Why Ethiopia?

This is a question that we get asked alot.

When we were deciding to adopt there were many ways to go. We could adopt Domestically - within Canada. We could foster through FACS with the intention to adopt. We could adopt privately (find our own Birth Mother) or we could adopt internationally.

We decided to go internationally for a few reasons. One is that there is a greater chance of adopting an infant internationally (especially from Ethiopia). Domestically there aren't too many infants being adopted any more. Lots of Birth Moms are choosing to keep their babies these days. However, it seems like these babies aren't so cute when they get to be toddlers - so the chances of adopting a toddler is much higher. Birth Moms who do put their babies up for adoption often get to choose the adoptive parents - and sometimes people can wait for many years. For our first child :) we decided it was important to get a baby as young as possible. Who knows - maybe for 2, 3 and 4 (ha ha - just threw that in to freak Mike out) we will adopt a toddler from FACS. Also - for us - adopting from FACS really scared us as first time parents. We feel we could handle some experience before going that route.

So - why Ethiopia?? When we were starting out, we knew that it didn't matter what nationality our baby was - that really wasn't an issue. Canada only allows you to adopt from certain countries. If not - we would have been in Burkina Faso by now adopting little ones that Mike's dad has come in contact with in an orphanage near where he lives. So - the list of countries you can adopt from is a short one. Some countries place various restrictions on adoptive parents that we didn't meet - and some require extensive travel/living time in country that we couldn't do. Africa was drawing us in - and our agency deals with Ethiopia and with Zambia. In the end we chose Ethiopia - it seems like a good fit. There are so many orphans in Africa - i wish we could bring more than one home - but for now - we will change the life of one child. This child will change our lives more than they could ever know.