A local couple’s dream of adopting a baby from Ethiopia has finally come true after months of struggle, including their adoption agency filing for bankruptcy after the adoption funds were embezzelled last July.
Melvin and Maxine Frosst officially adopted a four-month-old boy last month, but it will likely be several more months before they can bring him home.
“We were matched with a baby and the adoption was legally completed on Feb. 23, but now we’re waiting for a visa,” Melvin explained.
It might take as long as five months to complete the visa process so Melvin and Maxine can travel to Ethiopia and bring their son home. Canada is the only country to have such long waiting period to get a visa from Ethiopia, Melvin says.
“If we were in England, it would take two days – it takes 14 days if you’re in the U.S.,” Melvin said. “In Canada, the office in Nairobi is understaffed and there’s a problem getting visas to Africa.”
The couple is working with Central Nova MP Peter MacKay’s office in an attempt to speed up the process to bring their son home, but they have no idea how long it will take.
“We’re really thankful to Linda at Peter MacKay’s office; she’s really trying to get him his visa and get him home quicker,” Melvin said.
The couple has named the baby Gillis, which means little lamb. Melvin called the match fate after they received their first photo of him.
“In the referral picture, there was a blanket behind him with a lamb on it,” he said. “I think it was a sign from God. It put goosebumps right through us.”
The baby has been removed from his orphanage and is now in transitional care provided by the adoption agency the Frossts have been working with, which means they’ve been able to send him a care package filled with items like sleepers, blankets and pictures of their family. Workers show Gillis the photos daily to ease the transition.
The Frossts plan to spend two weeks in the country to further ease the transition before they bring him home. They also plan to visit the area where Gillis was born and take photos to show him when he’s older.
Gillis will be the couple’s fourth child. This is the second time the couple has adopted internationally. Their five-year-old daughter, Gabriella, was adopted from China as a baby as well, but that adoption went much smoother for the Frossts.
“With this adoption, with the bankruptcy of the adoption agency, we saw the worst of man,” Melvin said. “But we’ve also seen so many good things, like the lawyer who worked for free and went to Ethiopia three times after the agency went bankrupt, the support we got from the community and our church, it was just overwhelming. The support was there for us all along. He’s not just our child, he’s the child of all of Pictou County and the whole community.”
