Ethiopian officials have informed the Department of State that the Government of Ethiopia plans to cease processing new intercountry adoption cases, but that provisions will be made for in-process cases. The Department does not have confirmed information as to which cases Ethiopia will consider in-process, but we will communicate this as soon as we do. The Department continues to encourage the Government of Ethiopia to complete all in-process adoption cases. 

Given this information, the Department of State strongly recommends against initiating an adoption in Ethiopia at this time and asks adoption agencies not to refer new Ethiopian adoption cases for U.S. prospective adoptive parents. The Department will continue to work with the Government of Ethiopia to address its concerns about intercountry adoptions and ask that they consider intercountry adoption as an option for Ethiopian children in need of permanent homes.                                                

If you have questions about your pending case, please contact your Adoption Service Provider and continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information on intercountry adoption in Ethiopia. For questions about this notice, please contact the Office of Children’s Issues at Adoption@state.gov.