Family circle

Boulder couple's fourth adoption from Ethiopia will reunite sisters

Lisa Marshall, Special to the Rocky

Published April 16, 2007 at midnight

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The goodbye was so painful to witness that Rick Romeo still tears up when he thinks about it.

Standing in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2005, he watched as Tadu, the teenage girl he'd adopted and was bringing home, offered a baby doll and a parting embrace to a dark-eyed, round-faced little girl. Just days earlier Romeo had learned that Tadu had a little sister named Yenu.

As he left the impoverished, disease-ravaged nation to deliver Tadu to a new life in Boulder, his joy was overshadowed by guilt. "It was a heart-wrenching situation," says Romeo, a Boulder lawyer, recalling the last words Yenu uttered before her older sister walked out the door: "When are you coming back to take me to America?"

Soon, she'll get her answer.

Last fall, Rick and his wife, Karen, began the long, complex process of bringing 10-year-old Yenu to Boulder, where she will complete a family of eight, including their two biological children in their 20s and three other school-age children adopted from Ethiopia.

In the seven years since the Romeos welcomed their first Ethiopian child, Asha, into an elegant home in the shadow of the Flatirons, adoption from Africa has gone from being virtually unheard of to being the stuff of talk shows and blogs, thanks to celebrities such as Madonna and Angelina Jolie.

High-profile adoptions from the world's poorest continent also have shed light on the plight of the estimated 18 million African children who have been orphaned by AIDS, and appear to have influenced more adoptive parents-to-be to look to what has long been considered "the forgotten continent."

According to the U.S. State Department, 732 Ethiopian orphans were issued immigrant visas to come to the United States in 2006, up from just 82 a decade ago, making it the fifth-most popular country from which to adopt. Local agencies predict the number will continue to rise.

"Ethiopian adoption is probably one of the most popular adoptions at the moment," says Linda Donovan, international program director for Adoption Alliance of Denver, which has nine families waiting to bring children home from Ethiopia. "Suddenly, it has just taken off."

Rick Romeo, 55, and his wife Karen, 51, already had two teenagers and were beginning to build a nest egg for retirement when, in 1998, they decided to adopt.

"We are absurdly fortunate," says Karen, an accomplished violinist and former director of the Boulder Arts Academy. "If we can give back, we have to give back."

In June 2000, 18-month-old Asha joined the family, followed in October 2003 by 3-year-old Dante, who arrived with a jagged scar on his leg and teeth so decayed they would have to be extracted. In August 2005 came Tadu, a painfully shy teenager whose shaved head and downcast eyes hinted at a life with too much hardship for her 14 years.

This spring, the Romeos completed their paperwork for adopting Yenu, who, like roughly 2 million other children in sub-Saharan Africa, is infected with the HIV virus. They're awaiting approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which must clear the international adoption of an HIV-positive child. They estimate that the adoption will cost them $20,000, and Yenu's medication will run about $5,000 annually.

"We don't know how much her immune system has been compromised, but we do know that her prospects here are much better than any she may face over there," says Karen.

On a recent afternoon at the Romeo house, the three youngest children carried on like typical siblings, bickering and joking as they made cookies in the kitchen and ran around in a backyard littered with bikes and toys.

But for Tadu, a quiet, serious girl who listens only to Ethiopian music and keeps a picture of her little sister by her bed, the longing for something missing is palpable.

When her parents recently informed her that they were going to take her to Ethiopia to get her sister, she quietly wept in disbelief.

"My hope is that Tadu will now feel like the loop has been closed," says Rick. "This has been a huge hole in her heart."

On the rise

According to the U.S. State Department, 20,679 visas were issued for foreign adoption in 2006, up from 10,641 in 1996. Here's a look at the top 10 countries of origin:

1. China: 6,439

2. Guatemala 4,135

3. Russia 3,706

4. South Korea 1,376

5. Ethiopia 732

6. Kazakhstan 587

7. Ukraine 460

8. Liberia 353

9. Colombia 344

10. India 320

Celebrity adoptions

Celebrity adoptions have shown a spotlight on international adoption.

Here's a look at a few:

Angelina Jolie: Adopted her 3-year-old daughter Zahara from Ethiopia and her 6-year-old son Maddox from Cambodia. In March, Jolie adopted a 3-year-old boy, Pax Thien, from Vietnam. She and Brad Pitt also have a biological daughter, Shiloh, together.

Madonna: In October, the pop star brought a 13-month-old boy from Malawi to her London home to live, setting off a firestorm of criticism from those who accused her of circumventing the country's strict adoption requirements.

Mia Farrow: Has adopted 10 children from developing countries since the 1970s.

Meg Ryan: Recently adopted a daughter, Daisy, from China.

Ewan McGregor: Adopted a child from Mongolia last year.

Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards: Adopted two orphaned Vietnamese girls in 1974.

If you go

The Romeo family will host an open house and fundraiser andanswer questions about Ethiopian adoption from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Gallery Space at the Boulder Downtown Public Library at Ninth and Canyon streets. Music and refreshments will be provided. For details, go to bringyenuhome.com.

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