[daisy_hobbs]

Today I talked to my friend who works on diplomatic issues with North Korea and several things clicked:

1) My husband and I had previously thought about adopting instead of having another biological child

2) I have read that some Korean parents are paying to have their teenagers adopted by Americans who do not have a Korean background

3) I have read that some folks pretend to adopt children for use in the sex trades

4) North Korea's nuclear testing has probably drastically increased pressure on South Korean parents wanting to get their children out of the country, making them extra vulnerable to exploitation via #3 and #2

So I'm wondering, is there some way that we can help? I've seen lots of info on adopting babies, but nothing on older children so I don't have any idea about where to start.

We have a pretty modest home, but at least it's a safe place in a good neighborhood with good public schools.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Daisy

[daisy_hobbs]

Oops! I accidentally posted this message twice and I can't figure out how to delete the duplicate. Sorry!

[Max'smom]

Generally speaking if your question is "should I adopt a child from S. Korea" that is a personal issue that you can only figure out on your own. I think those stories about teens in S. Korea sound quite a bit like rumours. It is hard to adopt older children from S. Korea. The S. Korea government policy is to decrease international adoptions in general and to encourage domestic adoption. The US government would also not allow parents to engage in that kind of thing or to adopt children for use in the sex trade. If you are interested in international adoption, you will need to get acquainted with US agencies that work in Korea. These agencies are all reputable and are quite careful about how they screen potential children to be placed for adoption as well as potential parents who wish to adopt.

Good luck!
MM

[sslgdl]

I also think that you have been given some very wrong info regarding Korea. I am in the process of adopting from there as well as I lived there for a year. As one mentioned above while Korea is on one hand a very modern society they do have long standing beliefs that a woman should not raise a child out of wedlock forcing many women to give their babies up for adoption. Korea also in the past has thought bloodline to be a very important factor in a family so adoption within Korea was not looked upon highly either. Because of that in the past there have been lots of Korean babies available for adoption. Korea is currently taking a very proactive stance to change society's way of thinking and trying to promote adoption within country. As far as international adopting children from Korea, I don't think I have ever heard of a family adopting a child over the age of three. Also in adopting from Korea you will have to go through an extensive homestudy and background checks in order to be allowed to adopt and on the Korean side the baby also comes with lots of famliy and medical history. The agencies in Korea also do not place children by whoever is first in line. Unless you are looking at a waiting child, babies are matched with families that they feel are the best fit. They will even go so far as match babies with parents in similiar fields or similiar interest in hobbies if they can. I have heard of such "blackmarket" types of adoptions in other countries but Korea is definitely not one of them. Also as far as the situation with North Korea it really is no different now then when I lived there 10 years ago. The North has always tried to get people fired up somehow and while South Korea does stay at a heightned alert sometimes it is probably no more than here in the US and they by no means are pushing their children out of the country. In fact a lot of Korean society is against international adoption which is the reason the government is now trying to promote domestic adoption.

I wish you luck if you do decide to pursue adoption. If you go to adoptkorea.com you can find several very reputable agencies in your state that can help you with any answers and your Korean adoption.