[tutumom]

Mo,



My husband and I first talked about our mutual desire to adopt some 15 years ago. While neither of us were adopted, both of our lives have been touched significantly by family members who were, most notably my mom. We ended up starting our family 14 years ago with the birth of our daughter, followed 14 months later by the birth of our son. While I had always dreamt of having a large family, we got busy raising our first two children, and we ended up a family of four.



About seven years ago, I decided to go back to school to finish my nursing degree, and while working in my labor and delivery rotation, I was faced with a yearning to be a mommy again. I didn't necessarily want to be pregnant again, I just knew that our family wasn't complete yet. That desire has stayed with me for the last seven years and since my husband and I can no longer conceive naturally, we started talking about adoption again. We shied away from domestic adoption after having friends who suffered a heartbreaking experience. We thought that international adoption might be an option, so we started researching.



Born and raised in Hawaii, I actually grew up with a few friends who were Korean, and they exposed me to Korean food and culture at a young age. I have always found Korea to be a fascinating country, one rich with tradition and heritage. The fact that Korea has the oldest and most established adoption program provided some security as well. We found that Korea offered adult adoptees the greatest possibility of one day locating and reuniting with their birth parents; I think this is important, and I know that in countries such as China this is usually not a possibility. We have also appreciated the large number of adult Korean adoptees who are now sharing their experiences with a new generation of adoptive parents, there is so much to be gained from their wisdom. Another appealing aspect of the Korean adoption program is the number of resources available to Korean adoptees both here in the United States and Korea.



Basically, we felt like the Korean program was a perfect fit for our family and we are looking forward to all that lie ahead! I hope this helps.