[MrsTiffanyMortimer]

My husband and I would love to adopt a Korean child, so I have several questions about the requirements and process. If you have answers or advise from your personal experience, we would greatly appreciate them!

First and foremost, I've read that there is an age requirement of 25 yrs. or older. My husband is 25 and I am 21, so I was wondering if both parents have to be 25 or older, or if just the 'primary' parent does. I've read that when adopting from Germany, if you're adopting as a couple, the primary parent has to be a minimum of 25 years of age and the secondary parent 21 years of age. But I've also read that when adopting from Thailand, both parents are required to be at least 25 years of age. Any thoughts on the issue?

I've also read that Korea does not require you to travel to the country - that you can have your child transported to you in the US. Any thoughts on whether it is more beneficial to travel to the country or just have them delivered?

As far as fees go, I've read that if you are military, you are given up to $2,000 to cover some of the adoption fees (not including travel costs). I've also read that you can be given up to an $11,000 tax break by the government. I'm also curious as to how you go about paying for the adoption. I've heard that loans and grants are available. What kind of loan do you get? And what kind of interest rate does that involve? Also, does anyone have any idea what the total cost is?

And last but not least! The inevitable waiting period. I've heard anywhere from 6 to 18 months depending on the agency. I've also read that the waiting period is lengthening due to the lack of children who need to be adopted? Any thoughts?

I realize that I have a lot of questions, but if I could get at least one of them answered, we would be that much closer to understanding the process and figuring out if this is something we could realistically do. We realize that we are young compared to the bulk of people who normally adopt, but I feel that we are perfectly capable of loving and caring for someone else’s child just as we would with our own. Biology is not an issue for us.

Thank you so much for taking the time answer my many questions. Your advise is greatly appreciated!

God Bless!

[RockyMtMommy]

Hi,
I realize you are probably new to adoption and just starting to do your research, but before you go any further, please consider changing the language you use to ask questions and describe your situation. I will point out a few of the places you can make positive language adjustments from your post.
First- if you choose to adopt, you will not be raising "someone else's child". The child you adopt will be yours. Period. Yes, they will have a biological birth mother which does need to be discussed with them, but that child is your own.
Second- children from Korea are not delivered to you. You have the option of having them escorted (at this time) or traveling to bring them home yourself. Personally, I recommend traveling yourself, so that you get a feel for the culture of their birth country.

Now to answer your questions:
I believe both of you must be 25 years old. That gives you 4 years to save up money for some of your adoption costs. Yes, the military, as well as some civilian companies provide adoption assistance, but you have to have the money upfront in most cases and you are just reimbursed down the road, after your adoption is completed. That is the case with the tax credit as well- the adoption must be completed to receive it. There are loans and grants available though.

The waiting period varies by agency. One of the things Korea is trying to encourage is domestic adoption of infants within their own country, so yes, there are less babies available for international adoption. Also, I have heard, though I have not seen this written anywhere, that the Korean government is trying to phase out international adoption all together by 2012, so that may affect your decision also.

I hope that helps.

[MrsTiffanyMortimer]

Thank you for the grammar lesson and your advice. It’s greatly appreciated.

[dsomerton89]

we are a military family and we just adopted from china a year ago and yes you do get a $2000 subsidy but not until th adoption is finalized so it wont help to pay for the adoption fees just to recover those cost.