UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow has criticized as "deplorable" attempts to take children out of Haiti illegally after last month’s devastating earthquake.

The U.S. actress says groups or individuals who want to help Haiti’s children should rather support orphanages or their families inside the country.

Farrow, who herself has adopted 11 children, says offering parents a better life for their children elsewhere is "completely unacceptable and immoral."

Adoption practices in Haiti are in the spotlight since a group of American missionaries was caught trying to smuggle Haitian children out of the country in the wake of the Jan. 12 quake.

Farrow was taking part by telephone Thursday in a news briefing for the U.N. children’s fund’s annual appeal.