Ethiopia or Liberia??

I am going with Liberia!!

I personally love Liberia, that's where my heart is. We have five daughters from there, hopefully soon to be six. The children have definite differences in appearance, it's all on where your heart leads you! Peace, Danielle in MI

We chose Ethiopia for a number of reaons, not the least of which is the stability and predictability of the program. Ethiopia's program is very predictable, and fast, and there really aren't any issues along the way (other than with one agency, which has many problems, on a regular basis...but that's the agency not the country or process). When we adopted, the boys in Ethiopia were waiting for homes for a long time (even infants). Many of them were never finding homes. That is no longer the case--the Ethiopia program has become very popular and all the babies are now finding homes very quickly. I am not sure if that is true for Liberia--perhaps someone who has adopted from Liberia can chime in on that? I really like the predictability of the Ethiopia program, but my understanding is that Liberia has a great and largely unmet need for adoptive families, so if you can stand a little more uncertainty, it seems like a way to help a child who might otherwise not ever have a permanent home/family. Good luck w/your decision! Teranga Mom to 2 bio children and 1 son adopted from Ethiopia in 2004

I agree, Liberia has a huge unmet need for adoptive families, that is why we choose them. Also the children are so gorgeous and I believe they could offer a lot to our family!

We are going Liberia..thats where our heart is leading us.. Denise Mom to 3 bio,2 adopted from India,and hope in fall to start process for our leberian Princess.

I agree, I've already fallen in love with a sibling group of three there and I haven't even seen them yet, lol! My heart deffinately lead us there!

I obviously chose Liberia but think it is definitely your own decision where your heart lies. I don't think it takes much longer to adopt out of Liberia than Ethiopia. I've heard of adoptions happening as quickly as a month from time of referral to date of pick-up and as long as a year. Depends on a lot of factors. I had long waits for both of mine. Deborah's was 10.5 months, would have been quicker but the US consular refused to give any visas for 8 months, Deborah barely made it out before the civil war escalated back in the summer of 2003. Anna's was 10.5 months also but for different reasons. She was a true abandonment which made her adoption difficult. It would have been so much easier if her birth mother had signed relinquishment papers instead of dropping her off at the clinic and disappearing. I have never heard of this happening to anyone else in Liberia but it held up the paperwork. There was a police investigation as they searched for the birth mother, there was a meeting with the tribal chief to see if anyone would step forward to care for 'this' child. Both of my girls are from inland, close to the Guinea border so communication was difficult. They just got cell towers out there 1.5 years ago. Most adoptions out of Liberia are taking about 3-4 months from referral to pick-up according to the posts in the adoptingfromliberia group. There are always exceptions though.