Five years ago, before Angelina Jolie brought international attention to the African nation, the Blome family adopted a six-year-old boy from Ethiopia. Since then, adoptions of Ethiopian children have soared from just 289 in 2004 to more than 1,700 last year.

Fraud concerns put a halt to adoptions from Guatemala and Vietnam in the last several months. The Kazakh Embassy has ceased processing adoption dossiers -- the inches-think binder of required home study and family background documents. ... China poses challenges as well. ... Ethiopia, by contrast, allows both married and single parents to adopt, and the process typically takes less than two years. (Source: The Contra Costa (California) Times)

The adoption agency chosen by the Blomes five years ago had an intriguing requirement -- that the couple commit to giving something back to Ethiopia. So every year, Erik Blome returns with crates of art supplies and runs workshops at eight orphanages.

Labels: international, adoption rights, ethiopia

Posted By: Aspen/CRC