My Fraudulent Adoption By World Vision Employees

Me with (?), sometime in 1986. Location unknown.

After many years of remaining quiet, I’ve decided to speak openly about what I know about my adoption. I haven’t shared these details before, mainly because I've felt very disempowered and overwhelmed by the sheer lack of information. I'm also careful about assigning blame to individuals without having enough proof. But I do want to get to the bottom of this story and so far, my attempts at understanding the circumstances around my birth have been unsuccessful.

I want to know what happened, who was involved and why.

I’ve tried to look for answers, but I haven’t been able to locate certain individuals. I also believe that certain individuals are withholding information.

The withholding of information about my background started back when my parents wanted to adopt a child from Ethiopia. They were told I was an orphan, available for adoption, but was I?

My Adoption

My adoption was a private adoption, mainly organized by two former World Vision employees in 1986, but there were other individuals helping them with the process. Kathleen (Kathy) Walker was a humanitarian worker and her Ethiopian counterpart, Ethiopia Tadesse, was a social worker who worked with orphans at a feeding camp in Ibnat, just outside of the city of Gondar.  

My parents were looking to adopt an orphan and were put in touch with Kathy through a mutual friend.

Before my first trip back to Ethiopia in 2009, I contacted Kathy to get more information about my background and to get more details about how my adoption was organized.

Kathy explained that Ethiopia knew about me from when she was working in Ibnat. Apparently, Ethiopia had heard about me from the staff there. As the story goes, my mother allegedly died shortly after giving birth in December 1985 and I was the only baby among older children at a makeshift orphanage at the feeding camp (now defunct).

I’m not sure if this is account is true, why, how or when it happened (I could have been born somewhere else) or how long I stayed in Ibnat. What I do know is that I was eventually transferred to Gondar state orphanage. 

Once Kathy and my parents had completed the preliminary adoption paperwork, Kathy went to the orphanage to get me. From my understanding, the staff initially refused. Again, I’m not sure why, but what I do know is that Kathy was able to obtain a document certifying my orphanhood.  Below is the English version.

English version, April 29th, 1986 (Western calendar)

Interestingly, this document was only produced for the sole purpose of my adoption - I know this because of the birth date (January 1, 1986), which is my fictional birth date.

What is not mentioned though, is that I did have a father.

When I reconnected with Kathy in 2009 for the first time, she shared that my father was alive at the time of my birth. I had not known this important fact, neither did my (adoptive) parents.

When I pressed Kathy for more information a few years later, she responded in an email saying, “Ethiopia and the staff at Ibnat had ascertained that he left and did not have plans to return”.

But there is no proof of this ascertainment. I don’t have any proof (written or spoken) that my father or another family member consented to adoption. It appears that certain individuals (Ethiopia and Ibnat staff) made a choice based on an assumption and Kathy accepted it, without any questions.

Paper Orphans

What’s important to know is that studies have shown that infants are rarely left without a family member, guardian and are rarely “full” orphans.

After years of speaking to many adoptees from Ethiopia, I’ve learned that most of us are paper orphans. In fact, our parents are always dead on paper.

Orphanages are oftentimes used as temporary holding spaces for families in crisis in Ethiopia. Mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles or grandparents will leave their child (or relative) in an orphanage for a period of time until they can look after them. 

In the meantime, orphanages (working in tandem with adoption agencies and individuals), will often have the children adopted, without the family’s knowledge or their consent. (Note: consent is tricky because oftentimes they do not understand the Western concept of adoption i.e. severing ties to their children).

The parent or family member only discovers this when they return to the orphanage to get their child and they aren’t there.  

This has happened time and time again. (Perhaps in another blog, I’ll write about parents and family members looking for their children and what has happened to some of them).

The adoptions go through because documents have been falsified; names are changed, parents are deceased, the child is said to be abandoned or “found”.

Besides profiting from adoption (orphanages, adoption agencies, middle people, civil servant, etc.) there is a prevailing belief that adoption is a better option for the child. The child will get a good education and have a chance at a better life abroad. But the focus on material aspirations (education, status, etc.) shifts the focus away from many key issues, namely how adoption has undermined local kinship systems.

Erasure of First Families

I have never been interested in (what I consider) to be superficial discussions about adoption being “good or bad” and if adoptees have “positive or negative” experiences. These types of discussion ignore the political nature of adoption and the inherent inequalities that exist that make adoption possible.

It’s also worth noting that adoption is a thriving industry and mainstream discourse around adoption is tightly controlled by those with immense power (or access to power), and privilege - adoptive parents, who are usually white and affluent. 

Those who are purposely left out of the conversations are our (first) families, usually not white, with little to no access to resources or support at the time of our adoption.

