Adoption worth the wait

Saturday » January 3 » 2009
 
Adoption worth the wait
It took 18 months and thousands of dollars, but new parents say little baby James is a dream come true

Surrey Now

Friday, January 02, 2009

CREDIT: Sharon Doucette photo
John and Beth Birgeneau with their new son, James, who was adopted from Ethiopia in August.

He's their little dream come true.
James Richard Henock Birgeneau is one year old and beginning a new life in America, half way around the world from Ethiopia where he was born.
James' new parents, John and Beth Birgeneau, adopted him from an orphanage in Addis Ababa and in August brought him home to Ferndale, Washington.
The Birgeneaus, he a Canadian and she an American, married four years ago. John, who sells advertising at the Now, has two daughters from a previous marriage, but the couple wanted a child of their own. It was not to be, however, and after trying for three years, their minds turned to adoption.
"We talked to a doctor about in vitro (fertilization) and all that, but it didn't take us long to decide on adoption," Beth said.
They ultimately hooked up with the Gladney Centre for Adoption, an international non-profit agency based in Fort Worth, Texas and soon began the search for an Ethiopian baby they could adopt.
Beth said they chose Ethiopia, an impoverished country in the Horn of Africa, because it generally takes less time to get a baby and costs less than in other countries. John said there was another reason for choosing to adopt an Ethiopian child.
"We were definitely going to be able to give him a better life. If children there aren't adopted by two years of age, their chances for a good life are very slim."
Ethiopia is a country with roughly the same area as British Columbia and nearly 20 times the population. Its people are ravaged by poverty and an HIV/AIDS epidemic. The country's per capita GDP is $700 per year, compared to $38,600 here in Canada. While Canadians enjoy a life expectancy of about 81 years, the average life span in Ethiopia is just 55 years.
Life is hard and while family is paramount there, conditions in Ethiopia sometimes mean parents can't look after their children.
Gladney runs an orphanage in Addis Abba, Ethiopia's capital, and one day they contacted the Birgeneaus to tell them about the boy they came to call James.
"He was found under a bridge," Beth said.
"They estimated he was 15 days old and he was malnourished."
Chances are, John added, his parents were too poor, or perhaps too ill, to care for him. James was first taken to a government orphanage where he lived for three months, then transferred to the Gladney home in Addis Ababa.
The adoption process is exhaustive and involves a lot of paperwork, the services of lawyers and plenty of checking to make sure the prospective adoptive parents are right for the child.
It took 18 months and $15,000 to finalize the adoption, but in August 2008 it was done. All that remained now was to hop a plane to Addis Ababa, collect James and bring him home.
It's difficult to imagine two more disparate places than North America and the Horn of Africa, but the Birgeneaus went with an open mind even though they weren't sure what to expect.
"I didn't feel out of place there at all. The people are so nice and inviting," John said.
During the few days they were in Addis Ababa, the couple took in some of the sights and visited several orphanages. The government-run homes, John said, are clean but Spartan. There's no money for frills and it shows.
"The older boys get two sets of clothes a year and that's it. If they're not in school when they reach 18, they have to leave the orphanage. The government gives them 500 birr ($50 Can) and it's bye-bye. It's hard and very few succeed."
James can look forward to something better now. He's adjusted well to his new home and he's healthy and happy, just like his new parents.
"Having him is a dream come true, so the adjustment for us was easy," mom said with a smile.
© Surrey Now 2009

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