The Government says it has had issues with the program for several years, including too few children being successfully adopted.
But the president of the Australian African Children's Aid Support Association, Mark Pearce, says the Government has given up too easily.
"People are just devastated and in shock about the decision that's been made... it doesn't fit nicely in the way that Australia might want something to be done and I think they've decided it's all too difficult for them," he said.
Mr Pearce says up to 100 families in the program, including his own, have been left devastated by the decision.
He says he and his wife had been trying for six years to adopt a second Ethiopian child.
"We're still processing it in our minds and our hearts at the moment and we're still quite shocked and upset by it all," he said.
The adoption group says it will lobby the Federal Government to have the program reinstated.
Talking about adoption, birthparents, abandonment, race, and China with my kids. That's not all we talk about -- but reading this blog, you'll think it's all we do!!!!!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Australia to Stop Adoptions From Ethiopia
Reporting by ABC (Australia) News:
The Ethiopian program was one of the only available to single women in Australia, although that component shut down a while back and the whole program has been suspended for the last 12 months. A real blow for the adoption community, in a country with a very anti-adoption culture already.
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