if you're considering international adoption...

miss1180 · May 2013

we adopted our son from Korea last August. Our agency, Holt International, sent out an email on Friday saying that they are "urgently" looking for families for their Korea program. They have more kids coming into care than families who want to adopt them :-( The Korea program is going through some changes now... but its still an awesome program! They use mostly foster families rather than orphanages so the kids are with a fmaily in a home environment while they wait to come home to you. our sons foster family took him to Gymboree classes, out to eat, to the playground... They also have medical care that its on par with here in the US. They go for monthly check ups while you're waiting to travel,and you get all of those reports (everything from their height and weight to what they're eating to how many blocks they can stack). our son came home so happy, healthy, and adjusted so well because of all of this. its expensive- but there are grants and tax credits that help with that :-) so- if you or anybody you know is thinking about international adoption, check out the Holt International Korea program :-) AND of course feel free to PM me or post back with any questions!

ETA: this kinda sums up the whole email

"We recognize that uncertainties can always be a little intimidating. We do not ask this of you lightly. First and foremost, we want to make clear that while we are entering a new reality for Korean adoption, our program is still strong, and still moving. And, most importantly, children are still coming home to families! "

smithpaint · May 2013

It sounds like a good program - thank you for sharing. We have 5 kids (and adopting our first). So we will have 6 kids. Is there a limit on the number of kids you can already have?

Niki64 · May 2013

We we're narrowed down to DIA, but my DH wants to not rule out Holt. I was adopted from S Korea via Holt back in 1982 :.

kimmyb1020 · May 2013

We actually met people last week that adopted their first from Korea and are in the process of adopting their second. They had an awesome experience with their first son, but said that because of the recent changes, the Korea adoption program is really unstable right now. They have been matched for a few months and their agency can't even give them a guess of when they will be able to go get them. They are thinking 18-24 months though Also they said that Korea is debating the idea of having adoptive families stay for up to 4 weeks when they travel, instead of the 1 week that it used to be.

All this to say, if you are thinking about international adoption make sure you really do your research and ask questions.

miss1180 · May 2013

kimmyb1020:
We actually met people last week that adopted their first from Korea and are in the process of adopting their second. They had an awesome experience with their first son, but said that because of the recent changes, the Korea adoption program is really unstable right now. They have been matched for a few months and their agency can't even give them a guess of when they will be able to go get them. They are thinking 18-24 months though Also they said that Korea is debating the idea of having adoptive families stay for up to 4 weeks when they travel, instead of the 1 week that it used to be.
All this to say, if you are thinking about international adoption make sure you really do your research and ask questions.

yes... the email we got did acknowledge all of this. and said " we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the changes going on with Korea right now".

BUT they said all of the changes do not mean that the children't still don't need families to adopt them. Holt has some families traveling right now under the new changes (i am on several facebook groups for Holt families and several have posted about leaving today to go "get" their children)... so things are still moving, althought a little more slowly. I believe that theres is a choive of whether to stay for 4 weeks, OR make 2 trips of about a week each. if you do 2 trips, both parents have to travel the first trip, but only one needs to travel for the second trip if that helps save on airfare costs.

SO, yes, while things are changing, they are still moving and there are still children that need families. I think this is why there are more children... people are understandably a little scared to jump in right right now with the increase wait times and travel requirements. BUT there might be some family out there that is ok with all of this and willing to take a risk to give a child a family---- which is why i posted.

miss1180 · May 2013

smithpaint:
It sounds like a good program - thank you for sharing. We have 5 kids (and adopting our first). So we will have 6 kids. Is there a limit on the number of kids you can already have?

hi! I'm not sure about a child limit..... I didn't see anything about that on their website. I guess you would have to ask them. Their website is holtintl.org. click on "international adoption" and "coutries holt works in" and you can find the korea info there, and who to get in touch with. Good luck!!

kimmyb1020 · May 2013

miss1180:
kimmyb1020:
We actually met people last week that adopted their first from Korea and are in the process of adopting their second. They had an awesome experience with their first son, but said that because of the recent changes, the Korea adoption program is really unstable right now. They have been matched for a few months and their agency can't even give them a guess of when they will be able to go get them. They are thinking 18-24 months though Also they said that Korea is debating the idea of having adoptive families stay for up to 4 weeks when they travel, instead of the 1 week that it used to be.
All this to say, if you are thinking about international adoption make sure you really do your research and ask questions.
yes... the email we got did acknowledge all of this. and said " we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the changes going on with Korea right now".
BUT they said all of the changes do not mean that the children't still don't need families to adopt them. Holt has some families traveling right now under the new changes (i am on several facebook groups for Holt families and several have posted about leaving today to go "get" their children)... so things are still moving, althought a little more slowly. I believe that theres is a choive of whether to stay for 4 weeks, OR make 2 trips of about a week each. if you do 2 trips, both parents have to travel the first trip, but only one needs to travel for the second trip if that helps save on airfare costs.
SO, yes, while things are changing, they are still moving and there are still children that need families. I think this is why there are more children... people are understandably a little scared to jump in right right now with the increase wait times and travel requirements. BUT there might be some family out there that is ok with all of this and willing to take a risk to give a child a family---- which is why i posted.

I totally agree. It's unfortunate that there have been a lot of changes to international adoption recently that I'm sure are turning people away. I still hate to think about the Russian children that could have found homes in the US if it wasn't for stupid government issues. Hopefully if people feel a calling to adopt from a certain country they won't be dissuaded by these issues and will still pursue it.

if you're considering international adoption...

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