How we got started

Many have asked, "How do you go about adopting a child from Africa?" So, we thought we would share with you the steps we've taken thus far.

First, we had to chose an agency to work with. We looked at several agency websites, talked with people that had adopted and then participated in a video conference call with the agency that we picked, Children's Home Society and Family Services of Minnesota. There are only 7 US agencies licensed to adopt from Ethiopia and CHSFS is one of the oldest and most reputable.

Secondly, we applied with CHSFS. Below are listed our agency's requirements for Ethiopian adoption, for those interested.

*Married couples and single women only.
*Age 25-50 for consideration for adopting an infant.
*Must be in good health.
*Must be able to show sufficient income to parent the child.
*Ethiopia will not allow the adoption of a child by a gay or lesbian person.
*Couples must be married a minimum of one year at the time the dossier is sent to Ethiopia.
*First time parents must be open to gender.

Thirdly, we needed a Social Worker with international adoption licensture to do a Home-Study for our family. We called a friend who recently adopted and asked who she had used. As luck would have it, she had used, "Families for Children" Located in Salt Lake City and run by Suzanne Stott. I smiled when she said her name. I have known Suzanne for years. She had 10 adopted children herself and was a member of the same support group that my parents belonged to when my brothers and sister were adopted from Korea. We were so fortunate to have found her. She charged significantly less than other social work agencies in our area and in my humble opinion I think she's worth twice what anyone else could provide.

What is a home-study? The home study reviews all aspects of the adoptive parent's lives including familial relationship, home, financial, health, legal, criminal background check and much more. The adoptive parents must provide an agency or a certified social worker with documentation from their doctor regarding their health in addition to tax returns and other financial documents, reports from law enforcement showing no criminal history, and more. In addition, the social worker or agency representative will visit the adoptive parents' home to determine if it is appropriate for raising children and that the family has room for a child. The process can take anywhere from two to six months to complete.

Fourth Step. While waiting for the social worker to finish our home study we worked on our Transracial Parenting Plan and Cultural Worksheets as well as completing, "With Eyes Wide Open and Below the Surface", a self-study program about adopting a child from another country. These were all required by our agency.

Fifth Step. We filed our I600-a immigration forms with US Homeland Security. This step required us to be fingerprinted at our local US Immigration offices. We filed this in June 2006 and received our I-171H approval in September.

Sixth Step. We were able to start working on our voluminous Dossier.

What is a Dossier, you may ask? Most foreign countries that allow children to be adopted abroad require the applicants for adoption to submit various documents that, when put together, is referred to as a “dossier.” The Ethiopian dossier consists of documents that verify certain factors of the applicant’s life, i.e., birth and marriage certificates, a short written letter addressed to the ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) stating why you are interested in adopting from Ethiopia, statements regarding the applicant’s health signed by your personal physician, employment and criminal record, tax records and several other documents. In addition our adoption study recommending our family for adoption of a child from Ethiopia is also required.

Seventh Step. Once all this paperwork is completed (and yes, in case your wondering, it is a lot.) We delivered this raft of documents to our Lieutenant Governor's office and had all of our paperwork "certified". Once this was done we sent all the paperwork to our Agency and they take care of the rest, including delivering the documents to the Ethiopian embassy.

Eighth Step. Once our agency in Minnesota has the paperwork they forward it to the Ethiopian Embassy for Authentication. Then the Embassy forwards it to the Ethiopian representative in Addis Ababa who has the dossier translated and prepared for court.

Ninth Step. This is where the waiting begins, and currently where we are today (January 7th) in the process. We have officially been waiting since September 14th 2006. With our agency, CHSFS, the wait times are: Approximately 4-9 months from submitting completed dossier. Parents who request a boy or are open to gender wait 4-6 months to referral, while families requesting a girl will wait approximately 6-9 months

Tenth Step. We hope to receive "THE CALL" any day now. This will be the call notifying us of our referral. The referral packet-- delivered during the call via email-- will contain a photo, any known family background, place of birth-- if known, medical history, blood work and developmental progress. We'll have one week to decide if we will accept the referral that is given to us.

Eleventh Step. Paperwork is then submitted to the Ethiopian courts. A court order is issued and subsequently, a birth certificate. We will then file for the I-600a visa approval. Once this is done we may travel to Addis Ababa to pick up our new son. Referral to travel time can be between 6-12 weeks.