The Details...what the heck are we doing?

We are adopting from Korea...no wait, maybe Vietnam...Ethiopia? Definitely a girl...but I'm not opposed to a boy of course, likely an infant or young toddler, but you know, perhaps a two or three year old. If you've talked to me lately you probably think I've lost my mind. So, here is the story about what we might be doing, and why:

We entered the process thinking Korea would be a good option for us. We like the idea of adopting from Korea for several reasons. First, the program has been around for a very long time, it is relatively stable in comparison to other International Adoption programs, and we have the option of one parent traveling (or even an escort but we really want to travel). Also, the children are in foster care prior to adoption, and generally very well taken care of. We also know of many families in our area who have adopted from Korea so we would have a good support system in place....so, in January of this year we got on a waiting list for Korean adoption.

Before we signed up, we knew the Korean government established new policies as of January 1st, 2007. These policies are intended to encourage Koreans to adopt Korean children through various incentives, a registry, and other stuff. The intention is to gradually phase out international adoption of Korean children. Despite this, we felt there was no harm in getting on a waiting list for Korea (no real upfront fees required or anything)...and decided to see how things went. We were told by our agency that although the future of Korean adoption was uncertain, there was a good possibility that referrals would continue long enough for us to complete an adoption, though it would likely take a couple of years.

Now, six months later, we are still waiting for referrals of Korean children to resume to our agency. While our agency expects that they will slowly resume soon, they are not certain at this time about the speed at which things will pick up (if at all). Accordingly, Carl & I have begun to explore our other country options, which are somewhat limited at this time. We still feel strongly that International Adoption is the way we are intended to build our family, and I have always envisioned us as a multi-cultural family, so we are very open with regards to race, etc...so...here are the other options we are considering at this time.

Vietnam: We have friends who had a good experience through the Vietnam program. One parent is able to travel, and things are moving along fairly smoothly at this time.

Ethiopia: There has been a recent surge in the number of IA from Ethiopia. There are local families who are adopting through this country, the children are arriving in good health, able to attach well to their new parents. One parent is also able to travel to this country.

Where do we go from here?

We are going to sit tight and continue to ponder for a short while longer. We need to do this because I don't want to abandon the idea of Korea just yet & it is a little too early to start the process for Vietnam or Ethiopia because I must finish school and work for a while before completing another adoption. As all of you know, time lines are very unpredictable so although it is difficult to wait with the knowledge that waiting too long could mean that our plans could totally change again, it is extremely important that our adoption doesn't happen too early....like when I'm in the middle of my MSW internship!!!!

Please check back from time to time...I'll post updates, vents, explanations, etc... Thanks for reading!