The first phase of the adoption process for any country is to complete your home study and receive your approval from US-CIS. It is best if your dossier preparation is happening simultaneously with your home study process. Once your dossier is complete, it must go through several different steps. First, we send it to the Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington, DC for authentication. Next, we send the dossier to our office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where it is translated and submitted for further authentications. However, once your dossier has been received, our in-country staff begins looking for an appropriate referral.

When our staff identifies a child in the orphanage who is a candidate for intercountry adoption, a Child Profile Report will be completed. This takes one to two weeks after the family has been notified that they have a pending referral. When the Child Profile is issued there will also be 2-3 photographs of the child sent along as well.

In most cases, the Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) have two weeks in which to review all of the supplied information before they must either decline the referral or submit the signed and notarized Child Profile Report along with the associated fees which then signifies the acceptance of the child or children.

If you are interested in learning more about our Ethiopia Program and our agency, go to the "How Do I Get Started" page. Fill out this form completely, and click on SUBMIT. We always enjoy speaking with our prospective adoptive parents and encourage you to follow up by calling the Agency at 800-533-0098. You may speak with an Ethiopia Program Consultant who can personally answer your questions about this program. It is very important with any international adoption program that we make sure that you qualify for this program and that you understand how the country's adoption process works. You may complete an Application online at your convenience.

Federal and State requirements mandate that documentation be present in the Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) file which shows that they have been informed in writing and have been given the opportunity to ask questions and to request further information as to the following areas:

• Eligibility Requirements
• Explanation (overview) of the adoption process
• Children available for adoption
• Why children are available for adoption
• Time frame for the adoption process
• Any health concerns as to the country from which you are adopting
• Anticipated fees for Adoption Services, including Third Party Services
• Refund Policy (see sample Adoption Services Contract)
• Grievance Policy (see sample Adoption Services Contract)

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