US Embassy Email: Subject: RE: investigation in Ethiopia

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Whitt, Lester E Date: Fri, May 14, 2010 at 12:07 AM Subject: RE: investigation in Ethiopia To: Charissa Urban Dear Charissa, Thank you for your e-mail inquiry, and we would like you to know that we share your concerns about adoption issues in Ethiopia. We have had the chance to review the videos that were presented on the YouTube page. These are the same videos submitted by Sue Hedberg at Celebrate Children International. We have had a chance to review these videos and to review the documentation submitted by the local government entities that accompanied these relinquishments. Two US Embassy Fraud Prevention Assistants watched these videos with the consular officer. We were not able to find any irregularities in either video. Although someone unfamiliar with the adoption process may see these videos as unusual, in fact many adoption agencies in Ethiopia interview the birth parents – on video – as a way to verify the parent’s understanding of the adoption process as well as create a record for the adoptive child to view someday. Perhaps CCI could have used a more professional videographer and a prepared script to prepare the prospective adoptive parents for the shock that this process may cause, thus preventing the level of discomfort that you are feeling. However, we saw no misconduct or irregularities in these videos. The parents who relinquished these children had done so even before the children had been referred to your family. Since then, it appears that your family has sent several friends, as well as media representatives, with the apparent goal of discovering if the families had been coerced into relinquishing these children. From what we understand, the parents have told these people the same story that you can see on the video, that they did indeed mean to relinquish their children. They have told the same story to four different sets of people and each time the story remains the same, that the families legally relinquished their children and the children were placed in an orphanage and referred to the Urban family. The relinquishments are legal, according to the laws of the country of Ethiopia. If you have any additional information that you would like to be reviewed, please feel free to send it. However, please be aware that since visa's are not pending on the children in question, and our preliminary inquiry did not show any criminal fraud/intent, this case will have a lower priority than others. Sincerely, Lester Whitt Special Agent Lester Whitt American Embassy Addis Ababa Assistant Regional Security Officer - Investigator Mobile: 0911-51-17-53 WhittLE@State.Gov

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