Ethiopia Opening Doors

Ethiopia opening doors to adoptions by U.S. residents
Born in a hut in Ethiopia, placed in an orphanage by a single mother who couldn't afford to keep her, and adopted by the Evanston, Ill., couple before her first birthday, Safia is part of the first major wave of African adoptions in the United States.

Ethiopia became the first African nation to hit the State Department's list of the top 10 foreign countries from which Americans adopt in 2004 -- the year before Angelina Jolie brought home her Ethiopian-born daughter, Zahara.

This year, the numbers are on pace to increase again, by about 20%, to 530 adoptions, according to State Department data.

Here's a table from the article showing the top countries from which Americans adopted in 2005:

China: 7,906
Russia: 4,639
Guatemala: 3,783
South Korea: 1,630
Ukraine: 821
Kazakhstan: 755
Ethiopia: 441
India: 323
Colombia: 291
Philippines: 271