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Adoption: Ethiopia 

	Capsule overview of adoption issues in Ethiopia
	News reports of adoption irregularities in Ethiopia

NOTE: This page from the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism website offers documentation of and background about serious irregularities in international adoption.
For the systemic analysis, please read “The Lie We Love,”
Foreign Policy magazine, Nov./Dec.2008 and visit www.brandeis.edu/investigate.

Capsule overview of adoption issues in Ethiopia

Well-informed sources have told the Schuster Institute that recent trends in Ethiopia’s international adoptions strongly suggest an increase in corruption. In the past, these have been signs that a country’s adoption system is shifting from “white” to “gray”—that is, from a well-regulated humanitarian effort dedicated to the children’s welfare, to a business that is taking children from living families in order to gain profits from Western adoption fees.

These signs include:

• Rapidly expanding numbers of children being adopted internationally. For Ethiopia, the numbers of children sent in adoption climbed from a total of 262 in 2002 to more than 2520 in 2007—a tenfold expansion in five years.¹ Similar increases have been seen in adoptions to other Western nations. This expansion outpaces regulators’ ability to oversee the system.
• More than a dozen Western countries and several thousand prospective families waiting for Ethiopian children. Such high “demand,” combined with the possibility of earning a year’s income in adoption fees per child, can tempt unscrupulous locals to procure children for adoption at all costs.
• Rapidly increasing numbers of adoption agencies working in the country, including: agencies that don’t have longstanding ties to the country or its child welfare efforts, and agencies not licensed by the Ethiopian government (as required) that are partnering or “umbrella’ing” with other agencies to serve clients.
• Change in demographic profile of the children being adopted
  • from the older children orphaned by their parents’ AIDS, TB, malaria, or other illnesses (the profile of the orphaned children already in the Ethiopian child welfare system); and 
  • to healthy young female infants (who often turn out to have been solicited for the birth families specifically for the adoption trade). 
    • In 2007, according to the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics Table 12, of the 1200 orphan visas from Ethiopia issued by the US, one-third—396—were for infants under one year of age, who are statistically less likely to be orphaned. Another one-third, or 430, were between the ages of one and four years. 
• “Homes” for pregnant women that appear to have been created “strictly to provide infants for the adoption trade” (in the words of an observer).
• Fraud on the children’s documents about such facts as their real ages and whether they were abandoned or relinquished by families.

In other countries, all these have been signals that children were being bought, defrauded, coerced, or kidnapped away from their birth families. For more about this pattern, please see:

• “The Lie We Love,” Foreign Policy, Nov./Dec. 2008
• Countries in which these patterns have been exposed, including Cambodia, Guatemala, and Vietnam.

News reports of adoption irregularities in Ethiopia

Below are some news articles compiled by the Schuster Institute about adoptions from Ethiopia.

Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court, May 13, 2009, U.S. Department of State.

The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption.

Ethiopian adoption: "Canadian parents raise concerns," John Nicol, March 19, 2009, CBC News Canada.

Several Canadian families say they have been misled by documentation they have received from the Canadian Advocates For Adopting Children, based in Minnedosa, Man. The families claim that CAFAC has informed them their child is an orphan when the parents in fact exist. They also say that sometimes the children's ages are wildly off and the health of these kids varies greatly from what they have been told before traveling to Addis Ababa to pick them up.

Follow the link to watch the video broadcast segment of this article: Learning the Truth. Also broadcast in French: L'adoption tout risque. 

"Kindergeld/Money for children," Andrea Rexer with translation by Dr. Eric Agstner and Sabine von Mering, January 19, 2009, Profil.

An exclusive story about two purported orphans from Ethiopia adopted to Austria through Family for You adoption agency, and claims that Austrian authorities have failed to regulate international adoptions.

“Americans adopting HIV-positive kids from Ethiopia,” Anita Powell/AP, September 2, 2008, Christian Science Monitor (& other outlets).

Of the 14,000 Ethiopian infants born with HIV every year, a handful are now being adopted by Americans. The agency that arranges most HIV-positive adoptions in Ethiopia did two such in 2005; 38 are either completed or pending as of November 2008. Ethiopia is at the forefront of this trend of offering HIV-positive children for adoption, in part because it already offers many children in adoption.

“Baby Steps,” Hayley Mick, April 15, 2008, The Globe and Mail.

Reports that there are five-year waiting lists for Chinese infants, and therefore Canadians are increasingly looking to African countries for adoption. There were 100 in 2007, mostly from Ethiopia. Potential pitfalls include fraud, child-trafficking, potential for problems as more agencies move in, and inadequate agency supervision. Tells stories of Canadian families that were defrauded or faced with other difficulties. "Is it competitive? Yeah, it's competitive," says Cheryl Carter-Shotts, whose agency works in Ethiopia. "Families want babies and toddlers. Who's going to come up with babies and toddlers? And how much are you going to charge? Are you soliciting pregnant girls?"

“Ethiopian Adoption Ban Leaves Children in Limbo,” Mark Tighe, October 21, 2007, The Sunday Times.

