Submit your completed application, Disclosure Statement, and $350 Application Fee to BFAS. You will be contacted for an over the phone or in person 10-30 minute interview. Within 1-2 weeks of submission you will be notified of your approval.
Obtain a set of legal documents that are required by MOWA for the adoption of a child. Select a Home Study Agency in your state of residence to conduct a Home Study on your behalf according to state guidelines. Minnesota Residents: Contact BFAS to get connected to our current social workers. (Eva works with Darelene)
When BFAS has located a child for your family, you will be notified by phone. Medical, Lab, child history and picture will be forwarded to you by email. You may choose to accept or decline the child referred to you.
Your Dossier and the Dossier of the child you have accepted as a referral will be submitted to court and you will receive a court date. Upon Court Approval, your referred child will legally become your child.
After Court Approval, you will be scheduled an Embassy Appointment for which you will travel to be present. If you are unable to travel, BFAS offers an escort service. At the Embassy Appointment, you will be granted a Visa for your child. After receiving your child's Visa, you may leave Ethiopia and return to the United States with your child.
Congratulations! You are now a proud parent of a beautiful little one(s)! Post- Adoption, Ethiopia requires families to submit post placement reports on their children at 3 months, 6 months, and one year after the adoption. Yearly reports until the child turns 18 are also required. BFAS offers BFAS forever families with post-placement services and support in raising their child(ren) to be strongly connected to their country of origin and proud of their identity as Ethiopian-Americans. Welcome to the BFAS family and to the network of BFAS forever families!