Our adoptions (from Ethiopia) via AAI were a nightmare and a tragedy.
Almost every fact in our children's profiles was false.
Our sons were from a neighborhood that is the center of child prostitution in Addis Ababa (more houses of prostitution than houses for families!). AAI never told us this before we adopted. We had very young bio children when we adopted--they were physically and sexually abused by the boys. (We specifically requested, in writing to AAI, that we not adopt a child who had been physically and sexually abused.)
According to AAI, our daughters' parents were dead. Oops, we were told one hour after landing in Addis to bring them home that their father was healthy and still living. We presume their mother died, but we still don't know for certain. As for their living father, this was a horror story for us--we had been determined not to adopt children with living parents. Their adoptions were already complete in court, and we were told there was nothing we could do.
AAI claims that the children and their bio families don't tell the truth, and that the children don't reveal information about their pasts. You know what? Our children talked constantly, and I witnessed them talking many times to staff. Our oldest daughter told us that she had discussed her mother and father with staff many times. The children could remember events and dates that made their false ages seem ludicrous. I find it impossible to believe that staff didn't know the truth.
Our oldest son was almost double the age we were told. In Addis, we were accidentally given a paper with an older age on it by Gail; when we questioned the paper, she became angry and said it was just a "type-o." We recently had to increase our youngest son's age from 9 to 14. His voice dropped two years ago, he has acne, etc.
Our oldest son also ran a gang of sex offenders at AAI's care center Layla House (boys). This wasn't "experimentation"--it was coercive and violent (strangulation, suffocation). He often watched the little children at Wanna House. There was also a gang of girls engaging in sexual abuse. AAI claims that it went to a lot of effort to make the orphanage safe. Yet I just heard from another parent who says her child was sexually abused. I am so frustrated by this whole situation! If they can't ensure that the kids are safe, then they need to find different ways of caring for them. We bought tiny, remote video cameras to watch our kids for $25. It's simple. Why can't AAI monitor the children?
Think we're alone? Think again. The families we knew and adopted with through AAI at the same time, friends of ours, were shattered by sexual and/or physical abuse. Even friends who adopted from Ethiopia via AFAA at the same time had to deal with their Ethiopian son sexually abusing their kindergarten-age daughter! Most tragically, the daughters we had to disrupt (the youngest was extremely violent and dangerous, because she was being violently sexually assaulted repeatedly by the oldest boy, unknown to us at the time of course) were AGAIN victimized, thanks to the parents AAI chose for them, praised to the skies, and said they would be safe with (the dad is now in prison for sexual assault!).
So: Beware. Families are afraid to speak out, as they don't want to violate their children's privacy . . . and they are dealing with horrifying, life shattering situations. They are dealing, like us, with stratospheric legal fees, therapists, and ongoing agony. And they are afraid of being sued by their agencies on top of everything if they tell the truth.
I don't know what the exact disruption rate for older children (the "older" part is important, as disruption rates are altered by baby adoptions) was for older children adopted through AAI around the time we adopted, but I did a rough count--at least a quarter of the families disrupted. Many of the disruptions were due to physical and sexual abuse. I have no idea what the disruption rate is now. I presume it is much better, due to the safety measures, but obviously those measures are not enough.
AAI needs to do a better job of keeping the children safe. Based on our experience and our friends' experiences, families were destroyed, not "built" through adoption. Our experience, and the experiences of our friends, was so awful and unbearable that I now believe all the social workers are right--birth order should NEVER be disrupted. Not only that, the rate of physical and sexual abuse is so high against Ethiopian children BEFORE they get to an orphanage/care center that they should NEVER be adopted into a family with young children. It's just too risky. I'm not against adoption of older Ethiopian children by any means (quite the contrary, actually), but I think that it should only be done under safe circumstances--trained parents, video monitoring, informed therapists and pediatricians, absolutely no younger children in the home that are not able to defend themselves or even perhaps voice what is happening to them.
Since Merrily herself dealt with sexual abuse done by older boys to a younger girl in her own family (see Poundpup Legacy for details), I find her attitude toward sexual abuse and disruption of birth order--both before and after we adopted--to be bewildering. There were virtually zero safety standards at Layla House when we adopted. The boys had no monitoring at night and freely traveled between bedrooms all night. Bedrooms were open during the day. She had promised that they would be locked during the day, but they were not. Bathrooms were unsupervised. No group home in the U.S. would be allowed to operate this way.
We used Adoption Advocates International in 2008 to bring home our daughter from Ghana. I don't think we could have had a better experience. Anita is an awesome coordinator and person. She was WHOLEHEARTEDLY there with us every step of the way. She was there for every question, was honest and open, and always ethical. We spent 3 weeks total in Ghana. The aunties and staff there were great! They were very supportive, loving and took amazing care of our child. It was amazing to see our daughter flourish with the care, love, and massive amounts of food :), into a healthy well-adjusted and loved little girl in such a short time in their care. We would definitely use AAI, Anita, and adopt from the wonderful country of Ghana again!
