I was wondering if anyone had any connections with someone who has adopted here in the military? What was the process, the regulations, the requirements and such? Any information would be appreciated. I will make a call to JAG tomorrow and see what help I can get there, but any first hand advice is greatly welcomed. Thank you!

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As far as I know, atleast with my agency (Holt International) you cannot adopt from Korea when you live in Korea. In fact you can only adopt from Korea if you live in a certain number of states that Korea has authorized Holt Intl to work in. That may be different with other agencies. It might be a good idea for you to start researching and contacting agencies. It is a very long process, and you may actually not be living in Korea anymore by the time your adoption is finished. Right now the timeframes are running approximately 2 years from application to placement. A good place to get started reading information and talking to other families that have adopted children from South Korea is www.holtintl.org Other agencies you can look into are CHSFS.org, Bethany, Pearl S. Buck, Love the Children. I know there are more, but those are the ones I am a bit farmiliar with. You will need a completed homestudy (which your agency will provide you with a list of homestudy agencies that they work with), a lot of immigration paperwork, and a lot of patience. If you have any more questions please ask, I am more than happy to answer any questions that I can. (oh, for reference we adopted a year ago, so things may be a bit different now than a year ago, but I don't think so).

While we would love to adopt here, we are also very open to adopting from neighboring countries as well.

I was reading tonight about how sometimes it is difficult to adopt here, if you are living here...which you would think would be a benefit. But I suppose their concerns is the moving shortly after, or what have you when your tour is up.

We really want to pursue adoption period. I was really, really hoping to start here, b/c I love it here. And I am in love with the children. DH and I would love to volunteer at the childrens orphanage as well.

I have read so much material on it lately. Where did you adopt from? And did you use the JAG office, does that help in cost and paperwork? Do they offer any kind of packet or classes here?

Sorry, I am full of questions. If we were stateside I would love to foster. That will be something we will get into once back home. But something here is just pulling on my heart and leading me down this path, kwim? :) thanks for listening!

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I would -highly- recommend Holt International, they're a fantastic organization, and not only work with the adoption process, but also with sponsoring children in Korea, an option you might want to consider while you're working toward your adoption.

One of the beauties of that, is that being in Korea, you can actually see how your money is spent, via the Pearl S. Buck Orphanage, that Holt supports there in Korea. :) It's a great thing.

We considered trying to adopt while we were in Korea, but one thing we were told that makes it so difficult for families trying to adopt there is that apparently, the Korean government requires all children adopted from Korea to be taken *from* Korea that very day, and then, cannot return into the country for at least a year, something like that? There are other issues as well, including the fact that some Korean fathers are loathe to sign away their rights,etc... it's a very different culture with regards to adoptions, orphanages,etc. than our own, and sadly, a lot of kids end up left in orphanages until they're adults.

One thing that I would -highly- recommend, not just to anyone who's thinking of adoption , but to anyone who's just -there-... every so often, the chapel at Osan sponsors visits to the orphanage, as well as a *huge* Christmas party for the orphans at the Pearl S. Buck orphanage.. contact the chaplain and ask about upcoming visits! It's a wonderful experience, one that will touch your life forever. :)

*HUGS*

Good luck on the adoption , tiff, a child would be blessed to come into a loving family such as yours! :)

Dee :)

P.S. Also check with your finance office, I believe the Army might have a grant similar to the AF's, that will help underwrite the cost of your adoption! It's not much , but every little bit helps!

I am not sure why, but I know that when you adopt from Korea the Korean gov't wants the baby out of the country immediately. Like, we received custody of our daughter at 3pm, and were on a plane the next morning. Most people receive their child on the way to the airport. As for the actual process, the only thing we did at jag was to have all our forms notarized for free (and boy there are a lot of forms!). Other than that everything went through either Holt or our local home study agency Lutheran Social Services. If you want to do some volunteering, get in contact with Holt via their website. They have a home called Ilsan where all the children that are too sick or disabled to be adopted out or the children that just never get adopted are sent to live. Holt cares for them for their whole lives. They do not kick them out at 18 (the disabled children that is), they care for them forever. There is a child at Ilsan that I want to sponsor myself, or you can just give them money to use at Ilsan any way they need to. It's a wonderful organziation and you can go visit them anytime, but I would get with Holt in Oregon first to find out how to do it. Holt also runs an unmarried mothers home for women who want to keep their babies, I bet they would like volunteers there as well, but that may be harder because of the language barrier. You'd have to talk to Holt about that. Holt also works in the Phillipines, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and other non Asian countries. Check out their website, give them a call or email, that can get you started. Also look here for the country criteria:
http://www.holtintl.org/adoption/criteria.php
Good luck!

And yes Dee, you're right, the AF does have an adoption reimbursement of $2000/child up to $5000/year that they pay after the adoption is final.

We adopted 35 years ago in Korea. It was a different ,easier, cheaper system.
If I can find the addresses, I'll put up some orphanage addresses later.
A doctor friend in Yongsan had considerable trouble with a Chinese adoption.
Korea was easier. He did both.
One thing- all countries make it easier if the child has a "Special need", as you may know.
I agree on making Orphanage visits, where all ages are represented. You may fall in love with one, so be forewarned!

Thank you so much for the warm response. I am starting all my calls next week, and DH and I are going to have a sit down this weekend and discuss what we both could handle. I would really like to have a toddler, someone either right under my daugthers age, or inbetween my son and her. And I have been researching special needs as well.
I cannot explain it, it is just a strange feeling both of us have. I know I am more than likely done with pregnancy, but still feel like there are children out there who are calling to us.

Anyways, I really, really appreciate the information! I would really be interested in volunteering at the womans shelter for the single moms, that would be amazing. :)

__________________
http://thewrightsadventure.blogspot.com/

I have a friend who adopted 2 Korean boys and a baby from Ethiopia while she was stationed here. If you PM me your contact info I can pass it to her.

I have a friend who adopted from the Philippines while in Korea and they cannot bring the girl into the US until two years have gone by. I am not sure why USCIS has that regulation.