A frequent question from traveling families is in regard to shots. At this time there are no mandatory vaccinations to travel to Ethiopia. However, there are recommendations.

It is an excellent idea to make sure you've had a tetanus shot in the past 10 years. You may also want to get a flu shot. I did both of these shots on our first trip to Ethiopia, but opted to go without the flu shot the second time around. Some people opt to get their MMR and polio immunizations updated.

Another recommendation when traveling to third world countries is the hepatitis B shot. This is a series of 3 shots taken over a 6-month period. I am a nurse and had this series years ago at the... more

Today while writing and thinking about HIV testing for adoptable children, I got wondering what the actual statistics are on HIV in Ethiopia. I found many of the following statistics here: NIC Ethiopia AIDS statistics.

Ethiopia’s adult prevalence rate of HIV is estimated at between 10 and 18 percent. Government figures cite 2.7 million Ethiopians currently as HIV positive, although experts believe the actual number may be between 3 and 5 million. The prevalance in cities is higher than in rural areas: 13-20% in cities... more

Talk among waiting families lately has centered upon the lack of PCR kits, which is thought to be slowing down infant referrals in recent weeks. The PCR is a type of HIV test most commonly used to determine if an infant born to an HIV-positive mother is infected with the virus.

All babies and children most be HIV-tested at least twice before leaving Ethiopia. So this shortage of tests has slowed adoption processing at two points.

First of all, babies can't be tested when they first come into care, and thus have to wait longer to be referred to families. Many families lately are experiencing longer-than-normal waits for referrals.

The other point at which it affects... more

As you may have read earlier in my blog, my daughter's TB test (Mantoux) was positive. She had been on Isoniazide for a couple weeks now, and though I am convinced it is necessary and important she have this medicine, it has not been all easy.

Within a few days of beginning treatment, she developed diarrhea that I was certain was related to the medication. I'd heard from other adoptive parents that sorbitol, a sweetener commonly put into children's medication,... more

First, thanks for all the awesome comments lately! I've really been enjoying writing this blog, but it is even more fun to get feedback from readers! Keep it coming!

Now, I have a story to tell on myself. You know that post I wrote the other day highlighting the crucial importance of that second TB test? Well, two short days after writing that post, guess what I did with my own child? I FORGOT to bring her in to have the doctor check her arm for a reaction to the TB test. At ten till twelve Saturday morning the wonderful nurse at my doctor's office called me and said, "...uh, weren't you going to bring her in?" Duh!

Since the nurse knows I'm an RN, she said it would... more

Before each of my daughters came home, I fretted a lot over their health. My first Ethiopian daughter had a terrible case of chicken pox just a month before she came home. It was really painful for me to see the poxy pictures of her and know she’d had to endure being that sick in an orphanage setting. I wanted so much to be with her.

My second daughter had a bout of pneumonia a couple weeks before we were scheduled to get her, bad enough that I changed our plane tickets to arrive a week earlier than we’d originally planned. However, all things considered, both of our daughters were remarkably... more

When we got to the orphanage to pick our first daughter up, one of the first things the nuns said to us is that she was fat. Too fat, they thought. In fact, they even suggested that I should put her on a diet.

It seemed silly they wanted ME to put her on a diet. They admitted right out they'd been unable to. She cried too pitifully when denied more bottles, they said. So they always relented and fed her.

"Well, good for her," I thought, "for having the gumption to be the squeaky wheel in this orphanage setting." I was unconvinced about the necessity of putting a one year old on a diet.

When I first saw her, she did look round. At 20 months, she weighed... more