[marchflower]

Hi all, We were just about to sign paperwork with our agency, and found out that I'm pregnant. Well we were told by the agency that they now couldn't talk to us until mid-2010.

We definitely still want to go forward with the adoption of what would be our now middle child. Our ds is 3 and we were looking to adopt another son 1-2 years younger than he.

Does anyone have the name or names of good agencies that are willing to work with pregnant families? And adopt out of birth order? PMing is fine or if it's ok (I'm new), please post for others' future benefit.

thx
Marchflower

[karla-k]

Does Ethiopia have a requirement about placing a child within a year of another adoption or birth? If this is a country requirement, you may not have any other options but to wait.

I think that I had read that you cannot adopt from Ethiopia until your most previous birth or adoption has been home for 1 year. this is the case with most countries. We are adopting from Kyrgyzstan and were told that our son would have to be home for a year before we could bring another child into our home.

[ocracoke]

My guess is that you will have a hard time finding an agency that will work with you. Ethiopia does not have a hard and fast rule about how old a child needs to be before you can adopt. Some agencies will tell you 3 years, some 2 years, some 12 months, some 9 months, and some nothing. Some agencies allow you to adopt out of birth order and others say no way. Some agencies will allow you to continue the adoption process if you become pregnant in process and some will require that you be put on hold. What I don't know is if there is any agency that will allow you to start the process while you are pregnant. Interesting research. I will PM you with a few guesses.

Samantha

[marchflower]

OK, thanks to some helpful people on this forum, and some direct checking, these are the Ethiopian-licensed agencies that explicitly allow adopting while pregnant:

Adoption Advocates Internation
Better Future Adoption Services
Adoption Avenues

I hope this helps anyone else going through this.

[MelissaLovesPugs]

Originally Posted by marchflower

OK, thanks to some helpful people on this forum, and some direct checking, these are the Ethiopian-licensed agencies that explicitly allow adopting while pregnant:

Adoption Advocates Internation
Better Future Adoption Services
Adoption Avenues

I hope this helps anyone else going through this.

Thanks for sharing that information!

I would love to hear from anyone who has worked with these agencies, by PM.

We are in a similar situation, although I'm not pregnant. We would like to adopt a child 1 or 2 years younger then our daughter (who just turned 3). We have secondary infertility, so it is unlikely (but not impossible) that I could become pregnant. So, we would love to work with an agency who would continue working with us if that happened.

[marriedgal]

Hey, I'm really glad you got some answers. It kills me how many extra loopholes agencies add and make you jump through to adopt. I'm really glad that you can have a joyful belly AND adopt. Have your cake and eat it too. No, really -- it's okay because you're pregnant!

[MelissaLovesPugs]

Originally Posted by marchflower

OK, thanks to some helpful people on this forum, and some direct checking, these are the Ethiopian-licensed agencies that explicitly allow adopting while pregnant:

Just a follow up on this information. One of these agencies (PM if you want to know specifically which one) said if you live in their home state then yes, you can continue adoption if pregnant, however they said they don't recommend it. However they said if you do not live in their state, and have a homestudy done in your home state, it is up to the homestudy agency whether or not you can continue if you get pregnant.

That kind of surprised me, because I have heard from other agencies (not from this list) that it is up to the adoption agency, not the home study agency. One agency told me they generally ask the couple to put the adoption on hold, but it is determined on a case by case basis and partly dependent on where you are in the process & when you are due.

Confusing!