We were stunned to learn yesterday that the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) decided to place a temporary hold on processing adoptions for AAI. This was the result of an unfortunate case where a child we had placed with a family died from a drug overdose. There were no charges in this case and foul play was not suspected.
We have been working with MOWA to resolve this issue and thought we had provided them with more than enough information. However, another case with a different adoption agency completely unrelated to AAI recently caused them to take action and place a temporary hold on processing cases with both AAI and the other agency.
Until this hold is lifted, we cannot offer any new referrals to our waiting families or process any cases for court. From the information we have received from our Ethiopian staff, we believe all cases that have passed court can continue moving forward through the embassy process.
We have spent the last couple of days contacting all of the authorities involved with the case in question as well as the adoptive family to put together enough information so that MOWA will remove their hold. It may take several weeks to a couple of months to have the hold lifted.
We know this is difficult news to receive and apologize for the delay this may cause in your adoption. We ask for your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Please don't hesitate to call or email with questions, and we will do our best to keep you updated throughout.
Sincerely,
Marquita Thompson
Ethiopia Program Coordinator
