Do Your Homework on International Adoptions
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
For several weeks, my family has been filling out paperwork, requesting our birth certificates (will take a few months) and leaning toward international adoption, likely from Ethiopia or elsewhere in Africa. I log on to several agencies each week for updates and to find out if new legislation has passed, if warring countries are loosening their adoption rules, etc.
On March 7, 2011, the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs released an announcement of their intentions to reduce inter-country adoptions by 90%. The Ministry states that this reduction is being put into place because of the assumption that corruption in inter-country adoption is systemic and rampant, and that the Ministry’s resources should be focused on the children for whom inter-country adoption is not an option.
The wait time for the children in these orphanages could be extended, making each child allegedly wait up to seven years for placement. According to the Joint Council, what you can do if you were counting on an Ethiopian adoption:
- Sign a petition to the Prime Minister. This can be found on their website.
- If you have already been planning to adopt from Ethiopia and have prelim paperwork already finished, send photos and fifty words to the Ministry so everyone knows about your intentions and your waiting child. The Joint Council will compile a book and send it to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Please note that sending photos and stories gives the Joint Council unrestricted right to the use of the information that you provide.
- Share this information with family, friends, other adoptive parents, etc.
- Stay informed. Maybe rethink (like we are) adopting from Ethiopia.
Don’t you think there’s something terribly wrong with governments and politicians who allow years to pass with thousands of homeless and even hungry children languishing in orphanages even while upstanding parents are waiting everywhere?
If you have access to countries that are changing their adoption bylaws and legislations, such as Ethiopia, please let us know here at Parents.com and we will post about it to let other prospective parents in on the secrets.
