[sslgdl]

Korea is also currently going through a lot of changes. Beginning in January all babies must be offered for domestic adoption for 6 mos before being allowed for international adoption. It has been said that children with certain medical conditions will not follow under this law but it is unknown as to what extent the medical conditions will be. With that being said agencies have taken different stances on how they are handling the change. A couple of agencies have continued to accept applications as normal. They already have around a 12 to 15 mo waiting time and it could easily be extended to around 2 yrs since from January until June of next year there will be no referrals to speak of. Other agencies such as the one I am with is putting the wait on the front end. You must fill out a preapplication and then wait almost 6 mos to fill out the formal application. After the formal application your homestudy will go to Korea and the referral wait will be approx. 3 mos. With this being said the wait will still be around one year. You will really need to speak with your local agency. If you would like a listing of agencies available in your area I would definitely go to adoptkorea.com. While I don't think that website has been updated to reflect the current changes it is still full of wonderful information and lists all of the available agencies for each state. When you do find an agency be upfront with your questions on what they expect the wait to now be. I have heard that most agencies already have enough homestudies to carry them well into 2008. This is not an agency verified fact just what I have been hearing on boards. I wish you luck with your decision! Specific agency discussion is not allowed in open on the board so if you have any specific questions please feel free to pm me.