Ethiopia is a beautiful country situated in Eastern Africa near the Red Sea with a population of 53 million.  It is one of the oldest countries in the world and was the home of the Queen of Sheba.  The empire which started with Sheba's son Menelik continued until 1974 when the death of Haile Selassie marked the end of the 3000 year old dynasty.  Following the death, there was a civil war in the country until 1991 when a transitional government was formed.  The 17 years of civil war bankrupted the country and left thousands of orphaned children.  The numbers continue to increase as the diseases of poverty cause premature deaths of parents. 

Available Children 
Thousands of children are living in institutions because their parents can no longer care for them. Many children are orphaned due to poverty, the residual effects of war, drought or famine, or their parents may have died of disease, including but not limited to AIDS related illnesses.

Children are well cared for in orphanages or hospitals, but are in great need of a loving family environment. Our representative and staff in Ethiopia monitor the health and care of the children. The children are beautiful!  They tend to have a cheerful outlook despite their difficult lives.  Most of the children are healthy by third world standards.  Medical care is scarce so children with serious illnesses generally do not survive.  All children are tested during the process for HIV, Hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and venereal disease.  The children range in age from a few months to 10 years. 

The children are:

- Male and female

- As young as two months old, at time of referral, up through school age

- Twins and sibling groups available

Parent Eligibility  
Singles and couples (with our without children) may apply. Couples must be married for 2 years.  There are no restrictions regarding religion and previous divorce is permitted.   

Process  
 Adoptive parents complete a home study before being accepted to the program. While waiting for home study completion and immigration approval, we provide instruction as to how to compile the dossier for Ethiopia. Once the dossier is complete, adoptive parents may receive a referral. Upon acceptance of the referral, the dossier is sent to Ethiopia and together with the referral paperwork, presented to the Ethiopian government for review. Our representatives in Ethiopia oversee the process from government approval to court, where guardianship is granted and onward until child travels home. From receipt of dossier in Ethiopia until child travels home, it takes approximately 2 to 4 months. Parents can choose to travel to Ethiopia or arrange for an escort to pick up their child.

International adoptions in Ethiopia are overseen by M.O.L.S.A. (Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs), a government division under the Ministry of Justice which regulates all adoption processing.

A general outline of the process is as follows:

- Home study completion and USCIS (immigration) filing

- Dossier submitted to Adoption Avenues Agency

- Family receives the referral

- Approval from Ethiopia of family's dossier and child referral paperwork

- Court process in Ethiopia to grant guardianship

- Completion of USCIS paperwork for child's US visa

- Child travels home

Timeframes

We provide approximate timeframes for all milestones. Each family's process is individual and unique; therefore timelines may differ slightly from case to case. The following timeframes are generally what our families can expect to experience:

- From application submitted until referral: Varies, depending on how quickly

individual family works to complete dossier as well as the time it takes to

complete home study for agency approval. Typically up to 4 months.

- From dossier received in country until court order issued: Approximately 4

weeks.

- From court order issued until child may travel: 2 - 8 weeks, depending on

final processing of child's US visa in Ethiopia.

Parents have the option of traveling to Ethiopia to receive their child or having their child escorted to the nearest major U.S. airport. For parents who travel, we provide travel notes and tips as well as assist in coordinating your stay in Ethiopia.

Traveling to Ethiopia and visiting our care center allows families to develop the child-parent bond all the more quickly; it also provides a deeper understanding of a child's background. For these reasons, we strongly encourage families to travel to Ethiopia.

Those who travel will be met by our staff at the airport in Addis Ababa. Families will be well taken care of during their stay as our staff will see to making accommodation, transportation and translation arrangements during the adoption trip. Other arrangements such as seeing some sites in Ethiopia's capital city can also be arranged through our representatives in country.

Typical Information 
A photo and available medical information is provided upon referral of the child.  All children are tested during the process for HIV, Hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and venereal disease.  A video is sometime available. 

Travel 
Generally, the children are escorted to the US but many families travel to Ethiopia to escort their own children. 

Post- Placement  
You will be required to provide three post-placement reports. These reports will be due within the first months, third months and sixth months of child’s arrival date.  These will be forwarded to Ethiopia. 

We are more than happy to have the possibility to help the Ethiopian children. Adoption Avenues is involved in a development project in Ethiopia: this is the Toukoul Program for HIV and handicapped children. We are participating in the financing of the construction of the facilities and in financing the running costs of the Toukoul Program.

 Photos