I've been an AAI client for five years and have been an adoptive parent (thanks to AAI) for 4.5 years. My husband and I were one of the first six families to adopt from Ghana through AAI's then pilot program. Quite frankly, I'm stunned at tao7's review.
International adoption, by it's very nature, is unpredictable. Countries change their criteria, their proceedures, their government staff, their expecations of the role that adoption agencies can and should play in the country. Sometimes entire governments change, bringing entirely new officials in, often with little or no experience in adoptions, sometimes with a bias against international adoptions. Heck, most of this occured during that first year that we waited for our daughter to come home. But I can say AAI was always upfront, honest, ETHICAL and informative about any changes occuring in the adoption community. I was always impressed with AAI's ablity to roll with new changes so that families could unite with their adopted children.
As for the age of children, I think this poster needs a better understanding of the nature of international adoption. Americans, and other westerners, want YOUNG children. And older children often wait many months longer, sometimes even years longer. This doesn't escape the notice of parents hoping their children will have a better life in America. Children are coached to lie about their true age and parents will often lie about the age of their children. And who can blame them? I would lay down my life for my children. You can bet that I would also coach them to say they were younger if it meant they could find happiness, love, food, clothing and shelter if I couldn't provide those things any longer. Add to this that malnutrition and disease affect most of the children needing placement (because these children wouldn't NEED a new family if their birth family could provide the food and medical care they needed), and you get children that are small for their age. Adoption agencies do the best they can. Staff do the best they can. Testing for an age would make adoption THAT MUCH MORE cost prohibitive for families.
Amalama addressed the fact that AAI's orphanage is no longer in existence, and I can attest to the veracity of this statement. *GHANA* changed the rules regarding adoption agencies operating orphanages within the country, NOT AAI. AAI followed these new rules to the letter, although it was heartbreaking for families of children already home. If tao7 visited an orphanage, it was not affiliated with AAI. And I think every reasonable person can agree that AAI is not responsible for the care and keeping of every child in a government orphanage in the country of Ghana.
I will also say that during my 3 years as an AAI Ghana parent, AAI and AAI parents have often gone above and beyond their "duty" to raise money, support and donations for government or charitable orphanages that are in dire need.
Finally, I would like to speak to tao7's attack on the Ghana coordinator, Anita. I cannot think of someone more committed to finding homes for children in need and of doing so IN AN ETHICAL manner, than Anita G at AAI. Anita, during the 3 year program history, has always been vigilent in understanding Ghana, it's culture, it's ethics, it's people. She tries to educate herself and others about the issues within the adoption community and in Ghana. She's compassionate and understanding, even when adoptive parents call boo hooing on the phone. I know! I've tested her on this myself! She attentive. She talks to clients WHILE they're in Ghana! Do you know how RARE that is? She loves "her" families, "her" children, and "her" staff in Ghana. And not once did she become "nasty" during my adoption. Folks would be so lucky to have her for a coordinator!
I'm so sorry that tao7 had a negative adoption experience. I really am. I'm a huge supporter of adoption and I wish that others could know the beauty and joy of adoption. But I DO NOT think it's fair or just to hold an adoption agency (or staff member of that agency) responsible for something that is clearly out of their control.
I am writing this mostly because I had such a great experience with Anita, the Ghana Adoption Coordinator at Adoption Advocates International, that I wanted to share with others. We adopted a sibling group of 3 from Ghana and found Anita to be upfront about every potential issue and she told us that our son's age was probably off by one year, as was possible for our twin girls. It was something she made sure we knew about from the beginning. I appreciated that. Ages being off is very typical in international adoption.
Throughout our entire process we felt that we were informed and cared for. When there were questions to be asked, we asked them and were told what we needed to know. I found Anita's work to be excellent and thorough. She was incredibly supportive through what is a very emotional process.
If I were adopting again, I would use AAI and the Ghana program in particular. Anita leads the program with integrity, caring and honesty. She was a pleasure to work with and she did everything she could to help our process move along as smoothly as possible. Our children were well cared for while in AAI's care- receiving medical attention and scheduled food daily (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks). While I was in country I was at the orphanage every day and saw first hand the nutritious food our children enjoyed. This is a great agency that really cared about kids!
We have had a great experience with AAI. We live overseas and they have been wonderful communicating with us. We never feel out of the loop. We also feel that AAI is very ethical. They run a wonderful orphanage, they have incredibly dedicated workers and volunteers and they really are helping in Ethiopia. I really like that they are non-profit.
