Older Child Adoption

One major difference between adoption from Korea and China is that babies from China are mostly girls, while a Korean adoption is more likely, though not exclusively, to result in the adoption of a boy. The yearly numbers are about 60% male and 40% female. You have to wait a little longer for a girl than a boy. If you are childless, you cannot specify your gender preference with Korea.

Another difference in the two country’s programs is that in China many, but not all, of the children are cared for in foster homes, while in Korea, all are in foster homes. In Korea, the children receive excellent medical attention and are rarely malnourished. Korea provides the adoptive parent with updated medical reports after referral and before arrival. They also provide some social history on the referred child, unlike China where usually there is little or no social information known. The Korean program is usually faster than the cation to adoption.

One huge difference between the two programs is that Korea is one of the few countries that allows your child to be escorted the U.S. You do not have to travel to Korea to adopt your child. There are many reasons why it is better if you can travel, but it is not necessary. Also, Korea does not allow single parent adoptions, while China places limits on the number. The cost of adoption ranges from $18,000 to $22,000. American adoption agencies are only allowed to work with four licensed Korean child welfare agencies, to wit:

1) Eastern Social Welfare Society

493, Changchun-Dong, Sudaemun-Ku, Seoul

Tel: 82-2-332-3941/5

Fax: 82-2-333-1588

www.eastern.or.kr and http://www.eastern.or.kr/eng/htm/home.htm

2) Social Welfare Society

718-35, Yuksam-Dong, Kangnam-Ku, Seoul

Central Post Office Box 24, Seoul, Korea

Tel: 82-2-552-1015~8, 552-6227

Fax: 82-2-552-1019

3) Holt Children Services

382-14, Hapjong-Dong, Mapo-Ku, Seoul

Tel: 82-2-322-7501~4, 322-8102-3

Fax: 82-2-335-6319 or 334-5440

www.holt.or.kr/holt/main8/main.htm

Also see http://www.geocities.com/koreanadoption/index.html for a

family’s experience with Holt in Korea.

4) Korea Social Services

533-3, Ssangmun-Dong, Dobong-Ku, Seoul

Tel: 82-2-908-9191~3

Fax: 82-2-908-3344

An American agency will work through one of these agencies on your adoption. The Korean process will be handled by the foreign agency. American agencies are approved to place children only in specific American states. This doesn’t make a lot of sense (Belarus does the same thing), and appears to exclude Americans living abroad except for military families. Agencies are allowed to place special needs children in more than just their “assigned states.”

Harry and Bertha Holt started Korean adoptions when they adopted eight gram, Holt Children’s Services of Korea, which later became an independent organization. Today Holt International Children’s Services in the United States and Holt Children’s Services of Korea continue as partner agencies. HoltKorea places children with adoptive families throughout the United States and several other countries through umbrella or joint programs approved to place Korean children.

The Korean requirements are not unreasonable. The requirements vary slightly depending on the agency. They want couples to have been married at least say 9). There is a minimum financial requirement of an annual income of $25,000 (some agencies say $35,000). This is a Korean, not a U.S., requirement. For U.S. requirements see the I-864 and poverty guidelines. Unlike other countries, Korea will place your adoption on hold if you are pregnant.

Eastern Social Welfare agency and the Social Welfare Society (SWS) have a very peculiar requirement regarding a parent’s weight. If weight is a concern, then before paying any money you should certainly query your American agency whether they work with Eastern or SWS and if weight will be a problem. If so, simply move to an agency that works with one of the other two Korean licensed agencies.

The Korean foster system is a very good one. A social worker might receive a phone call from your child’s birth mother and counsel her. If the birth mother is not married, she is at risk of being disowned by her family and usually becomes estranged from her boyfriend. The social worker might be told some personal history. Learning this information for your child is one reason to make the trip to Korea. The child will then be placed with a foster family. The child will have many medical checkups and be in pretty good health. The child’s medical record information is extensive and generally reliable. You are provided with the background of the birth family, if available. The children are Korean culture and its emphasis on genetic ties and family name continue to slow acceptance of adoption in the home country.

An interesting development in the Korean programs has been in post-adoption services. Birth family searches by adoptees have become common. These occur as the adoptee enters adulthood and desires to know more about his or her origins. It is a common desire. In the past the Korean adoption agencies hid or destroyed records, but after strong criticism and the rise of Korean adoptee advocacy groups, these agencies now have come full circle and will assist an adoptee. Usually trips take place during the summertime and the adoptee spends time meeting their old foster mothers, visiting their birthplaces and various historic sites, and sometimes reuniting with their birth family. In contrast, China offers little in the way of a paper trail, as most children enter the system as abandoned infants.