Nuts and Bolts of Ethiopia Referral Process

I learned from our case worker a few weeks ago a little more about the process of making a referral works in Ethiopia. Gladney has a relationship with three government-run orphanages in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Gladney's representative in Ethiopia works with these orphanages to match Gladney's adoption requests with children in the orphanages.

When a match is made, that child comes under Gladney auspices while continuing to live in the orphanage. During this time, Gladney runs medical tests on the child to assess their health and see if they are a match for the potential family. This process takes about six weeks. If the child "checks out," then the referral is made. This means that Gladney sends information about the child to the adoptive parents. If the parents say yes, then the ball keeps rolling forward. It's usually 4-6 weeks after this that the parents travel to pick up their little bundle of joy!