Our biggest complaint with this agency was the in country staffing or the lack there of. My husband and I have adopted three children from Asia, the last two were through AAI and we weren't thrilled either time. Our first adoption through AAI was from Thailand. We were not given any real in country support. A guide by the name of Oh was suggested for hire, but the agency had no in country staff. A letter, which was meant to be an in country instruction sheet, was mailed to us. It was very poorly written and was confusing to say the least. It jumped from one subject to the next and back to another as if something had been an afterthought. The letter was worthless. Thankfully we had hired Oh, or we would have been at a loss in a foreign country. Oh didn't know the process but could at least get us to the buildings we needed to go to and by the grace of God we made it home with our child.
Our second adoption through AAI was from China. Unless a family is traveling in a group to the same province where all families could share the same guide, families have to wait their turn to travel until AAI's one and only guide is available. We had to wait for two families to travel after we received our travel approval. This set us back a month. Families who travel in a group have the luxury of sharing the expenses of the guide. Those who travel alone, such as in our case, have to foot the entire bill. Rather then having a guide lined up in the provinces where adoptions take place, they have one guide who is flown to which ever province the child is referred from. This means the expense of hotel, food and flights comes out of the family's pocket. The man met us in the lobby when we arrived. I prearranged for a single room for him and a deluxe room for my family. I figured a single man on his own didn't need much. He checked in ahead of us and took our room. He also brought his girlfriend with him and we saw very little of him except to do the required tasks. He would vanish on days when we had down time and would have liked to do some sight seeing. I was forced to go out on my own with my children and locate restaurants and shopping. We were refused taxi service and were refused service in a restaurant. Had we had our guide with us I doubt this would have happened. Our guide had very little knowledge of the paperwork and ended up having to go back and forth to the USCIS office. I was charged for each trip he made. We paid through the nose, to wait for a very poor guide who the agency insisted we had to use.
As for the staff, they were okay, nothing to brag about. Thankfully these were not our first adoptions and I am not someone who requires a lot of hand holding. The Thai program director was actually much better then the China program director. She at least seem to be excited for us when we got our referral.
To the agency's credit, they are an established agency who maintain a good working relationship with the countries they represent. They do try to keep their fees affordable. In the end we did come out with two very precious children.
I think that the difference you may be seeing in reviews for AAI depend on which country the family adopted from. Ethiopia is AAI's main focus. They have their own orphanages there and of course are far better staffed in Ethiopia.
We used Hand in Hand for our first adoption from China and had a completely different experience. They did everything for us and we had a guide every step of the way who was very knowledgeable. The difference between the two agencies was night and day.
AAI has a reputation for excellent work. I think this praise is much exaggerated. I found the agency to be slow, sloppy and rather nasty. I do appreciate that the agency advocates for older children. However, if they are going to compete in this ever increasing market, they have to step up the professionalism.
I would only recommend them under certain circumstances.
We were very happy with our recent experience; adopting two older girls, from Ethiopia, in November 2007. We would definitely use AAI for our next adoption.
We completed our first adoption of a baby girl from India over 20 years ago using AAI. We have since worked with them for the adoption of a daughter from Taiwan, 3 sons from Ethiopia and 2 daughters also from Ethiopia. AAI is the best! Always honest, hardworking and willing to help when problems occur, we couldn't ask for a better agency. I've visited their child care center in Ethiopia 6 times over the last 9 years and each time return home even more impressed with the fantastic, loving care given to the children. I couldn't recommend them more.
Just comparing the literature from different agencies, we knew AAI was the right choice. Even through some complications in our adoption journey, everyone from this agency was very kind, hard working and with the children's interest at the forefront.
Although we live a distant state from Adoption Advocates International, I would use them for another adoption in a heartbeat. I have recently come in contact with parents who used an newer agency much closer to home and I have been surprised at how little they seem prepared for the trip to Ethiopia, the problems they are having with the process, and how little support they have once their children are home.
The children at Layla and Wana house (the facility in Addis Ababa) are very clearly loved and nutured while waiting to find a family. My daughter was in preschool while at Layla. In preparing her for meeting her new family, we were able to send a special shirt and small photo album so she could start making connections with us and her new life.
This type of care of the children at Layla House as well as outreach programs to children who will not be able to be adopted shows the truly compassionate nature of this agency.
I agree with all the positive comments posted here about AAI. We finally chose them after doing intense research of dozens of agencies in four countries for over two years!
Unfortunately too many agencies are unethical and just in it for the fee$ but AAI really cares about the children and families.
We just got our home study done and it was a wonderful experience. The SW, who is friendly, helpful and a fountain of great info, always replied to my many email questions with impressive speed. We are so happy we chose AAI.
It stands for Amazingly Absolutely Incredible!
