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.
Printer-friendly version
Reviews
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.