Why Adoption?
Why Ethiopia?
What are conditions like in Ethiopia?
Do you already know what child you will be adopting?
How long will it take?
Should everyone adopt?
How much does it cost to adopt?
How do you plan to pay for the adoption?
Where can I learn more about adoption?

Why Adoption

Before Madeline’s birth we had never considered adoption.  However, when she was several months old we realized that our growing love for her was not based on the genes that we shared.  We love her because of the bond of being her daily caretakers, protectors, and providers.  We have a desire to expand our family, and we felt led by God to investigate adoption further.  As we learned more, our hearts hurt realizing how many children in this world don’t have a mommy or daddy to tuck them in at night, to make sure that they eat their vegetables, and to teach them about Jesus.  We were convicted, in light of how much we have been given, to share our abundance with a child who will grow up in an orphanage unless he is adopted by a family. 

God makes it clear throughout the Old and New Testament that the fatherless have a special place in his heart.  He commanded his people to provide for them through benevolence and tithes, and he promises judgment if they ever mistreat them. He promises to be a Father to the fatherless, and he makes it clear that it is his will to set the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:5-6) He holds close those that are abandoned by their father and mother. (Psalm 27:10)  He tells us that he is pleased and sees our religion as pure and genuine if we take care of orphans and widows.  (James 1:27)

It has been our prayer to have a heart more like HIS. To love who HE loves and to desire what HE desires. God has a special love for the orphan, and he desires that they be set in families. There are over 147 million orphans in our world today.  Adopting one of them certainly does not solve the problem.   But it will make a huge difference to the child that we welcome into our family.  In what better way can we love those that he loves than to adopt a precious child?

Why Ethiopia?

As we researched adoption, we did a lot of reading about potential countries.  We initially began to look at Africa because of the huge need that exists there.  AIDS and extreme poverty have ravaged the entire continent.    As we learned more about the reality of the conditions in Africa,  we were moved to focus our efforts there.  There are currently only a couple of countries in Africa that are open to international adoption, and Ethiopia is one of them. 

The Ethiopian adoption program is fairly new, and the process is substantially more streamlined and more economical than most European and Asian countries.  For example, an adoption from China now takes an average of four years, while adoption from Ethiopia takes approximately 12-18 months to complete.  In addition, there are a large number of infants under one year who are available for adoption, which is important to us at this stage in our lives. 

What are conditions like in Ethiopia?

There are over 4 million orphans currently living in Ethiopia - 12% of all children.  In addition, almost 13% of children die before reaching the age of 5.  Only one-third of all adults are able to read, and the average life expectancy is 52.  For more information about Ethiopia click on these links to World Vision and UNICEF.

Do you already know what child you will be adopting?

No.  We have requested a boy 12 months old or younger.  However, the Ethiopian government will assign a specific child to our family. We trust that God will hand-pick the child who he knows most needs us and who we most need. 

How long will it take?

Longer than you might think. The average adoption from Ethiopia takes 12-24 months from submission of the application to flying home with your child.  We hope and pray that we will be bringing our son home by the summer of 2010 (about 18 months). 

The following is a general breakdown of the expected timeline for our adoption.  However, the process is always changing, and international adoptions have a reputation for encountering unexpected delays.  We hope and pray that our little one will be home with us by the summer of 2010.

• Apply with America World Adoption Agency
• Receive approval of application
• Send in signed paperwork, including agency agreement and releases
• Complete home study (includes a series of home visits and interviews with a social worker to discuss our backgrounds, marriage, financial situation, reason for adopting, etc.)
• File with U.S. CIS (Citizen Immigration Services) for our child’s visa to enter the United States.
• Get fingerprinted by the FBI
• Assemble our dossier (an extensive set of documents required by the Ethiopian government for our adoption).  The following items must be included in our dossier:
• Application letter
• Certified copies of our birth certificates
• Certified copies or our marriage certificate
• Medical letters from our doctors following physical examinations
• Proof of medical and life insurance
• Personal financial information (tax documents, etc.)
• Employment verification letters
• Three letters of reference
• Police reports
• Power of attorney
• US passports
• Photos of our family and our home
• 171-H approval (after our application is approved by USCIS)
• Have all dossier documents notarized, certified, and authenticated
• America World sends our dossier to Ethiopia for translation into Amharic
• Dossier presented to the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWA) in Ethiopia for approval
• REFERRAL DAY – MOWA sends a child’s picture and medical report to us
• We have the opportunity to accept or reject (which we don’t anticipate doing!) our referral
• After accepting our referral, the court process takes place in Ethiopia to grant us official guardianship of our child
• Approximately 8-10 weeks after accepting our referral, we will travel to Ethiopia to get our child
• During our one week trip to Ethiopia we will do the following:
• Receive our child either at our hotel or the orphanage
• Attend a court appointment and sign adoption papers
• Obtain a visa for our child and complete a few other paperwork items
• Fly home with our son!

Should everyone adopt?

God has called every Christian to serve the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner, no exceptions.  However, the ministry that we are individually called to will look different for all of us.  Consider becoming foster parents, taking a special interest in a single mom and her kids in your neighborhood, preparing dinner for widows from your church, or reaching out to immigrants in your city.  All of these are wonderful ways to reach out to the vulnerable, lonely, and needy that have such a special place in the heart of God.  God places different burdens and dreams in the hearts of each of his children, and we have a strong desire to help a needy child from an impoverished nation through adoption.  We encourage you to pray and ask God how he wants to use you.  You may be surprised to see where he leads you.  We were! 

How much does it cost to adopt?

International adoption is very expensive.  The approximately $25,000-29,000 required to adopt from Ethiopia is actually much less than the cost of adopting from many other countries.  While the price tag can feel overwhelming at times, we are trusting that God will provide all of the funds that we need to obey him without going into debt. 

We are working with a Christian agency, and in keeping with their mission to place as many orphaned children as possible with Christian families, they seek to keep the cost as low as possible.  The fees are broken down as follows:

How do you plan to pay for the adoption?
           

1. We are saving every penny we can.  We have analyzed our budget, and we are cutting everything possible to funnel the money into our adoption account.  I (Sarah)  have picked up some extra bookkeeping work that I am doing at home, as well. 

2. There is a tax credit of $12,000 available to families who adopt.  This is great news!  The bad news, however, is that the credit only becomes available after the adoption is finalized.  So assuming our adoption is finalized during 2010, we will begin to receive the credit in 2011 when we file our 2010 taxes.  In the meantime, we still must come up with the cash needed to fund the adoption.
    
3. We are planning a number of fundraising activities to provide the provide the balance of the funds that we will need for the adoption.  We are currently selling T-shirts both to raise money and to promote awareness of the suffering that is taking place in Africa.  We hope that they will be attention-getting shirts that will spark conversation.  We are also selling kids’ T-shirts, onesies, and note cards with the same logo.  Prices range from $15 – 26 for the T-shirts, but we will be happy to accept more than that!    Please see the T-shirt fundraiser portion of our webpage to purchase these items. 

In the spring, we hope to plan a huge yard sale.  We will gladly accept any items that you would like to clean out of your attic.  We will post more details on that later.

E-mail us at dubois@goseeklove.com if you have any great ideas for fundraising.  We can use all the help we can get!

Where can I learn more about adoption?

Go to the resources section of our website. We have listed the books, websites, and blogs that were influential in helping us make the decision to adopt.