Over the course of adopting 6 children from two different countries we have used 4 different agencies. (We also had one failed adoption in the US). None of the other agencies we worked with were bad (WACAP, CHSFS, and a local agency). Adoption Advocates International is by far the best, most responsive agency agency we have ever worked with. Their rates are some of the most reasonable around. They do great humanitarian work in Ethiopia for the children who remain, as well as for the ones who will be adopted. They are one of the most experienced and respected agencies doing Ethiopian adoptions these days, and were able to complete all three of our Ethiopian adoptions in less than a year. I especially love that it is easy to get my questions quickly answered by email.
We used AAI to adopt our baby daughter in 2004. They were extremely helpful throughout the entire process. We chose them because they seemed so much more concerned with the welfare of all the children in Ethiopia, not just the easily adopted. And, we have witnessed that emphasis over and over again throughout the past several years.
We are in process for our second adoption with AAI. They are ethical, kind and very professional--every step of the way. They run top notch child care centers in Ethiopia and Ghana, and work with orphanages in other countries. Every contact I made with them, was returned with a prompt and friendly response. We got pictures of our children before they arrived and updates on their progress. Occationally, their are glitches or delays in the adoption process, but it is rarely their fault. It mostly has to do with changable government procedures in the countries in which they operate and affects all agencies the same. If or when legitimate mistakes occur, they acknowledge it and do everything possible to ensure that it won't happen again. Merrily makes many trips to Ethiopia every year. She continually updates families on her experiences, the changes in adoption procedures, and the events of the orphanage. You feel like you are living the journey through her. Anita, travels to Ghana and is frequent communication with staff there--and freely passes along stories and any important information. Families who travel, enjoy getting to know the staff and interacting with children at the orphanage. Escorting is also an option, if you can't travel.
We received misinformation by phone and mail throughout the process. The staff was not patient or pleasant when we called to ask legitimate questions. The process was unreasonably slow after we signed the placement. Paperwork was "lost" and the agency's review of our child's file for court was not thorough causing delays. Follow-up once we traveled and returned home was non-existent and outdated post-placement instructions were mailed to us. Our description of AAI would be "sloppy" - child's file was not in order and lack of review caused many issues with ET court and USCIS. We've used two other adoption agencies and were very disappointed with the disorganization and delays with AAI.
We adopted our now-8YO daughter through AAI in 2005, and they are now helping us with a second adoption. We really appreciate AAI's responsiveness, and the fact that their priority is finding good families for children. If you are contemplating the adoption of an older child, you will find excellent support from AAI and their community of adoptive families.
I brought my son home from Ethiopia in June 2007 when he was 19 months old. AAI was great to work with. They took an enormously complicated process and laid it out step by step from start to finish. They were exceptionally helpful both via email and over the phone. They provide a wide variety of resources before, during, and after the adoption. They are also "at home" dealing with all types of families.
Because they run the orphanage in Addis Ababa, I was aware from the day I got my referral of my son's progress and care. He came home very healthy emotionally - he had been well cared for and loved during his stay at the orphanage. For children waiting for families, there can hardly be a better place.
I am considering another adoption and wouldn't think of using any other agency.
I have adopted internationally only once (two boys from Ethiopia in December 2007), but my experience with AAI was fabulous. Their staff members, both domestically and in country, are knowledgeable, experienced, helpful, and realistic, and I feel as though I knew what to expect at every stage of the process. Families who have adopted or are adopting through this agency also have a listserv group through Yahoo!Groups which includes extensive FAQ files on a variety of subjects, and the group is an important source of support and exchanging information. I am particularly pleased that AAI tries to facilitate the adoption of older children and HIV positive children. In addition, the agency does not discourage contact with birth relatives, and our visit to my sons' birth family was a vital and unforgettable part of my trip to Addis. I recommend AAI without reservation and would adopt through AAI again without hesitation.
We had a great experience using AAI for our Ethiopian adoption. They really have a heart for the older kids, sibling groups and special needs. They keep their prices reasonable and really live by their motto of "finding families for children" and not the other way around. We are definitely using them again!
We had a problem with our caseworker telling us we were approved in country and it turned out we weren't. It took another 6 weeks for us to get approval, but we finally got our wonderful daughter home!
Adoption Advocates has done several of our homestudies. Their social workers are by far the best! Very fast, reasonably priced, very open to different types of families, knowlegeable, experienced, happy to make last minute changes and just overall wonderful people.
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Reviews
Adoption Advocates International AAI
Our adoptions (from Ethiopia) via AAI were a nightmare and a tragedy.
Almost every fact in our children's profiles was false.
Our sons were from a neighborhood that is the center of child prostitution in Addis Ababa (more houses of prostitution than houses for families!). AAI never told us this before we adopted. We had very young bio children when we adopted--they were physically and sexually abused by the boys. (We specifically requested, in writing to AAI, that we not adopt a child who had been physically and sexually abused.)
