[LockStock]

I heard from one agency that Ethiopia requires the adopted child to be at least three years younger than the youngest child in your home. That seemed a bit unusual, and I haven't read that anywhere else. Can anyone confirm the falsehood of that "requirement"? If it is false, I assume it's an agency requirement as opposed to an Ethiopia requirement.

[renee-albright]

There are families going thru the process right now with the same agency i'm using that are adopting with children already in the home and there won't be a 3 year age difference..must be an agency thing.

[Petsitter]

That is an agency rule, not an Ethiopian rule. Our son at home was 4 1/2 and our newly adopted children are 2 1/2 and 2. Check around with other agencies. A lot of them are saying that their rules are in fact Ethiopian rules.

[my3sons08]

I just talked to Angela from Better Futures and she said they place in birth order, so the new child would have to be at least 9 months younger than the youngest child at home. I think that is what I got out of it, but I could be wrong. I have never heard the 3 year thing, because there won't be a 3 year difference with ours...

Carrie

[2xaround]

It seems to me that each agency has a specific agreement with Ethiopia. The agencies who have had a long standing Ethiopia program appear to have fewer restrictions than those who have newer Ethiopia programs. I also know that Ethiopia has made changes to their program over the last two years that I've been following the program. That is common among countries though.

[ocracoke]

Ethiopia has very few uniform requirements between the agencies. Some agencies will say "this is an Ethiopian requirement". It is important to note that it may be a requireemtn that Ethiopia has made on them that has not made on other agencies. I don't know why. Some agencies allow for out of birth order adoptions. Some allow for virtual twinning. So it is important to find the agenciy that is both reputable and meets your requirements.

Samantha

[LockStock]

Thanks to everyone for their replies, and for confirming what I thought was the case. Should we decide to pursue adoption thru Ethiopia, we will definitely choose a different agency than the one that provided us this information.

[vivismom]

Hello!
We are still in the investigating stage. We had ruled out Ethiopia because we thought our youngest had to be 3. So our youngest can be younger than 3 when we apply?? Can anyone pm me with agencies that allow the youngest child at home to be younger than 3? She is 14 months right now, will be 1.5 when we apply... We would like to adopt a little boy.

Thank yoU!

[ocracoke]

The quick answer is that most agencies do not require the 3 year gap. I know of one agency that requires 3 years (and I keep forgetting which one it is). I know some that require 1 or 2 years. I know some that require 9 months. And I know some that say they go with whatever you feel is right for your family.

Samantha

[LockStock]

Originally Posted by vivismom

Hello!
We are still in the investigating stage. We had ruled out Ethiopia because we thought our youngest had to be 3. So our youngest can be younger than 3 when we apply?? Can anyone pm me with agencies that allow the youngest child at home to be younger than 3? She is 14 months right now, will be 1.5 when we apply... We would like to adopt a little boy.

Thank yoU!

I visited your blog and noticed you adopted your son from the same agency that we adopted our daughter. That would probably explain why we seem to be the only people who were told there was a 3 year age difference requirement.

[vivismom]

Oh. Well that explains that! Have you decided on an agency yet for your adoption? We are deciding between Ethiopia and Mexico (my dh is from Mexico). I am just starting to do the research, we hope to complete the adoption within 2-3 years.