Michael and Monica Simonsen, the Baltimore couple who have been trying to adopt a Haitian orphan toddler nearly all his life, were scheduled to fly home with him Tuesday evening.

Michael Simonsen traveled to Haiti hoping to bring home Stanley Hermane, a 21-month-old who had been at an orphanage for most of his life. Simonsen and a couple of other adoptive fathers were able to bring seven Haitian orphans to the U.S. - far fewer than they expected - from Port-au-Prince early Monday morning. They spoke about reuniting with Stanley Tuesday afternoon at Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida while awaiting a flight to Baltimore.

The joy of finally bringing Stanley home did not come without a struggle, the Simonsens said.

The couple flew to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and joined several other families and adoption agency personnel before the fathers flew to Port-au-Prince via private jet, arriving in a small airport Saturday afternoon. They pitched a tent in a small village at the airport for the night, then went to the U.S. Embassy at 8 a.m. Sunday to set the adoption procedures in motion.

Simonsen said he saw Stanley about 2 p.m., along with six other children who had been cleared for adoption and were brought to the embassy for photos.

"When they brought him over for his pictures, it was a little bit surreal," Simonsen said. "I was excited, but it felt bittersweet. Lots of kids were expecting to see their [new] parents, and they were not allowed to leave."

Simonsen said the agency he and his wife have been working with to bring Stanley home initially expected more than a dozen orphans to be cleared for adoption, with dozens more to follow.

He and the other fathers brought the seven orphans back on a midnight flight that carried about 80 other orphans. The flight had been scheduled to arrive in Miami (about half an hour from Fort Lauderdale) but instead landed in Orlando - more than four hours away - at 3 a.m.

They didn't get through Customs until 8 p.m.

Monica Simonsen drove to Orlando and met up with her family.

"By the time I got to see him, we were just so tired," she said. "Stanley was sleeping. We had just seen him months ago, so it felt normal. The next day, I woke up and realized that I didn't have to say goodbye to him anymore." Stanley was congested, she said, but "he's doing great."