According to AAI, our daughters' parents were dead. Oops, we were told one hour after landing in Addis to bring them home that their father was healthy and still living. We presume their mother died, but we still don't know for certain. As for their living father, this was a horror story for us--we had been determined not to adopt children with living parents. Their adoptions were already complete in court, and we were told there was nothing we could do.
AAI claims that the children and their bio families don't tell the truth, and that the children don't reveal information about their pasts. You know what? Our children talked constantly, and I witnessed them talking many times to staff. Our oldest daughter told us that she had discussed her mother and father with staff many times. The children could remember events and dates that made their false ages seem ludicrous. I find it impossible to believe that staff didn't know the truth.
Our oldest son was almost double the age we were told. In Addis, we were accidentally given a paper with an older age on it by Gail; when we questioned the paper, she became angry and said it was just a "type-o." We recently had to increase our youngest son's age from 9 to 14. His voice dropped two years ago, he has acne, etc.
Our oldest son also ran a gang of sex offenders at AAI's care center Layla House (boys). This wasn't "experimentation"--it was coercive and violent (strangulation, suffocation). He often watched the little children at Wanna House. There was also a gang of girls engaging in sexual abuse. AAI claims that it went to a lot of effort to make the orphanage safe. Yet I just heard from another parent who says her child was sexually abused. I am so frustrated by this whole situation! If they can't ensure that the kids are safe, then they need to find different ways of caring for them. We bought tiny, remote video cameras to watch our kids for $25. It's simple. Why can't AAI monitor the children?
Think we're alone? Think again. The families we knew and adopted with through AAI at the same time, friends of ours, were shattered by sexual and/or physical abuse. Even friends who adopted from Ethiopia via AFAA at the same time had to deal with their Ethiopian son sexually abusing their kindergarten-age daughter! Most tragically, the daughters we had to disrupt (the youngest was extremely violent and dangerous, because she was being violently sexually assaulted repeatedly by the oldest boy, unknown to us at the time of course) were AGAIN victimized, thanks to the parents AAI chose for them, praised to the skies, and said they would be safe with (the dad is now in prison for sexual assault!).
So: Beware. Families are afraid to speak out, as they don't want to violate their children's privacy . . . and they are dealing with horrifying, life shattering situations. They are dealing, like us, with stratospheric legal fees, therapists, and ongoing agony. And they are afraid of being sued by their agencies on top of everything if they tell the truth.
I don't know what the exact disruption rate for older children (the "older" part is important, as disruption rates are altered by baby adoptions) was for older children adopted through AAI around the time we adopted, but I did a rough count--at least a quarter of the families disrupted. Many of the disruptions were due to physical and sexual abuse. I have no idea what the disruption rate is now. I presume it is much better, due to the safety measures, but obviously those measures are not enough.
AAI needs to do a better job of keeping the children safe. Based on our experience and our friends' experiences, families were destroyed, not "built" through adoption. Our experience, and the experiences of our friends, was so awful and unbearable that I now believe all the social workers are right--birth order should NEVER be disrupted. Not only that, the rate of physical and sexual abuse is so high against Ethiopian children BEFORE they get to an orphanage/care center that they should NEVER be adopted into a family with young children. It's just too risky. I'm not against adoption of older Ethiopian children by any means (quite the contrary, actually), but I think that it should only be done under safe circumstances--trained parents, video monitoring, informed therapists and pediatricians, absolutely no younger children in the home that are not able to defend themselves or even perhaps voice what is happening to them.
Since Merrily herself dealt with sexual abuse done by older boys to a younger girl in her own family (see Poundpup Legacy for details), I find her attitude toward sexual abuse and disruption of birth order--both before and after we adopted--to be bewildering. There were virtually zero safety standards at Layla House when we adopted. The boys had no monitoring at night and freely traveled between bedrooms all night. Bedrooms were open during the day. She had promised that they would be locked during the day, but they were not. Bathrooms were unsupervised. No group home in the U.S. would be allowed to operate this way.
Beware!
Love AAI and Ghana!
We used Adoption Advocates International in 2008 to bring home our daughter from Ghana. I don't think we could have had a better experience. Anita is an awesome coordinator and person. She was WHOLEHEARTEDLY there with us every step of the way. She was there for every question, was honest and open, and always ethical. We spent 3 weeks total in Ghana. The aunties and staff there were great! They were very supportive, loving and took amazing care of our child. It was amazing to see our daughter flourish with the care, love, and massive amounts of food :), into a healthy well-adjusted and loved little girl in such a short time in their care. We would definitely use AAI, Anita, and adopt from the wonderful country of Ghana again!