As Amandine Gay writes in her memoir, Une poupée en chocolat, adoption thrives off of erasing our families, especially our mothers. Rendering our families invisible is what makes adoption possible and even attractive for prospective adoptive parents and adoptive parents alike.

It is precisely this erasure that prevents our parents and family members from having any visibility. They face many barriers to having their voices heard - language, geographic location, race/ethnicity and class.

There are also feelings of shame, grief and uncertainty about revealing they have another child that their family members don’t know about.

But in my experience, Ethiopian parents and family members want to be heard. I’ve gotten (and continue) to get DMs from families, urgently looking for their adopted children (now teenagers or adults). They send me photos of their children and tell me where they think they are located, usually in the U.S. or in France.

When I was in Amhara and Wello, I met a father and a sibling asking me if I knew what happened to their daughter and brothers who were at the feeding camp in Ibnat. They told me, “ferenjis took them, ferenjis were taking children.” 

And I believe them, because that is what happened to me. 

Searching for Truth

I’ve spoken to former World Vision employees who told me that there were many elicit adoptions happening in the 1980s by foreign “relief” workers. They wouldn’t give me any details, perhaps for fear of reprisal. 

In terms of my adoption, it was a legal, however I was told that any documents in Ibnat were destroyed in the war. I am not even sure if Berhanu is my real last name. At one point, my Canadian mother said it might have been my Ethiopian mother’s last name, but Kathy said it might have been my father’s name, as is usually the case. 

So, what is true? What is fictional? 

I have no idea what my father’s intentions were - whether he left for good or if he planned to come back for me.

But what I feel is most important, is knowing what happened to my family, who they were and where they were from. It is my right to know, but my right to this information was taken away from me. I’m unsure if I’ll recover this information or gain access to it, but I am willing to try.

To be clear, I don’t care about whether those involved in my adoption had good intentions or not. Much harm is done by people with “good intentions”. I’m not sure what motivated them but it was not money. Ethiopian adoption was inexpensive in the1980s, especially when assisted by a personal connection.

I would like those involved in my case to provide concrete assistance in helping me find some answers — whether that is by contacting people who may have information, making financial contribution towards searches, DNA tests, flights and/or accomodations for my stay in Ethiopia.

Obstacles to Accessing Information

Every time, I think that I’m making a cinch of progress, there’s a roadblock: my search fails, I reunite with my foster mom in Addis but she claims she has no information about my family or something else. At one point, Aster casually mentioned that my “grandmother had something to do with my adoption”, but she quickly retracted her statement saying she “couldn’t remember and was mixing things up”. 

So, where does this leave me? I have no documentation, a name that might not even belong to my family, and I’ve been unable to locate anybody who might have some insights or provide information.

I am sharing this story in hopes that someone in the diaspora or in Ethiopia, reads this and recognizes certain names or is familiar with elements of my story - even if it’s just the orphanage in Gondar or the now defunct feeding centre in Ibnat.

Sometimes it’s the seemingly insignificant pieces of information that lead to important clues.

Ownership Over One’s Story

Lastly, I don’t believe my story is unique - many adoptees and parents are searching for each other, but we face many barriers. We also don’t want to fall prey to opportunistic individuals and journalists looking to cash in on our stories and on our searches. I have refused help once for that very reason.

No one will have ownership over my story or tell my story, except for me. This is both a warning and declaration.

If you are willing to help me in good faith, please send me a message. If you are looking for a family member (adoptee or parent), please follow Beteseb Felega’s listings.

Do You Know These People?

If you know any of the individuals below, I would be more than happy if you could guide me to as to where they are and how I can reach them.

-Ethiopia Tadesse: social worker at World Vision, traveled between Addis and nothern Ethiopia to work with orphans. She was working in Ibnat in 1985-1986 but I have no other information.

Ethiopia signed my Contract of Adoption (in the absence of my adoptive parents). These 3 individuals acted as witnesses: 

-Seble Mekonnen (or Mekonen)

-Seyoum Habte

-Amsale Fekre

-Amselu Yosef: worked in the Communications Department at World Vision in the 1980s. She had two children who studied abroad in NYU and Oxford. She was involved in processing at least one other adoption that I’m aware of. Amselu would be very familiar with my adoption. 

-Rahel Abreham (or Abraham): social worker, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

-Seble Mekonnen (or Mekonen): Chairperson of the Adoption Committee

Other names mentioned*:

-Fitaurari Yohannes Kidane

*My documents are in Amharic so there are most likely other names that I don’t know about since I’m illiterate in Amharic.

My Adoption Contract, Addis Ababa, November 1986

Thank you for caring about this issue and please share it with your friends, family or anyone who has connections to Ethiopia.

Family tracing and reunification can only happen if we continue to talk about it and share information.

Thank you.

Kassaye