Haitian children had adoptions pending before last Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

US says it will temporarily allow orphaned Haitian children into the US, following last week's earthquake.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the move would allow children eligible for adoption in the US "to receive the care they need".

Other nations said they were speeding up the process to allow Haitian children to join adoptive families.

Dutch adoption agencies sent a plane to pick up some 100 Haitian children who are being adopted by Dutch families.

A number of Haitian children had adoptions pending before last Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

But there are fears that in many cases vital paperwork will have been lost because orphanages were among the many buildings wrecked or damaged by the quake.

Children's advocacy groups have warned against starting new adoption processes in the midst of an emergency.