AAI's Ethics and Staff
I've been an AAI client for five years and have been an adoptive parent (thanks to AAI) for 4.5 years. My husband and I were one of the first six families to adopt from Ghana through AAI's then pilot program. Quite frankly, I'm stunned at tao7's review.
International adoption, by it's very nature, is unpredictable. Countries change their criteria, their proceedures, their government staff, their expecations of the role that adoption agencies can and should play in the country. Sometimes entire governments change, bringing entirely new officials in, often with little or no experience in adoptions, sometimes with a bias against international adoptions. Heck, most of this occured during that first year that we waited for our daughter to come home. But I can say AAI was always upfront, honest, ETHICAL and informative about any changes occuring in the adoption community. I was always impressed with AAI's ablity to roll with new changes so that families could unite with their adopted children.
As for the age of children, I think this poster needs a better understanding of the nature of international adoption. Americans, and other westerners, want YOUNG children. And older children often wait many months longer, sometimes even years longer. This doesn't escape the notice of parents hoping their children will have a better life in America. Children are coached to lie about their true age and parents will often lie about the age of their children. And who can blame them? I would lay down my life for my children. You can bet that I would also coach them to say they were younger if it meant they could find happiness, love, food, clothing and shelter if I couldn't provide those things any longer. Add to this that malnutrition and disease affect most of the children needing placement (because these children wouldn't NEED a new family if their birth family could provide the food and medical care they needed), and you get children that are small for their age. Adoption agencies do the best they can. Staff do the best they can. Testing for an age would make adoption THAT MUCH MORE cost prohibitive for families.
Amalama addressed the fact that AAI's orphanage is no longer in existence, and I can attest to the veracity of this statement. *GHANA* changed the rules regarding adoption agencies operating orphanages within the country, NOT AAI. AAI followed these new rules to the letter, although it was heartbreaking for families of children already home. If tao7 visited an orphanage, it was not affiliated with AAI. And I think every reasonable person can agree that AAI is not responsible for the care and keeping of every child in a government orphanage in the country of Ghana.
I will also say that during my 3 years as an AAI Ghana parent, AAI and AAI parents have often gone above and beyond their "duty" to raise money, support and donations for government or charitable orphanages that are in dire need.
Finally, I would like to speak to tao7's attack on the Ghana coordinator, Anita. I cannot think of someone more committed to finding homes for children in need and of doing so IN AN ETHICAL manner, than Anita G at AAI. Anita, during the 3 year program history, has always been vigilent in understanding Ghana, it's culture, it's ethics, it's people. She tries to educate herself and others about the issues within the adoption community and in Ghana. She's compassionate and understanding, even when adoptive parents call boo hooing on the phone. I know! I've tested her on this myself! She attentive. She talks to clients WHILE they're in Ghana! Do you know how RARE that is? She loves "her" families, "her" children, and "her" staff in Ghana. And not once did she become "nasty" during my adoption. Folks would be so lucky to have her for a coordinator!
I'm so sorry that tao7 had a negative adoption experience. I really am. I'm a huge supporter of adoption and I wish that others could know the beauty and joy of adoption. But I DO NOT think it's fair or just to hold an adoption agency (or staff member of that agency) responsible for something that is clearly out of their control.
Ghana Program
I am writing this mostly because I had such a great experience with Anita, the Ghana Adoption Coordinator at Adoption Advocates International, that I wanted to share with others. We adopted a sibling group of 3 from Ghana and found Anita to be upfront about every potential issue and she told us that our son's age was probably off by one year, as was possible for our twin girls. It was something she made sure we knew about from the beginning. I appreciated that. Ages being off is very typical in international adoption.
Throughout our entire process we felt that we were informed and cared for. When there were questions to be asked, we asked them and were told what we needed to know. I found Anita's work to be excellent and thorough. She was incredibly supportive through what is a very emotional process.
If I were adopting again, I would use AAI and the Ghana program in particular. Anita leads the program with integrity, caring and honesty. She was a pleasure to work with and she did everything she could to help our process move along as smoothly as possible. Our children were well cared for while in AAI's care- receiving medical attention and scheduled food daily (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks). While I was in country I was at the orphanage every day and saw first hand the nutritious food our children enjoyed. This is a great agency that really cared about kids!
Caring and Ethical!
We have had a great experience with AAI. We live overseas and they have been wonderful communicating with us. We never feel out of the loop. We also feel that AAI is very ethical. They run a wonderful orphanage, they have incredibly dedicated workers and volunteers and they really are helping in Ethiopia. I really like that they are non-profit.
