Bring Mabel Home

If you are reading this, you want to know more about the Yeates adoption story.  From experience, we guarantee that every adoption has a story and we, as their family, want to share this experience with you. This story ended up being longer than intended, but the details are what make this story extraordinary.  Without a doubt, this has been the greatest roller coaster ride of their lives! There have been many days of extreme joy, and many days of unbearable heartbreak and sadness.   

Erin and Drew have a six year old daughter, Olive. She is full of energy and has the biggest heart and a lot of love to give. She has always wanted a sibling. Erin and Drew always wanted another child, but for some reason it was not to be. They had a strong impression that their family was not complete, so they started considering adoption. 

Their adoption journey began early in 2010 when they finalized their decision to adopt. By March of 2010, they had the documentation ready and submitted their request to Children’s House International to adopt a child from Ethiopia. They were prepared for the long, arduous process this would entail. They knew it wasn’t going to be quick and they knew it was going to be expensive. But, they were also willing to make the sacrifices necessary to bring a beautiful child into their home.

They patiently waited and in June of 2011, Drew and Erin received a referral for an amazing baby girl, a 9 month old named Aster. After looking over her file, they fell in love with her and accepted the referral. They could not have been more excited to receive her into their family. Drew and Erin traveled to Ethiopia in October 2011 to appear in court before a judge and sign the required documents. They met their daughter and spent many hours playing with her and getting to know her. They loved her from the beginning.  However, in Ethiopian adoptions, the adoptive parents are required to make two trips to seal the adoption, once to go through the legal process. Once they clear court and obtain a Visa for the child, then they make,  yet another trip to bring the child home. After their first trip, Erin and Drew came home to get ready for the blessed day when Aster would come home forever.

However, months passed and there was still not an adoption decree. Something had gone terribly wrong. We learned on February 1, 2012 that five children who had been living in a transition home for months, now had been sent back to the orphanage from where they came in Awassa, Ethiopia, including our little Aster.  We learned that all the children had been given back to their birth mothers and were told that the adoptions were not going to take place and that they were to care for their own children. Can you imagine their fear? All of these mothers were in no position to take care of themselves, let alone a small child. Most of these mothers had no food, clothing, medicine, or diapers. They all had appeared before a judge and legally relinquished their parental rights and now were experiencing their own heartache of wondering how they were going to care for these beautiful children. Then there was the heartache of having to give them away a second time.

The difficulties of living clear across the globe became painfully apparent. The first thought was to get on a plane and go to Ethiopia to find these children and resolve the problem. But there aren’t many people who have the financial resources to purchase an expensive plane ticket to Ethiopia! It did not seem to be the prudent decision. But what were they to do?

 Along this journey, Drew and Erin have made some wonderful and lasting friendships. Jerry and Lisa Altman of Arizona are some of those people. Their little boy, Eli, was one of the five missing children. Jerry immediately kicked into action and referred Erin and Drew to an Ethiopian woman in Washington, D. C., who is an advocate and helps adoptive parents with their Ethiopian adoptions.  Her name is Duni Zenaye of EthioStork.  After hearing their story, Duni agreed to take their cases. She was able to contact her social workers in Ethiopia and within hours they were traveling from the capital city of Addis Ababa to Awassa to look for these missing children. The precious hours are few to do their work. It is not safe to be out after dark. Within a few days, the social workers had located four of the five birth mothers and explained the situation. They all stood by their decision to relinquish their children for adoption. These young mothers knew they did not have the ability to care for these babies and would be returning the children to the transition home to continue with the adoption.  All except Aster’s mother.  She eluded the investigators for days and days.  Three weeks went by.  She was afraid they were trying to take Aster away from her. You see, she had decided that she wanted to keep her daughter and raise her. She explained that her circumstances had changed and she felt that she was in a better position to care for her baby.  

Erin and Drew were crushed!! Aster would not be theirs! This news was devastating to them and their entire extended families. We all had fallen in love with Aster. These were the saddest of days for all of us. However, we all knew that nothing can compare to the love of a biological mother. While we were grieving for what was not to be, we were all happy that Aster was going to be with the woman who gave her life and loved her in a way that only a mother can love. Those who have since interviewed Aster’s mother, said that she and Aster are very, very close and this gives us all much peace. We are happy for Aster and pray for her happiness and well being every day.

It seemed that Drew and Erin were back at square one. What to do now? Give up or move forward with another referral? A heart can only handle so much pain. It was a struggle to decide what to do. Did they have the strength to go through the process again? Maybe, maybe not, but Erin knew their family needed to increase by one.  They were urged by family members and great friends to move forward and finish what they started out to do….give a child love, a home and family. With that urging, they decided to accept another referral. Thankfully they did!!

In June of 2012, Drew and Erin again received the referral for another beautiful baby girl, an 8 month old. Her name is Mabel!! She is beautiful!

The referral was accepted and Drew and Erin were given the court date of July 11. They traveled to Ethiopia and met their baby girl and appeared, once again, before a judge and signed the needed documents to adopt their daughter. A week later the adoption decree was issued on July 17, 2012. Mabel is the legally adopted daughter of Drew and Erin Yeates, and sister of Olive!! She is theirs forever!!

As soon as Mabel is given clearance by the US Embassy in Ethiopia and issued a travel Visa, there will be one final trip around  the world within the next few weeks. This will be the final chapter of this adoption story, but only the beginning of a wonderful life for the Yeates Family with their new addition.

Now we ask that you become part of this story too! Because of the trials and added expense of hiring the advocate, other expenses, and an extra trip to Ethiopia to bring Mabel home, the finances of this cute little family and their extended families have been stretched to the limits and beyond. Actually, that is probably the biggest understatement ever given!! In order to get Mabel home, we need to raise some money and therefore, have planned a fundraiser. This fundraiser is the brainchild of an amazing 8 year old little boy named Jackson, and cousin of Olive and Mabel. It was his suggestion that the family put together an adoption fundraiser to “Bring Mabel Home”. Duh, what a great idea!!! Leave it to a child to come up with something so grand!

The entire extended families of Erin, Drew, and Olive have been working side by side with them to put this event together. We have wonderful families and friends that love them and want to help them bring this precious child home.

We are asking for your help!  We are planning a day of fun and games for the entire family. We invite you to join us on August 25 at the Creative Arts Academy Parking lot in Bountiful, Utah. There will be a boutique, food, music, entertainment, games for the kids, vendors, bouncy houses, silent auction, raffle, and more. If you can’t attend but would like to contribute, you can make a donation to the Mabel Yeates Adoption Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank or through Pay Pal to erin.yeates@gmail.com (you will also find a donation button at the bottom of this page).

Thank you for your love and support!!!

Love,

Drew, Erin, and Olive Yeates

& Extended Families