e-mail
Perhaps even more important than choosing a good homestudy agency is choosing a good agency to complete the Ethiopia part of your adoption. There are quite a few agencies out there, many with lovely websites and friendly people on the other end of the phone.
How on earth can you sort out which agencies will be able to take good care of you during a stressful adoption process, and even more importantly, be able to successfully help you get your children home?
Make a list of the questions you’ll need to ask any agencies you are considering. Here are the ones that are important to me as an adoptive parent. You may have other things you would like to know about any prospective agency.
1. Experience. This is huge in my mind. Find out how many adoptions each agency completed in the last year, and when their first adoption in Ethiopia happened. I want to work with an agency that has a proven track record and established connections in Ethiopia. Certainly a new agency could do a decent job. But if something unusual comes up, I personally would much rather be working with an agency that has a bunch of experience, and a bunch of resources (relationships!)with people there in Ethiopia.
2. Cost. This should not be THE defining factor, but for most people it is important. I only got around to pricing two agencies, and I did it several years ago, but at that time there was about a $5,000 price difference between the two. That’s a lot of difference for the same service.
3. License status. This is another biggie. ASK any agency you are considering if they are currently licensed in Ethiopia and when their license will expire. They need that license.
4. References. I would talk with at least 3 families who have used your agency to find out what their experience was like. Do a little digging on the internet as well as asking the agency for names of people you can contact.
Ask references about the overall process. Did it go smoothly? Was the time estimate accurate? Did the agency seem professional and take care of details? Were they able to request a specific age and sex of child?
And ask about the responsiveness of the agency: Could the families get questions answered easily? Were they kept up to date on the status of their case? You may also want to ask about post-placement support available: is there someone to call and chat with if your child has a rough adjustment?
You may be able to get some of these questions answered in an online forum such as http://ethiopia.adoption.com/ . You’ll need to read the messages, find some people who’ve used agencies your’s considering, and email them privately with questions.
5. Timelines. This is another one that you shouldn’t base your entire decision on, but it is good to know. Keep in mind that new agencies may have faster referrals at first because they may have a backlog of kids in foster care or already identified at orphanages that they need to get referrals for. Once those first kids get referred, the timelines may get slower…or now. It’s hard to tell with a new agency.
Also keep in mind that some of the more conservative agencies may give you ‘outside’ longest-possible estimates of time. Some of the ‘hungrier’ agencies may quote the more optimistic timelines. And some agencies have recently had to wait-list some families simply because of the huge interest in adopting from Ethiopia these days. Again, it is wise to ask agencies lots of questions and also speak with some actual families and find out what their timelines looked like.
You will be handing these agencies a boatload of money and a huge dream. You deserve to know details.
Coming soon: a list of agencies licensed in Ethiopia
