World AIDS Day

The AIDS pandemic was one of the reasons I became committed to Ethiopian adoption in the first place. The statistics are nearly inconceivable. According to the U.S. Department of State website, 1.5 million people have been infected with HIV in Ethiopia, with more than 720,000 children orphaned as a result. Their website projects that 1.8 million+ will succumb to the disease by 2009, accounting for about one-third of all young adult deaths in the country.

World AIDS Day, is the day when individuals and organizations from around the world come together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. December 1, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.




I admit, I haven't done much towards this goal, save a few AIDS walks over the years, but adoption is one way to help-- however small.

Today brought back to mind how important completing an Ethiopian adoption is to me. These past two weeks I have been actively researching other agencies, but I have also been taking time to reflect on why this impasse came to be and what it may mean in terms of bringing a child into my life through international adoption. My ticker shows that I started this process 18 months ago, yet I am not much further along in the process. I have been asking myself, should I continue down this capricious, precarious path? Is it worth it to risk thousands of dollars when MOWA may ultimately decide that single women aren't fit to parent?

I knew international adoption was a long and arduous process so perhaps this isn't all that different from what others have experienced, but was in no way prepared for the challenges it has brought to me. So for now, I remain still to reflect and pray and by the end of the week I expect I will know which way to go. In the meantime I remind myself of the incredible experience I had this spring and the lovely children I met that while living in Addis Ababa.