[pvnew]

I have been trying to decide on a county. We were thinking Russia or China, but Korea sounds great. Any addition information I can obtain would be great. What agencies have people delt with? I understand that you do not get to choose the gender of your infant, is this correct? What about the cost?

[lynnor]

sent you a PM

[sak9645]

... with U.S. families for over fifty years. It has a wonderfully ethical, organized, and stable process. Korea is also one of the most prosperous countries from which Americans adopt, and the care given to adoptable children is generally very good. Most of the children are in well-supervised foster homes, and receive medical care that is regarded as good by American adoption medicine specialists.

You do have to be aware that Korea has very strict criteria for prospective parents. As an example, only married people can adopt, and they must have been married to their current spouse for at least three years. Only one divorce for each member of a couple is allowed. And both members of the couple must be under age 45 at the time of placement. Both spouses must also be in good health. Korea allows families to adopt only if they already have no more than four children.

Korea is unique in that it requires families to work with an agency that has a contract with the Korean government to place children in their state of residence, unless they are adopting children with significant special needs. (Most countries allow you to work with any agency in the U.S., as long as you have a local homestudy.) Most families will have little choice of agencies, since it is likely that there will be only one or two authorized to place healthy infants and toddlers in their state.

Each of the agencies with a Korea contract works with one of four social welfare agencies in Korea -- Eastern Child Welfare, the Social Welfare Society, Holt Children's services, or Korea Social Services. Each of these welfare agencies has its own policies, to which the placement agencies must adhere, in addition to adhering to all the regular Korea policies.

The good news is almost virtually any agency you use for healthy child adoption from Korea is likely to have substantial experience in the country, and to be reputable. Some have had Korea programs for over 20 years, and Korea is very picky in selecting the agencies with which it will work.

Escort used to be the only option for families choosing to adopt from Korea, since Korea felt that families might do better if they didn't have to get tired out traveling to a foreign country to bring their child home. Nowadays, however, American agencies have encouraged Korea to allow travel, so that families can develop an appreciation of their children's birth heritage. So families can now use escort OR travel.

Korea is one of very few countries where the family does not complete the adoption overseas. A child comes to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship, and the parents actually do the adoption in their state's court system. The placement agency ensures that the family finalizes the adoption and complies with all requirements regarding citizenship, Social Security, and so on.

In general, Korean adoption is less expensive than adoption from Russia, especially if you choose the escort option that Korea offers. Russia and Guatemala tend to be expensive countries from which to adopt. In Russia's case, part of the problem is that two trips are generally required, raising travel costs substantially. Korea may be a little more expensive than China adoption, but is in the same ballpark, as far as I can tell.

Sharon

[missy964]

We are in the process of adopting from Korea. We like the fact that the babies are in foster care and have access to great medical services. Since my husband is afraid to fly the fact that they bring the child to you is a bonus for us. Plus we do not have to spend time in the country is avery nice perk. The age of the child is usually younger then some other programs.
Korea does not require a dossier!

PM me if you want more information! Best of luck.
Melissa

[DebAckermann]

We just finalized our legal court adoption of our son today. Adopting from Korea was very easy and painless. If you work with an agency that has dealt with them for a very long time. As for picking teh sex...you were allowed at one time if you already had a child...but that did change for us last year in June. They sent out a memo saying you could no longer choose a sex for any reason. Every person I have meet and enjoyed becoming friends with furing our process has received a son.

Zach was just like all the pictures The Korean Social Welfare Society sent us. He was very healthy. happy baby boy. In fact he is quite a big boy...it seems the babies are very healthy eaters!!! It was wonderful that he had a great foster family and i can tell he was well loved. We started our paperwork Aug of 2002, final paperwork sent over at the end of feb 2003 (WI BCIS took forever), referral June 2003, Visa approval sent end of July....Phone call Aug 12, Zach arrived in our arms Aug 19 2003. Smoothest transition in the airport...wonderful escort. I can not say enough.

I highly recommend Korea

Please PM me if you have any more questions.

Deb
mom of Bio Kaelee (6) and Zach (1 1/2 now) Korea

[HLLB]

For the gender selection, this is dependent on the American agency. Our agency will allow gender selection only if you have children of only one gender. So, we received a son for our first child and plan on requesting a girl for the second.