WACAP is excited to announce that we are licensed to offer adoption services for children in Ethiopia. Despite its rich cultural heritage, Ethiopia has experienced famine, drought, poverty, war and infectious diseases, and many orphaned children there need loving adoptive families. WACAP has established an office in Addis Ababa, the capital, with staff experienced in working with government officials, orphanage staff, and adoptive families to make the dreams of impoverished Ethiopian children and adoptive families come true.

The children generally come into orphanage care when a birth parent or relatives relinquish the child due to complications within the family. (The death of birth parent(s) coupled with poverty is a common reason.) On occasion, children are abandoned and no birth background is available. The ages of children range from approximately 3 months to 15 years. An equal number of boys and girls need adoptive homes. Families hoping to adopt an infant must be open to a baby up to 12 months of age. Sibling groups also need families.

Currently, Ethiopia is open to married couples and single women applicants. Families should be 25–55 years of age, depending on the age of the child requested. Couples must be married at least two years, but currently there are no divorce restrictions.

The health of the children in need of adoption varies significantly based on the child’s prior care environment. Some babies and children will be robust and in good overall health. Other children have suffered from severe malnutrition and perhaps a variety of infectious diseases (e.g., tuberculosis and/or malaria). Some children come from a loving family that suffered a tragedy, or a caring orphanage where they received proper nutrition and education. Other children come from a rural area where their birth family experienced poverty, deprivation and lack of medical care. These children may have never had the opportunity to attend school, let alone receive sufficient nutrition for proper growth and development. Families must be open to the range of these possibilities.

WACAP will open a transitional home in Addis Ababa. The majority of children placed with WACAP families will be cared for in this transitional home for one to three months (sometimes much longer for waiting children) prior to the child traveling to the United States.

We anticipate that it will take four to 10 months after a family’s dossier is submitted to receive the match of a child. Once a family has formally accepted a child, we anticipate they will travel six to 15 weeks later. Their stay in Ethiopia will be approximately one week.

Families prepare a dossier, which is translated, authenticated and submitted to WACAP’s staff in Addis Ababa. Our staff will then send WACAP information on a child matched with a family. The information received about a child prior to travel may be limited to a simple medical report with HIV and hepatitis B test results, and a photo. We encourage families to share this information with an adoption medicine specialist in the United States who is familiar with the condition and care of institutionalized children. After a family has accepted the match of a child, documents are submitted to the Ethiopian government to start the legal adoption process. After the court process has been completed, the family is invited to travel to Addis Ababa to meet their child and obtain the child’s U.S. entry visa.

A family can also have their child escorted to the United States. There will be an additional fee for this, and it will delay the child’s arrival home approximately one to three months.

WACAP’s director of Ethiopian adoption has been working in international adoption for the past four years. He works closely with the Ethiopian government authorities to ensure that each adoption will proceed as smoothly as possible.

There are many unknowns involved in a new program, and pioneer families must be flexible, open-minded and comfortable with uncertainty regarding their adoption process. Based on our 30 years of experience in adoption and the guidance from government officials and documents, WACAP has outlined the process to the best of our knowledge. As with any international adoption, timeframes and procedures may change, but families in a pioneer program must expect and not be discouraged by changes and ambiguity.

WACAP’s pioneer Ethiopia fee is $12,300. WACAP's fees are among the lowest of any international adoption agency. Consult our fee chart for details. Please let our know if you have any questions about fees.

As part of WACAP’s work in Ethiopia, we will also provide humanitarian aid for children not eligible for adoption and for orphans whose relatives are able to provide homes for them.

Please contact WACAP's Ethiopia adoption staff by  or call 206-575-4550 for more information.