Why Ethiopia?

There are several reasons I have chosen Ethiopia.  

There are over 67 million people living in this third world country.  Approximately 4 million orphans are among them.  Some of these children are unwanted, others can not be cared for due to poverty, HIV and death in their families.  Even when there are living relatives of these children, often they can not afford to feed, clothe or house another person.  In America, we have a system in place, though not perfect, that enables every orphaned child to be cared for.  In Ethiopia the orphanages are less than desirable and not all children are able to be cared for in the orphanage.  Many children are left to fend for themselves, even at a very young age.

(Once a child in Ethiopia has been matched to a waiting family they are taken to live in the capitol city, Addis Ababa, at one of the care facilities the adoption agencies have set up.)   

Many countries in the world have stopped adopting to single woman.  Ethiopia is currently still open to single adoption, but has discussed changing this in the past.  I hope this does not change while I am in the process!  

Some countries will not allow foreigners to adopt infants, only older children.  Ethiopia does.  Some countries have extremely long waiting periods. Ethiopia tends to have a time frame of about 12-18 months for the entire process.  This is not set in stone though and depends on the gender, age and number of children you are willing to adopt.

Ethiopia is one of the least expensive countries to adopt from, though the process is not inexpensive...donations are welcome!  They only require 1 trip to Ethiopia for a total of 1 week or you can have your child escorted back to the US.  Many countries require 2-3 trips with 2-3 weeks (or more) spent "in country".  

Several countries have been experiencing hardships within their adoption regulations, like Guatemala.  There is speculation of unsavory practices in the way the adoption agencies are working within that country, so they have completely shut the country down to any new adoptions.  No one knows when it will open back up.  Ethiopia seems to have a fairly good process in place.  It appears stable and well run. 

Finally, have you seen how cute these children are?  They are precious, special and wonderful.  They are deserving of a life filled with love, compassion, care, education...and me as their mom!

Here is a link to my agency if anyone wants to check it out:  www.cwa.org