Addis Ababa, December 16, 2012 (Ezega.com) - In a recent article that I wrote for this site I told the story of an Ethiopian couple who adopted two abandoned children through a domestic adoption agency. One of the comments I got for this article accused me of promoting adoption and for being on the payroll of the agency which I had reported as facilitating the adoption. At the time I had decided to ignore the comment because it seemed to completely and purposely misunderstand the intention of the article but, after further reflection, I realized that the sentiment behind this comment is one that needs to be addressed if we are to contribute to the very real crisis that we are facing in Ethiopia today.
For the sake of full disclosure I admit to being a proponent of adoption in general and of domestic adoption in particular. Families are tied together by bonds of love and shared history as much as they are bound by blood ties. I also believe that the orphan crisis in Ethiopia and the very real humanitarian and social crisis that we as a nation face because of it is one that requires us to explore all possible avenues to insure the welfare of orphaned and abandoned children.
Domestic adoption is the adoption of Ethiopian orphans and abandoned children by Ethiopian parents and is a little used alternative which should, in my personal opinion, be promoted by all involved. The adoption of children who don’t have biological parents, by stable, financial secure Ethiopian families willing to offer them a home, love and care strikes me as being one of the better options of addressing the orphan crisis in Ethiopia.
Relatively few Ethiopians, especially in light of the extent of the orphan problem, in our country consider domestic adoption as an option primarily due to cultural considerations. Many people find the idea of raising a child not related to them by blood as being inconsiderate of their family relations who have a higher claim on their help while others worry about inheritance and other related issues.
The few families that do look past the cultural pressures and do commit to adopting are forced to keep it a secret to protect the adopted children from stigma and alienation within the extended family and within the society in general.
In light of this I argue that it is important that we all contribute to change the social attitude towards adoption so as to enable Ethiopian orphans to grow up in their own societies with all the advantages of a loving family. If we fail to address this avenue I feel that we lose the right to object against international adoption as so many do as a matter of principle.
It is understandable that cases of abuse and misrepresentation in relation to international adoption provoke emotional reactions as witnessed in the case of Hanna Williams in the United States last year who was abused and died of neglect and starvation last year and the current ongoing case of the eight year old child in Norway wishing to be returned back. Many people decried the high numbers of children being adopted from Ethiopia and a few blamed the agencies processing cross country adoption and the Ethiopian government for facilitating international adoption.
It is indeed heartbreaking when children who have no choice but to leave the country and the people they were born into to find loving caregivers all suffer more at the hands of the people entrusted with their care. The angry rhetoric incited by these incidences however does nothing to address the very real crisis that has necessitated international adoption.
Anyone who has had a chance to visit the orphanages run by the government and other bodies in various parts of the country can deny the grim reality that children in institutional care in Ethiopia are currently facing. Most orphanages are overpopulated, understaffed and under resources. Many look to the generosity of international adoption agencies and other charity organizations to supply, diapers, formula and medication. Even so many of those children who are put in institutional care in infancy and are not adopted die.
In the face of this stark and grim reality what is required is not emotional rhetoric or categorical blame assigning but actual practical options that better serve the case of the millions of Ethiopian orphans.
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