“Ethiopia is the tenth most popular country for Irish people adopting from abroad with more than 50 children settled with families in Ireland over the past 10 years. The Adoption Board, however, suspended all adoptions from Ethiopia and Rwanda on October 10 on advice from the attorney-general's office,” citing adoption laws that were “not compatible” with Irish laws.  This leaves five families who were ready to bring Ethiopian children home in legal limbo.

“Surges in Adoption Raises Concern in Ethiopia,” Jane Gross, Will Connors, June 4, 2007, The New York Times.

As other countries have closed their doors to Western adoption, Ethiopia’s international adoption system has become popular—in part because it has involved “model” centers that care for orphaned children and children in need; Western investment in child welfare; and adoptive parents’ ability to meet their new children’s birth families. But there have been very rapid increases in the numbers of agencies working in Ethiopia and the numbers of children adopted from there, leading to concerns that there will soon be problems.

“Out of Africa, a trickle of orphans; Millions of children need homes, but barriers keep them from eager couples overseas,” Stephanie Nolen, May 24, 2006, The Globe and Mail (Canada).

Reports that millions of African orphans need homes. Quotes Montegbosh Asmare about her foster home; Cheryl Carter-Shotts, who directs the agency, Americans for African Adoptions; and others about why most African countries do not allow adoption. Carter-Shotts notes that, since Angelina Jolie’s adoption, some “unscrupulous agents” are “buying” children from illiterate village women and local officials are demanding bribes. Concludes that adoptions don’t fix the underlying problem, which is that “the government in Ethiopia is left struggling to meet the needs of millions of children.”

“Babies are booming export in land of 5m orphans,”Jonathan Clayton, May 19, 2006, The Times of London.

Reports on the destitution and illness that are ravaging the country and its children’s welfare, and the rising number of international adoptions. “Organisations such as Unique, the United Nations’ children’s agency, are concerned that the Ethiopian Government does not have the staff or resources to monitor orphanages to ensure that children are cared for and safe from abuse. They also suspect that many children are being trafficked to work in weaving factories or as servants, and some are being smuggled out of the country.” Notes that Westerners prefer healthy babies, and the sick or older children are not taken.

“Ethiopia’s Adoption Dilemma” Mohammed Adow, October 6, 2005, BBC.

Western adoption from Ethiopia has increased sharply. Nearly 40 agencies handle adoptions. Claims an estimated 5 million orphans in Ethiopia, half orphaned by AIDS. Briefly discusses the international adoption regulations for the nation and the possibility of trafficking.

“Ethiopia, Coping With Increasing Orphan Numbers Through Adoption,” January 10, 2005, Africa News.

Reports that there are five million orphans in Ethiopia—orphaned by AIDS, TB, other illnesses, and destitution. Some 1,400 children were adopted abroad last year, more than double those of the previous year. “Bulti Gutema, who heads the country's adoption authority, says adoption of orphans poses many moral quandaries to his government….‘We would prefer these children to remain in Ethiopia because it is their country,’ he says. ‘Adoption is the last resort because it doesn't help alleviate poverty in Ethiopia.’” But caring for orphans costs $115 million/month and the  country's health budget is only $140 million annually. Most children go to France, Australia, the US, or Ireland.

“Ethiopia’s Latest Export: Adoptable Children,” Anthony Mitchell, December 24, 2004, The Associated Press.

Ethiopia, a country of 70 million, has more than 5 million orphans, their parents lost to famine, disease, war, AIDS, and poverty. Caring for the orphans costs $115 million/month in a country whose annual health budget is only $140 million. To lessen this burden, Ethiopia has made adoption easier. In 2003 a record 1,400 children were adopted abroad, more than double the number in the previous year. “‘We want people to invest in Ethiopia rather than take our children,’ said Dr. Bulti Gutema, who heads the government’s adoption authority. However, ‘we can’t afford to look after every orphan,’ he said, sitting in a decrepit government office that exemplifies Ethiopia’s standing as the world’s third-poorest nation, with almost half the population living on less than a dollar a day. ‘Adoption is the last resort because it doesn’t help alleviate poverty in Ethiopia,’ he said.” Reports that Western agencies charge fees of around $20,000 per child, about half that charged in other countries.

“Americans are bringing home baby - increasingly from Africa,” Abraham McLaughlin, December 4, 2003, Christian Science Monitor.

The explosion in international adoptions has reached Africa. Profiles families that are adopting from Ethiopia. Gives numbers of adoptions from Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

“What Will Become of Ethiopia’s AIDS Orphans,” Melissa Fay Greene, December 22, 2002, The New York Times.

Examines how the community impact of AIDS, other illnesses, and destitution have had devastating effects on Ethiopian children’s welfare. Profiles Layla House and Enat House, model children’s homes, with intimate portraits of the children and their lives, including those adopted to the US. Says that adoptive families “are desperately sought.” Closes with her personal account of adopting a five-year-old girl from Ethiopia, both of whose parents had died, into her large family. 

Correction: This article originally said that the U.S. adopted 262 children from Ethiopia in 2002, and more than 2520 in 2007. Those were world figures, not U.S. figures, for international adoptions from Ethiopia. This U.S. figures are shown in the graph above.