[alindy]

Like many before me, I am trying to decide which agency to use in my Ethiopia adoption. I have a great feeling about two agencies in particular which have been mentioned frequently in previous threads. Another agency which seems to be popular seems to have beautiful brochures, ads, and are very helpful over the phone but they have significantly higher fees. (Perhaps they have to pay for all of that marketing?) I'd love to hear PM's from anyone willing to share their agency stories.

Also, if I were to fill out an application this week and schedule a homestudy, do any of you think that I'd be traveling to pick up my children by this spring? Summer?

Thank you SO much in advance for sharing!

[teranga]

I PM'd you.

[bluedaisy]

If we start our homestudy now, how soon could we expect to travel to Ethiopia? Let's say we chose a waiting child... or did not. I'd love to hear some input on this! Thanks.

[DaniWestRN]

Hi ladies,
I just wanted to say that if you are starting now it is very likely that you would travel in the spring as long as your homstudy process and CIS approvel do not take an unusally long time. Check out our timeline at http://www.MiriamDesta.com/node/56 . It was affected by the almost 8 week court closing which will not effect those starting now.
Danielle

[teranga]

Our process took just over 5 months, though it was almost 6 months by the time we could get to Ethiopia to get our son (my husband had a business trip, so we had to put off travel for a couple of weeks). That includes a one month wait for a referral, so a waiting child could be up to a month shorter (just over 4 months) though it does vary. I'd say if you expect it to take 9 months (like a bio child) you will be pleasantly surprised when your child is home before that.

[bluedaisy]

This information is so encouraging! We have a mini family reunion planned for next June, and I never thought we could have our child with us by then! Okay, we have to actually start the process... but still, this is exciting! I had gotten the impression that the homestudy could take a while.

Did you all start the homestudy at the same time you applied to an agency? I don't live in the same state as an agency that we'd use, so I'm not sure if I should begin the homestudy process first, or wait until we firmly choose and agency (there is a good international agency who does homestudies near us; they don't do Ethiopia adoptions though). Any suggestions on timing? Also, any general suggestions on what to ask of an agency? I have been collecting lots of info and pm'ing people... I'm looking for ideas on what we should make sure to ask any agency. Thanks!

[snvanvl]

I would definately start your homestudy even if you have not chosen an agency. Your homestudy can take a little while to finish and get the final report back. I would try to have your agency picked out before your homestudy is totally finished though.

[hdowns]

Everyone takes differing amounts of time on their homestudy. For instance some people take 3-5mos to complete it but we got it done in one month. Keep in mind that many agencies require classes prior to starting a homestudy or concurrent to doing the homestudy and this adds on some time too.
We went with an agency(PM me for specifics) that will allow you to look at waiting children once your homestudy is complete, even prior to signing up with the agency. This worked for us because of our very specific situation, but basically we started looking at these waiting children about 5 weeks ago and will be traveling to pick them up on November 12th!
This is lightning speed in the adoption world and is a breath of fresh air compared to the two years we spent on the Colombian waiting list, without a referral!
We are having a superb experience with our agency (and we have been with a total of 4 agencies over the past 2 years) and would highly recommend them if you would like to PM me for more info.
Heather

[teranga]

We started both the same day (signed on w/an agency for Ethiopia and a homestudy agency in our state) and both the dossier and the homestudy were done the same week, so we just stapled the homestudy on to the dossier and off it went! Dont' wait...otherwise you'll have your dossier all done and you'll be sitting there waiting for your homestudy to be done!

Teranga

[DaniWestRN]

I won't wait either... start the homestudy if you really can't decide on an agency... but bear in mind that a lot of the paperwork that you need to get is the same for the homestudy and the dossier. Once you sign up with an agency they ussally give you a list of papers that you can get while doing the homestudy, at least ours did.

[barrm5]

would you PM me about your agency and why you chose it and what your thoughts are on the agencies out there?
Emily

[gav123]

We have posted information about our adoption process/timeline/agency,etc. on our website:
www.michaelandbev.com

[ExcitedMomtoBe]

Like you, we did our home study in a different state than the agency who completed our adoption (for Guatemala). We worked through a social worker approved with DSS and it went very smoothly. The fee was $500 and we completed the process in about a month. We did our 10 hours of adoption "classes" via a CD-Rom that our agency sends out. There were questionnaires to complete at the end of each section and we gave our completed answers to our social worker. I liked it being self-paced because we could fly through much more quickly than if we'd had to schedule classes. All in all, it took me about a month to get all my paperwork together (more or less, with a couple of documents taking a little longer). Hope this helps! Rachel