Mixed emotions
Our biggest complaint with this agency was the in country staffing or the lack there of. My husband and I have adopted three children from Asia, the last two were through AAI and we weren't thrilled either time. Our first adoption through AAI was from Thailand. We were not given any real in country support. A guide by the name of Oh was suggested for hire, but the agency had no in country staff. A letter, which was meant to be an in country instruction sheet, was mailed to us. It was very poorly written and was confusing to say the least. It jumped from one subject to the next and back to another as if something had been an afterthought. The letter was worthless. Thankfully we had hired Oh, or we would have been at a loss in a foreign country. Oh didn't know the process but could at least get us to the buildings we needed to go to and by the grace of God we made it home with our child.
Our second adoption through AAI was from China. Unless a family is traveling in a group to the same province where all families could share the same guide, families have to wait their turn to travel until AAI's one and only guide is available. We had to wait for two families to travel after we received our travel approval. This set us back a month. Families who travel in a group have the luxury of sharing the expenses of the guide. Those who travel alone, such as in our case, have to foot the entire bill. Rather then having a guide lined up in the provinces where adoptions take place, they have one guide who is flown to which ever province the child is referred from. This means the expense of hotel, food and flights comes out of the family's pocket. The man met us in the lobby when we arrived. I prearranged for a single room for him and a deluxe room for my family. I figured a single man on his own didn't need much. He checked in ahead of us and took our room. He also brought his girlfriend with him and we saw very little of him except to do the required tasks. He would vanish on days when we had down time and would have liked to do some sight seeing. I was forced to go out on my own with my children and locate restaurants and shopping. We were refused taxi service and were refused service in a restaurant. Had we had our guide with us I doubt this would have happened. Our guide had very little knowledge of the paperwork and ended up having to go back and forth to the USCIS office. I was charged for each trip he made. We paid through the nose, to wait for a very poor guide who the agency insisted we had to use.
As for the staff, they were okay, nothing to brag about. Thankfully these were not our first adoptions and I am not someone who requires a lot of hand holding. The Thai program director was actually much better then the China program director. She at least seem to be excited for us when we got our referral.
To the agency's credit, they are an established agency who maintain a good working relationship with the countries they represent. They do try to keep their fees affordable. In the end we did come out with two very precious children.
I think that the difference you may be seeing in reviews for AAI depend on which country the family adopted from. Ethiopia is AAI's main focus. They have their own orphanages there and of course are far better staffed in Ethiopia.
We used Hand in Hand for our first adoption from China and had a completely different experience. They did everything for us and we had a guide every step of the way who was very knowledgeable. The difference between the two agencies was night and day.
Not what their cracked up to be
AAI has a reputation for excellent work. I think this praise is much exaggerated. I found the agency to be slow, sloppy and rather nasty. I do appreciate that the agency advocates for older children. However, if they are going to compete in this ever increasing market, they have to step up the professionalism.
I would only recommend them under certain circumstances.
great
We have loved working with AAI. We have used them for two adoptions and it has been a very pleasant experience both times.
Very satisfied
We were very happy with our recent experience; adopting two older girls, from Ethiopia, in November 2007. We would definitely use AAI for our next adoption.
Long, wonderful history with AAI
We completed our first adoption of a baby girl from India over 20 years ago using AAI. We have since worked with them for the adoption of a daughter from Taiwan, 3 sons from Ethiopia and 2 daughters also from Ethiopia. AAI is the best! Always honest, hardworking and willing to help when problems occur, we couldn't ask for a better agency. I've visited their child care center in Ethiopia 6 times over the last 9 years and each time return home even more impressed with the fantastic, loving care given to the children. I couldn't recommend them more.
I can't imagine using anyone else
Just comparing the literature from different agencies, we knew AAI was the right choice. Even through some complications in our adoption journey, everyone from this agency was very kind, hard working and with the children's interest at the forefront.
Although we live a distant state from Adoption Advocates International, I would use them for another adoption in a heartbeat. I have recently come in contact with parents who used an newer agency much closer to home and I have been surprised at how little they seem prepared for the trip to Ethiopia, the problems they are having with the process, and how little support they have once their children are home.
The children at Layla and Wana house (the facility in Addis Ababa) are very clearly loved and nutured while waiting to find a family. My daughter was in preschool while at Layla. In preparing her for meeting her new family, we were able to send a special shirt and small photo album so she could start making connections with us and her new life.
This type of care of the children at Layla House as well as outreach programs to children who will not be able to be adopted shows the truly compassionate nature of this agency.
Absolutely Amazingly Incredible agency
I agree with all the positive comments posted here about AAI. We finally chose them after doing intense research of dozens of agencies in four countries for over two years!
Unfortunately too many agencies are unethical and just in it for the fee$ but AAI really cares about the children and families.
We just got our home study done and it was a wonderful experience. The SW, who is friendly, helpful and a fountain of great info, always replied to my many email questions with impressive speed. We are so happy we chose AAI.
It stands for Amazingly Absolutely Incredible!
We used Adoption Advocates three times!
