South Korea Adoption

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South Korea

Program: Working with Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS), our partner agency in Seoul, Lifelink has facilitated the adoptions of more than 2500 children from Korea since 1984. There is a strong social stigma against single parenthood in Korea. Some of the mothers go into ESWS's maternity home during their pregnancy, while others stay at home until they deliver. These mothers are counseled on the option of adoption and ESWS works with birthmothers as they create an adoption plan for their child. The children are cared for through the ESWS foster care program until they are ready to travel to the United States.

We are currently seeing significant changes in the Korean Adoption Program. Historically, few Koreans adopted because of cultural reasons. Korean adoption agencies are now strongly promoting adoption to Koreans resulting in more Korean families adopting. Consequently, the number of Korean children becoming available for international adoption is decreasing, thereby making the wait times for adopting families longer. Korean infants are placed on a registry for five months to allow time for Korean families to adopt before being made available for international adoption. Korean law also limits the number of children that can be adopted internationally per year. In spite of these factors, Lifelink Korean Program is still going strong with one of the shortest wait times for a healthy male infant referral (9-10 months from application).

Available Children: Korean children available for adoption include healthy children approximately eight to 12 months of age at time of placement with an adoptive family or children with correctable medical conditions (i.e. cleft lip and palate, minor heart conditions). Potential adoptive families without children in the home should be open to a child of either gender. Couples with up to three children in the home may adopt. Families with only boys in the home may specify either gender..

Eligibility: Couples eligible to adopt from Korea have been married three years or more, are between 25 and 42 years old at the time of application, and have no more than ten years age difference between the husband and wife. In addition to a high school diploma, prospective adoptive parents should have some college credits or vocational training. Other requirements for the Korean adoption program include a minimum family income of $30,000 per year, no more than two children already in the family and prospective parents who are no more than 30 percent overweight. Families with more than three children already in the home may adopt a child from Korea with a special need (i.e. cleft palate, heart condition, etc.).

The Adoption Process: When the child is ready to travel to the United States, families have the option of having the child escorted to the U.S. or they may choose to travel to Korea to receive their child and experience the culture. Trips to Korea require a four-day stay in the country.

The adoption is finalized in the U.S. after six months of post placement supervision. This involves four visits with the family’s Lifelink caseworker. The Lifelink caseworker can also assist the family with the process of adopting their child through their local U.S. court.