Most of the children waiting for families live in orphanages. Recently, many regions in Ethiopia changed their laws so that only abandoned children may be adopted internationally. Most abandoned children are younger or have significant special needs. However, we are beginning to see older children in need of families as well.

Generally, it takes families about 4-6 months from first applying to Holt's Ethiopia program until their homestudy and other dossier documents are ready for submission. After that, timeframes are difficult to estimate.

MOWCYA, Ethiopia's government agency responsible for adoptions, has recently modified the adoption process to be more transparent, but there are still many kinks in the system causing process delays. The wait time for a child referral is unknown. Our current prediction is that families could wait anywhere from 12-36 months for a referral. Once matched with a child, it will take between 6-8 months for the case to reach the Ethiopian courts. The court process can take anywhere from 3-8 months. Then, time from court approval to receiving your child's visa is typically 1-2 months. So, in total, once the dossier is submitted, the timeframe could be anywhere from 19 to 49 months (or 1.5 to 4+ years). We realize this is a large time range and highlights the need for families to be patient and flexible when adopting from this program.

In general, we anticipate that it will cost $32,000-$45,000 to adopt from this program. Please view the fees section of our website for a breakdown. Other than Holt's fees, the above amount also includes fees paid to third-party service providers — including fees to assemble dossier documents, USCIS fees, travel and in-country expenses.

This is an often misunderstood term in adoption, because it doesn't necessarily indicate that a child has physical or developmental disabilities. Most children with special needs are either older than 6, part of a sibling group, or take longer to match with a family due to minor or moderate physical, developmental or emotional health needs.

Currently, MOWCYA is revising eligibility guidelines for adoptive parents, therefore, eligibility may change. Today, both parents must be over the age of 25 years, with at least one parent younger than 50 years, and neither parent may have been divorced more than twice. Please review the current adoption eligibility guidelines on our website for more information.

No, Ethiopia does not currently accept single applicants. Please visit our Vietnam, India or China adoption webpages for information about adopting as a single applicant.

Yes, all families must travel. There is an option to travel for two short (approximately 1-week) trips or one long (3-4 week) trip depending on the family's preference.