The Adoption Options

So this is where we are in our journey. We don't know. We are not lost, we know we are going to adopt a child, but we have several options before us. In a very dry and basic form they (in no particular order) are:

1) an independent (no agency) adoption from Ukraine. This would be a boy or girl age 5 or older and most likely with minor special needs (special needs is a very loose term we'll talk about later) We would be adopting a child out of a state run orphanage. An older child would be a more difficult transition for Abby.

2) A non-Hague adoption from South Korea, this sounds great because we are already living here but it is a huge commitment especially if we continue our ministry in Korea. The reason this is such a big deal is because adoption in Korea in general is not looked upon favorably and most families that adopt move to another city where no one knows they have adopted children. Our child would not have this option because, well, we aren't Korean and we don't look Korean.

3) A domestic adoption. This would be an adoption through a U.S. agency. (Yes I was supposed to use "a" there and not "an.") This type of adoption would be an infant adoption where a birth-mother chooses us to be the adoptive parents to her child. furthermore it would range from an open adoption to semi-open adoption to closed adoption.

4) Our family moves back to America, where we pursue a foster-to-adopt option. This would mean taking part in a state foster care system and eventually adopting a child that is a match with our family and is eligible for adoption. This is the least expensive type of adoption, however it can be emotionally draining as you love and let go non-adoptable children.

So that is where we are right now. We are taking it slow and are in continual prayer over the issue. We would like to send a special thanks to the folks that have taken the time to talk with us and who have been so very patient with all our many questions. I have to say though it is an understatement, adoption is complicated. We spent over an hour on the phone with a social worker named Jim McMahon from San Antonio, TX (1:30 am our time) who very patiently went through these different options with us and helped clarify some questions about our living overseas. So for now we pray and we ask all of you to join with us in prayer for the continued guidance and providence of God.

The Hague Headache

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, known as "the Hague Convention" is an international agreement between countries that is designed to protect children adopted across national boundaries. This is a fantastic agreement to help stop child abductions and child trafficking - however it's downside is that it is steadily decreasing the number of international adoptions. With more than 75 countries as members, the tighter restrictions, greater amount of paperwork and red tape, and the higher cost of the overall adoption is deterring prospective adoptive parents. Our problem for the past several weeks has been trying to determine if we would be required to follow Hague requirements or non-Hague requirements for our adoption. We are American citizens (a Hague country) living in South Korea (a non-Hague country). We wanted to adopt from the United Sates but believed that we would have to follow Hague requirements which would involve our adoption following not just U.S. guidelines, but Korean ones as well. We decided to try going for an international adoption with Ukraine (a non-Hague country) so we would only have to follow Ukraine's adoption policies. (Do you see the headache yet?) The problem that arose with Ukraine is that they have several of their adoption policies before Parliament right now, including an age limit as to how young a child could be for an international adoption. We weren't comfortable with the possibility of adopting a child older than our biological daughter so we were back at square one. We sent emails to several agencies and advisors, we called agencies, we called a lawyer, none seemed to have any concrete answers for our specific situation. Then finally we were given the name of a very experienced social worker from Texas-so we emailed him, and guess what??? He was in Korea, but we didn't have a chance to meet with him personally. However he has assured us that we can infact adopt an American child while living overseas and it isn't even considered an international adoption! Thank you Randy Barlow. He will be returning to Korea in September, at which time we can either meet with him or have him complete our some study. I am not sure that we will be able to get all our medical, financial, and criminal (background check) paperwork in order as well as having the $1000+ for our first payment installment -so we will most likely just meet with him. Either way, please pray that God will continue to guide our steps and those with whom we will be working.

The Journey Begins...

So almost everyone knows at this point that our family is starting the process of trying to adopt. We've set up this blog so that everyone can follow our journey, it's up and downs and all the in-betweens. We will be posting about everything from finding an agency, applying, fundraising, government interaction, and the oh-so-scary home-study. It is our biggest wish that God will guide us in the entirety of this process and that all of you would vigilantly keep us in your prayers. So let the journey begin...