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Adoption02.htm

Thinking of adopting from Ethiopia?

on this page....

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<<<Back to About Adoption

Copyright: photo included on this website with the permission of the children's parents - please do not copy.

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What children are available?

Both children and babies are available for adoption from Ethiopia. The children available are...

  • single children aged between 6 months and 6 years, or
  • sibling groups aged between 6 months and 8 years.

The children adopted into overseas families were orphaned or abandoned.


The availability of the children for adoption depends on several factors:

  • the health of children coming into the orphanage,
  • the work load of the social welfare staff in Ethiopia,
  • in-country issues like measles epidemics,
  • children from regional centres tend to come in waves of several children at a time, and
  • the number of files in-country for all adoption countries.

What is the general health of the children?

As the children available for adoption are either orphaned or abandoned they are often initially in poor health. Sometimes children, especially babies, stay in foster care for a while before being allocated, until concerns about their health are overcome. The children that are cared for at the Koala Foster Home receive excellent care and are often thriving by the time their parents travel to Ethiopia. This is helped by the fact that most AACASA members carry aid when they travel, so our children are able to have the specific baby formula and medicines they require. Despite the good care provided at Koala, some children still have parasites, skin conditions, delayed development, low weight and undiagnosed problems. When the children are in loving family homes, with easy access to medical and specialist care, these problems are usually short-lived and easily dealt with.

Prior to allocation all children are screened for HIV and have a general medical check-up.

Who cares for the children while we are waiting?

Once a child has been allocated she/he is placed in foster care.

The main foster home for children allocated to an Australian family is the Koala Foster home.

Many of the children need special care when they first go into foster care, this is provided by Lakew and Misrak, who own and run Koala home.

AACASA contributes towards ongoing repairs to Koala home, and travelling parents carry in their luggage linen, baby needs, clothing and formula to be donated to Koala home.

If you are interested in donating aid or would like to find out more about giving aid - see our Aid and Sponsorship page.

Ethiopian and Australian Citizenship

Ethiopian-born children, adopted into Australian families will become Australian Citizens.

The children do not retain their Ethiopian Citizenship.

Christian and Muslim Children

Non-Muslim families cannot adopt Muslim children.

See Who Can Adopt from Ethiopia to find out more information on the requirements for adopting parents.

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How long will it take?

Once your file arrives in Ethiopia the waiting time can be over 2 years. Contact your State/Territory Department to enquire about possible waiting times before your file is sent to Ethiopia.

Post allocation (after you have accepted the child) immigration and final paperwork takes 4-6 months.



What will it cost?

Costs for intercountry adoptions include State/Territory Departments fees, travel costs for adopting parents and your child/ren, accommodation costs while in Ethiopia, visa costs, foster care and Attorney fees.

An indication of these fees are given below. This is meant as a guide only, and costs for individual situations will vary.

State/Territory Department fees

Adoption costs to State/Territory Departments vary from State to State.

The following is meant only as a guide, these costs were correct in 2005, contact your State/Territory Department to check the current Departmental costs...
NSW
Vic
Qld
SA
WA
Tas
ACT
NT
1st Adoption
$9,700
$6,250
$2,053
$8,377
$2,246
$2,280
$4,154
$6,100

Travelling costs

Travelling costs include...

  • return airfares for parents and airfare(s) of child/ren
  • accommodation and meals
  • transport while in Ethiopia
  • site seeing

The cost of travelling to meet your child/ren depend on a number of things including...

  • where you stay
  • how long you stay (most adopting parents anticipate to stay for 2 weeks)
  • if 1 or 2 parents travel
  • if your other children travel with you
  • age of your child (e.g. airplane costs for a baby differ greatly to adopting a toddler or older child)
  • if you are adopting 1 child or adopting siblings
  • site seeing while in Ethiopia

Adoption costs

Costs include ...

  • visa
  • foster care fees
  • Attorney fees

Approximate costs (2006)

Costs in 2006 of 2 parents travelling and adopting 1 child and staying for 2 weeks were approximately $15,000 to $20,000, this includes visa and Attorney fees (but does not include fees to the State/Territory department).

Requirements to be able to adopt

The following is meant ONLY as a guide, and due to the changing nature of national, international and State policies the following may no longer be correct.

For full and current requirements you should contact your State/Territory Department.

People who want to apply to adopt need to satisfy BOTH the requirements set by Ethiopia and the requirements set by their State/Territory.

Requirements to adopt from Ethiopia (reference)...

Age of applicants

Minimum age of 25 years.

There is a restriction of a maximum of 40 years between the age of the adoptive parent and the age of the child. Although ...

  • This appears to be more lenient in the case of older children.
  • This ruling is very flexible for second time Ethiopian adopters.
Religion

Ethiopia is a highly religious country...

  • Applicants are required to provide a reference from their minister

  • Applicants must be members of a mainstream religion.
Marriage

Couples must be married for at least 2 years
Single applicants

Applications from single women are considered
Nationality

One applicant must be an Australian citizen

AND

Requirements for each State/Territory (summarised from the report of the 2005 inquiry into adoption of children from overseas)...