Over the course of adopting 6 children from two different countries we have used 4 different agencies. (We also had one failed adoption in the US). None of the other agencies we worked with were bad (WACAP, CHSFS, and a local agency). Adoption Advocates International is by far the best, most responsive agency agency we have ever worked with. Their rates are some of the most reasonable around. They do great humanitarian work in Ethiopia for the children who remain, as well as for the ones who will be adopted. They are one of the most experienced and respected agencies doing Ethiopian adoptions these days, and were able to complete all three of our Ethiopian adoptions in less than a year. I especially love that it is easy to get my questions quickly answered by email.
Mary, mom to 10
http://owlhaven.wordpress.com
AAI Cares About the Kids
We used AAI to adopt our baby daughter in 2004. They were extremely helpful throughout the entire process. We chose them because they seemed so much more concerned with the welfare of all the children in Ethiopia, not just the easily adopted. And, we have witnessed that emphasis over and over again throughout the past several years.
Great Agency
We are in process for our second adoption with AAI. They are ethical, kind and very professional--every step of the way. They run top notch child care centers in Ethiopia and Ghana, and work with orphanages in other countries. Every contact I made with them, was returned with a prompt and friendly response. We got pictures of our children before they arrived and updates on their progress. Occationally, their are glitches or delays in the adoption process, but it is rarely their fault. It mostly has to do with changable government procedures in the countries in which they operate and affects all agencies the same. If or when legitimate mistakes occur, they acknowledge it and do everything possible to ensure that it won't happen again. Merrily makes many trips to Ethiopia every year. She continually updates families on her experiences, the changes in adoption procedures, and the events of the orphanage. You feel like you are living the journey through her. Anita, travels to Ghana and is frequent communication with staff there--and freely passes along stories and any important information. Families who travel, enjoy getting to know the staff and interacting with children at the orphanage. Escorting is also an option, if you can't travel.
Sloppy
We received misinformation by phone and mail throughout the process. The staff was not patient or pleasant when we called to ask legitimate questions. The process was unreasonably slow after we signed the placement. Paperwork was "lost" and the agency's review of our child's file for court was not thorough causing delays. Follow-up once we traveled and returned home was non-existent and outdated post-placement instructions were mailed to us. Our description of AAI would be "sloppy" - child's file was not in order and lack of review caused many issues with ET court and USCIS. We've used two other adoption agencies and were very disappointed with the disorganization and delays with AAI.
happy
We adopted our now-8YO daughter through AAI in 2005, and they are now helping us with a second adoption. We really appreciate AAI's responsiveness, and the fact that their priority is finding good families for children. If you are contemplating the adoption of an older child, you will find excellent support from AAI and their community of adoptive families.
Help every step of the way
I brought my son home from Ethiopia in June 2007 when he was 19 months old. AAI was great to work with. They took an enormously complicated process and laid it out step by step from start to finish. They were exceptionally helpful both via email and over the phone. They provide a wide variety of resources before, during, and after the adoption. They are also "at home" dealing with all types of families.
Because they run the orphanage in Addis Ababa, I was aware from the day I got my referral of my son's progress and care. He came home very healthy emotionally - he had been well cared for and loved during his stay at the orphanage. For children waiting for families, there can hardly be a better place.
I am considering another adoption and wouldn't think of using any other agency.
You can meet my son here: http://www.minneapolistkd.org/henry.htm
a great agency with a great staff
I have adopted internationally only once (two boys from Ethiopia in December 2007), but my experience with AAI was fabulous. Their staff members, both domestically and in country, are knowledgeable, experienced, helpful, and realistic, and I feel as though I knew what to expect at every stage of the process. Families who have adopted or are adopting through this agency also have a listserv group through Yahoo!Groups which includes extensive FAQ files on a variety of subjects, and the group is an important source of support and exchanging information. I am particularly pleased that AAI tries to facilitate the adoption of older children and HIV positive children. In addition, the agency does not discourage contact with birth relatives, and our visit to my sons' birth family was a vital and unforgettable part of my trip to Addis. I recommend AAI without reservation and would adopt through AAI again without hesitation.
fantastic...
We had a great experience using AAI for our Ethiopian adoption. They really have a heart for the older kids, sibling groups and special needs. They keep their prices reasonable and really live by their motto of "finding families for children" and not the other way around. We are definitely using them again!
Problems with worker but finally got our daughter home
We had a problem with our caseworker telling us we were approved in country and it turned out we weren't. It took another 6 weeks for us to get approval, but we finally got our wonderful daughter home!
Very easy to work with
Adoption Advocates has done several of our homestudies. Their social workers are by far the best! Very fast, reasonably priced, very open to different types of families, knowlegeable, experienced, happy to make last minute changes and just overall wonderful people.