Welcome! We want to thank you for taking the time to look at our website. We have created this for our family and friends who want to stand by our side as we take this journey. We know everyone has lots of questions and we will attempt to answer them as best we can. For those of you considering adopting from Ethiopia, we hope this will help you navigate the complexities and joys of international adoption.


Why adoption?

When someone hears we are adopting, many assume we are infertile or we are "giving up". We are not infertile, although we have had two miscarriages, with one being late term, we do believe we will be able to carry a baby to full term someday. We are not turning to adoption out of fear of being hurt again, or because we feel it is an easier solution. We have chosen to adopt because we feel an enormous weight on our hearts to do so. We believe adoption is a beautiful way to build a family. Our dream is that our family will be formed by both the miracle of adoption and the miracle of birth. We know there are those who do not understand our decision and that is okay. We are 100% certain this is the right decision for us. We cannot wait to open our hearts and our home to our child.


Why Ethiopia?

When we made the decision to adopt internationally, we looked at many countries. Our hearts were drawn to the children of Ethiopia. Ethiopia has 4.6 million orphans – 800,000 of whom were orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Despite all of this, Ethiopian children are strong, beautiful people. We have done a significant amount of research on this great country and have loved learning about the history and culture of Ethiopia!


What age child are you adopting?

We will be adopting a baby. Babies are usually between 5-12 months of age at adoption. We feel this age will provide the easiest transition for our child, as well as ourselves. We do not have a preference between a boy or a girl, therefore we are not requesting a specific sex.


How long does the process take?

International adoption is extremely complex. It involves a lot of paperwork and waiting. The application, homestudy and dossier (collection of paperwork) can take several months to complete. Once the dossier has been translated and received in Ethiopia we will officially be on the waiting list. At this point, it will take anywhere from 4-8+ months before we receive the referral of our child. Two to three months after we accept the referral we will either travel to Ethiopia to finalize the adoption or have our child escorted home.


How much does it cost?

The cost can vary due to differences in travel costs, variance in homestudy costs by state, etc. The average cost is $20,000. This covers agency fees, government fees, country program fees (i.e. medical expenses, legal fees, representative and his staff, child visa, etc.) and travel expenses.