Ethiopia is known as the country of children because 55% of the population is aged under 15 years. There are over 40 million children of which 4 million are orphans making the place a hotspot when it comes to adoption. In Greece 36 families have adopted children from Ethiopia over the last three years and another 12 are waiting to get the go ahead with interest constantly growing.

International Social Services representative Chrysoula Kontoyianni says that families desperate for children, wanting to pour their love but also uninterested in the constraints of racism are opening their homes to children from Ethiopia. Usually, they find that public adoptions in Greece are sluggish, usually require three to five years in order to be processed compared to just one to one and a half years for adoption from Ethiopia.

International Social Services that are run by three volunteers and one official process the paperwork in six months. All up, the process does not exceed 15,000 euros.

Each year 800 children are adopted in Greece with just 60 of these adoptions being handled by public services.