NSW

Vic

Qld

SA

WA

Tas

ACT

NT

Min. age of applicant

21 years and at least 18 years older than adoptee.

None

21 years and at least 18 years older than adoptee.

None

18 years.

At least 18 years older than adoptee

None

At least 25 years older than adoptee.

Max. age of applicant

None

None

None

None

45 years older than adoptee.

40 years older than adoptee.

None

40 years older than adoptee.

Can singles apply?

In particular circumstances

In particular circumstances

In exceptional circumstances

In special circumstances

Yes

In exceptional circumstances

Yes

In exceptional circumstances

Can de facto couples apply?

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Can same sex couples apply?

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Min. length of relationship

3 years continuously

2 years

2 years marriage

3 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

2 years marriage

Family restrictions

Other children at least 2 years older

None

Max. of 4 children

None

Other children at least 1 year older

None

None

2 years between placements

Infertility treatment

Precludes assessment

No specific requirements

Relevant to assessment

Relevant to assessment

Precludes placement, but not assessment

Precludes assessment

Application must state likelihood of children being born in future

Relevant to assessment

Applicant pregnant

Precludes or suspends assessment &/or placement

No specific requirements

No specific requirements

Precludes allocation

Precludes placement but not assessment

Precludes assessment

Application must state likelihood of children being born in future

Adoption process suspended

Citizenship

At least one parent an Aust citizen or same citizenship as adoptee

None

At least one parent an Aust citizen

At least one parent an Aust citizen

Parents are Aust citizens

At least one parent an Aust citizen

None

At least one parent an Aust citizen

Contact your State/Territory Department for information on...

  • the requirements your State has for applying to adopt
  • the processes and costs for adopting in your State
  • to find out more information on applying to adopt.

If you are not sure Ethiopia is for you

There are adoption programs available with more countries than listed below, however, as far as I know these other programs do not (at the moment) have website information. If you find that the following information is incomplete or inaccurate please contact the Website Editor.

Please check with your individual State/Territory Department for a definite list of countries for which there are currently adoption programs open. As this changes fairly regularly, it is possible that some of the following are currently closed for adoption.

China

For information on adopting from China - http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp


Columbia (CIW)

For information on adopting from Columbia (CIW) - http://www.icbf.gov.co/ingles/home.asp


Columbia (Chiquitines)

For information on adopting from Columbia (Chiquitines) - www.telesat.com.co/chiquitines (please note that this website is in Spanish).


Hong Kong

For information on adopting from Hong Kong - www.isshk.org


India

For information on adopting from India - http://cara.nic.in/


Korea

For information on adopting from Korea - http://www.eastern.or.kr/eng/htm/home.htm

Lithuania

For information on adopting from Lithuania - http://www.ivaikinimas.lt/index.php?l=EN

For Single Applicants

For single applicants the following countries will consider applications from single women...

  • Philippians
  • Thailand
  • Columbia
  • Hong Kong
  • India

Deciding to adopt

Some suggestions of things to do to help you in deciding if adoption is right for you...

Read

Read personal accounts of adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents ...

Learn about adoption and intercountry adoption ...

Learn about Ethiopia, and adopting from Ethiopia ...




Discuss

Discuss with your spouse ...

  • what you each think and feel about adoption and in particular about intercountry adoption
  • if you already have a child (or children), how you will talk with your child/ren about adopting a child
  • if you already have a child (or children) who are not from Ethiopia, how you will talk with your child/ren about them having a sibling of a different race.




Contact

There are cautions to take about who to contact and who not to contact

Contact your State/Territory Department ...

  • for information on the process for adoption for your State/Territory
  • find out about the requirements for people in your State/Territory to be able to adopt

Contact the AACASA Representative for your State.

Join relevant egroups and talk with other waiting-parents and adoptive-parents




    Preliminary plans

    Most Australian State/Territory Departments expect one parent (or for single parents, 'the parent') to remain at home for the first 12 months after your child arrives in Australia.

    • Make some preliminary plans for your financial situation for that 12 months.
    • If both parents would like to stay home when your child first arrives, or if you are a single applicant, perhaps enquire about a 'deferred salary scheme' as some employers are able to organise this.
    • Look into other financial options that suit your family.

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    I'm not sure Adoption is for me - what else can I do?

    Permanent Care

    For more information on Permanent Care contact your State/Territory Department

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    NSW residents who are interested in permanent care can look into 'Be My Family' - website.

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    These articles give some background information about Permanent Care...

    Permanent Care - issues to Consider

    Permanent Care - can be challenging

    Permanent Care - explained

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    Fostering

    For more information on Fostering contact your State/Territory Department

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    Respite Care

    For more information on respite care see the Barnardos website: http://www.barnardos.org.au/services/cfcpen.htm

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    Sponsoring a Child or a Program

    For more information on sponsoring a child see information on Sponsoring

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