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Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful replies! I appreciate you taking the time to help educate another adoptive mom.
Threekids, you asked if I would support things changing in Ethiopia: absolutely! Children in Ethiopia tend to be available for adoption because one or both parents have died, often from AIDS-related illnesses--or because they have been abandoned or relinquished by their parents who can't feed them and themselves and perhaps other children. And children of parents with HIV don't necessarily have HIV themselves. In fact, 60% of babies born to HIV+ mothers will be HIV-. The amazing part is that a dose of antiretroviral drugs at labor reduces the transmission even more, but often those meds aren't available. And people in Africa often die of HIV/AIDS much more quickly than people in western countries because they don't have access to or can't afford the medicine. All while the big pharm companies grow very wealthy.
It's a terrible human tragedy, and an embarassment, I think, to wealthy countries in the world. I can't believe we let people suffer like we do.
We were drawn to Ethiopia, in part, because of the tremendous need there. If things were better there, we would likely have been pulled to another country.
Of course, nothing can change for my son now--what's happened in his life cannot be reversed. So this conversation can only exist in the abstract for me.
I would love to hear more parents' opinions on this! Thanks.
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