Thinking of adopting from Ethiopia?

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
• 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
•  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.
 

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...

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).