[Cjmeck]

Hi. My husband and I are researching adopting from Korea and we live in Ohio. I have been having a hard time finding agencies who will place infants in Ohio that are not waiting children. The only one I've found is Family Adoption Consultants and they now have a waiting list for their program. Any advice or recommendations?

Thank you!
Jen

[Joyful1]

Jen - I PM'd you.

Good luck in your search for an agency!

[sak9645]

Most Korea agencies are going to wind up with waiting lists soon, if they don't already have them. There has been a decrease in the number of available children over the years, and further decreases are expected soon, as a result of a concerted Korean government effort to place children domestically.

The Korean government has created a new system, where children are made available to domestic families for a period of time, before they are released for domestic placement. It has also created a series of incentives for Korean families to adopt domestically. Most agencies believe that children will remain available for international adoption, but that the numbers will be smaller than in the past, that the children will be referred at older ages, and that a greater proportion of the available children will have special needs, even if minor.

Unfortunately, Korea requires you to use an agency licensed in your state, unless you are adopting a child with special needs. Most states have only one or two agencies that can work with residents on NSN adoptions, and a few have no agencies. From what I can tell, your state has only one agency that can do NSN adoptions, and it works with one of the smaller Korean social welfare organizations. As a result, I am not surprised to hear that it now has a waiting list.

But all is not lost. You can certainly put your name on an agency waiting list, as long as you are not likely to turn 45 before a child comes home; most agencies will put people on the waiting list if they are 43 or under. The list may move faster than you expect.

And do remember that some of the children available through Korea's special needs program have very minor medical issues. You may be pleasantly surprised, if you contact one of the agencies available to you for special needs adoptions, to learn that there are children whose medical issues are minor enough that you will feel comfortable adopting them.

So don't give up on Korean adoption too quickly. And if Korean adoption doesn't work out for you, do be aware that there are other countries for which you may qualify, which have plenty of available children.

Sharon

[TropicA1A]

I sent you a PM

[Cjmeck]

I really appreciate all of your input, advice, and experience. We haven't commited ourselves to one direction yet, still just gathering information. My uncle is an adoption attorney in Ohio so I talked to him today regarding domestic adoption. But should we decide to go international, Korea is our first choice. My husband was stationned in Korea for one year and visited a foster home while there. He was just so struck by how healthy and beautiful the kids were--and he said Korea is becoming very westernized. Makes me feel better about the medical care there, you know?

Best wishes everyone and thank you again!
Jen