homeless. Almost immediately, many local residents started calling the local chapter of the American Red Cross wanting to donate to relief efforts.

Just hours after the news of the disaster was reported, the Fraleys learned that Jefferson survived the quake and is safe.

"That was a huge relief, but we know that doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet," Amie Fraley said Friday. "We are watching the situation intently."

With rescue and relief efforts under way - Haiti faces a long slow road to recovery - the Fraleys continue to worry about a family member they've never met.

"He doesn't know us yet, but it is an interesting situation for us because it feels like he is already a part of our family," she said.

Jefferson is one of 90 children in an orphanage in Tabarre, Haiti, which is about 10 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince.

He will be the Fraleys' fourth child - joining their biological children, Colette, 8; and Tavish, 6; and 3-year-old Maya, who was adopted from China.

His future siblings all are aware of what's going on in Haiti and that Jefferson is safe.

"They (other children) talk about him like he is their little brother, and he is," Chris Fraley said. "They have really embraced Jefferson as part of the family."

And the one wish the family shares is for Jefferson to make it to Moore County safely.

"We're just hoping baby Jefferson gets here - soon," Amie Fraley said.

For the Fraleys, adoption isn't a foreign concept. Amie's mother was adopted, and her father grew up in an orphanage. Maya's adoption went so well, that the Fraleys were open to adopting again if the opportunity was right.

"Tavish really wanted a boy to even things up around here," Amie said with a smile. "He says there are too many girls in the house."

The Fraleys wanted an opportunity to choose the gender of this child, and wanted to adopt from a country close to the United States and that had a quick adoptive process. They chose Haiti.

In November 2008, they began the process to adopt Jefferson.

The process has been slow to be sure, and Fraley worries that it will be delayed further because of the disaster.

"It's been a frustrating process," Amie Fraley said. "Now we just have to wait."

But she admits she isn't one to sit around watching television. When she worries, she works.

And now she is setting her sights on trying to streamline the adoption process in hopes of doing a small part to help the demolished country.

"My theory is if we could have a conference in Miami, Florida., get all the adoptive parents there, and then fly up the officials from Haiti who make all these decisions," she said, "then we could get hundreds of kids who have families here waiting out, and then make room in those orphanages for hundreds more who are undoubtedly homeless now."

She has begun trying to contact state and U.S. senators and representatives in hopes that they will get behind her idea.

But she knows she is limited in what she, as one person, can do.

"We've got three kids, and we have swimming lessons and Scouts and other things to do," she said. "A huge part of this is out of my hands, but I am going to do what I can. I think we could make a lot of difference for kids down there, so I am going to try my darndest to do it."

According to the Associated Press, adoptions from Haiti make up a fraction of international adoptions to the United States each year, but the number has been growing steadily as countries such as China and Guatemala have slowed or closed to international adoption in recent years.

The U.S. State Department issued 330 immigrant visas to Haitian children last year, up from 96 in 1999.

On Thursday, adoption advocates met on Capitol Hill to discuss the disaster's impact on adoptions. Advocates agreed that efforts should be made to speed up proceedings, especially for those U.S. families whose adoptions were nearly complete.

Chuck Johnson, chief operating officer of the National County for Adoption, told the AP that there almost certainly will be substantial delays in most of the roughly 900 pending adoption applications because of the chaos in Haiti, including destruction or loss of important documents.

In recent weeks, the Fraleys had been planning a trip to Haiti in order to straighten out some issues with Jefferson's paperwork. For now, the trip is on hold as the family will waits for good news.

"There are a lot of questions still unanswered," Chris Fraley said. "All you can do is hope and pray."

Contact Tom Embrey at (910) 693-2484 or by e-mail at tembrey@thepilot.com.