We have been asked many of the same questions over and over so I thought it would be best to address them all here. Hope this helps answer some of the questions and concerns people have.
Why Adoption?
Please read “our story” to see where this adoption process began. We now couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to adopt and feel a whole new world has opened up to us, as well as given the potential to love and advocate for orphans worldwide.
Why international adoption vs. domestic adoption?
We support any type of adoption whether domestic or international. For us, our hearts have been pulled to Africa for some time now. When we met, Kerri had an “Africa fund” jar which she used to save for a mission trip there one day. Little did we know that our lives would venture down the road of adopting from Africa.
Why Ethiopia?
When we applied for adoption we narrowed down our search criteria by length of stay in country, timetable for adoption, and opportunity to adopt a younger child. After looking at these factors, and the countries our adoption agency had available we narrowed our search to Rwanda and Ethiopia. We chose Ethiopia because it is an established adoptive country with a more predictable government. We have a potential to meet with the birth mother, which we find as a valuable opportunity. We have also heard amazing things about Hannah’s Hope, the orphanage where our child will be.
Why are so many children available in Ethiopia?
There are approximately 5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. Civil war, famine and disease have left the country with millions of orphans. Many families feel they are unable to feed and care for one more child so they place their child in an orphanage. Many of these children are placed up for adoption simply because their birth families want a better life for the child. I can’t image making a harder sacrifice out of love for my child.
Will your child be healthy? What about HIV/AIDS?
Our child may have minor, treatable health conditions such as rickets, parasites, ear/eye infections, etc. when they arrive home. Most of these problems are due to malnutrition. All children in the orphanage are screened several times for HIV/AIDS along with many other illnesses before they are placed for adoption.
What about raising a black child in a white family?
It would be ignorant of us to say that racism isn’t prevalent in today’s society. It concerns us deeply how people will react to our child. We have already experienced some careless remarks, or individuals not acknowledging our adoption and it leaves us to ponder how to react. I suppose we will learn in time. Our only hope is that people will accept and love this child the way we do already.
We want our child to have a link to their heritage and honor the country in which they were born. Portland has a large Ethiopian-adoptive community where meetings, camps, etc. are held to bring Ethiopian children together. We look forward to participating!
Can you request a specific child?
We can’t request a specific child, but can specify age range and gender (if over 12 months). We are considering an infant (0-12 months) of either gender, or a girl (0-18months).
What is a referral?
Our agency notifies us of a child that matches our parameters and that they feel would be a good fit for our family. The referral includes all information the agency has about this child. There may be many pieces missing, but the information should include all biographical information on the child. We will receive a picture of the child. We will then take all of the information we have to an International Pediatrician who specializes in caring for the special needs of an internationally adopted child. After reviewing the health information provided and praying we will make an informed decision on whether or not to accept the referral and move forward with adopting this specific child.
When will you get your child?
The Ethiopian program determines the wait time for receiving a referral (match of a child with our family). Currently the wait time of an infant of either gender 0-12 months is approximately 8 months. Once we receive a referral we will travel to Ethiopia to appear in court and testify that we would like to adopt this specific child. Once the adoption is finalized we will have to travel to Ethiopia again (in approximately 12 weeks) to pick up our child!
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