Ethiopia Adoption

• Our Ethiopia adoption program is one of CWA’s largest and most affordable adoption programs.
• Infants, toddlers, children from ages 3 months to young teens are all in great need of loving, forever families they can call their own.

Ethiopia Adoption Program
Christian World is very pleased to be among the first U.S. agencies authorized and accredited to have an Ethiopia adoption program. The Ethiopia adoption program is our largest program, and each year we place over 200 children from Ethiopia with loving, forever families. We look forward to helping connect some of the thousands of orphans with loving, permanent families through Ethiopia adoption. Poverty and disease have left a great multitude of children without parents. Some children may be available for immediate referral, or parents may receive a referral within 2-7 months of submitting their dossier. CWA works with numerous orphanages located throughout Ethiopia, so we can process Ethiopia adoptions within an average time frame of 9-15 months from application to child/ren home.

The Children
Despite untold severe hardships and widespread poverty, the Ethiopian children are beautiful, resilient and eager to be in a family. Infants, toddlers, sibling groups and older children who are available for adoption receive examinations and tests for HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. Parents will receive all biographical and medical information on a referred child, which will include photographs. CWA is actively recruiting families for our Ethiopia program and families may request a boy, a girl, or a sibling group. CWA does allow the adoption of two unrelated children at the same time. For adoption of two unrelated children, at least one child must be age 25 months or older, and the adoptions must be completed on the same trip to Ethiopia. CWA maintains a photo list of waiting children/sibling groups available for adoption. Please visit our Ethiopian waiting children webpage for more information.

Parent Eligibility for Ethiopia Adoption
Adoptions by single women are limited to a certain number per year, so check with CWA if you are single and interested in this program. Married couples may adopt, and one parent must be at least age 25. Couples must be married at least one year before applying to adopt. Although Ethiopia does not have a legal upper age limit for the adopting parents, they do prefer a maximum of about 45 years age difference between the adopted child and the mother. Ethiopia does have some restrictive regulations regarding the health of adopting parents. Therefore, if you are currently taking any prescription medications, or if you have any medical conditions, please call or email our Director of Intake to discuss your specific case so we can help you determine your eligibility. If you are taking a prescription medication for any psychological diagnosis — including depression, we need to know this up front. In addition, if there is any prior arrest record or prior criminal charge, please discuss this with us. While it does not automatically preclude you from adopting, we will address each situation on a case-by-case basis. With international adoption, all medical information and criminal issues must be fully addressed and documented in your home study as well as other adoption related documents. By fully disclosing any relevant information prior to your applying with CWA, we can hopefully help you avoid the expenditure of time, money, and emotions, only to later discover Ethiopia might not approve you to adopt. Ethiopia has become more restrictive on allowing single women to adopt their children. Therefore, at this time we are not able to accept applications from single women for our Ethiopia program.

Travel for Ethiopia Adoption
One or both parents may travel. Travel to obtain custody is approximately five weeks after the successful court date. A CWAE staff person will assist parents with transportation to and from the airport, all official meetings and with Embassy document processing. Parents typically arrive in Ethiopia on Sunday and leave the following Thursday, late evening. There are guesthouses or hotels in which families can stay while in Addis Ababa. Currently, it is our policy that parents staying in guesthouses may have custody of their children during their stay and their children may accompany them to Embassy related appointments only. Parents who opt to stay in hotels will have custody of their children upon departure from Addis with the exception of Embassy related appointments and one hour visits daily at the Foster Home. This policy is in response to government cultural sensitivity and safety concerns and is a current standard among other adoption agencies in Ethiopia.

Note: Due to the nature of international adoption, all information contained on this webpage concerning Ethiopia adoption is subject to change without notice.