Korea Adoption

A number of recent news items are focusing on Korean-born adoptees and their reconnections with birth country and family. Some stories have been put on film, like this one reported on in Stars and Stripes about an adoptee's search that led to his birth father. Former Army Staff Sgt. Aaron Bates was adopted by an American family who eventually adopted three other South Korean children and supported their son in his search and reconciliation. Unfortunately, the birth father is in prison, on death row for the murder of two women, but the circumstance might have something to do with the fact that this reunion story became a movie. “Korea looks at adoption as not a very good thing,” Bates said. “If you’re not in the bloodline, you’re not family. I want this… [more]

With apologies for not reporting on this well in advance, but with hopes that this post will allow for some advance planning for next year's events, here's a bit on the 2007 International Korean Adoptee Association's Gathering that took place during the week of July 31st- August 5th in Seoul, South Korea. The fourth Gathering since the first was held in Washington D.C. in 1999, this year's event brought together some 650 to 700 adoptees with the aim of "... demonstrating that the global community of adult Korean adoptees, representing a diverse population of nationalities, languages and perspectives, can transcend these differences to meet and work together.’’ In a video of a congratulatory welcome message to the conference, Korea's First Lady… [more]

With so much to write about ... so much news, so little time ... I'm popping over here from the Adoption News Blog to post about some Korean adoption-flavored stories. Starting with this one on an unexpected reunion with birth family. Nineteen-year-old Korean-born adoptee Robin Gellinger and her mom took a trip to South Korea to see her birthplace and get a taste of the culture. Their plans included meeting up with a friend who had stayed with them as a teen in a cultural exchange, and doing a bit of poking around to see if they could find anything that might tell them something about Robin's roots. Adopted through Holt at the age of four-months, Robin and her mother visted the… [more]

I was checking out Adopting From Korea - Mom Blog & Rant and I was happy to see that she’s back. Her latest post had an article from Interfaith Family that I enjoyed and thought I’d pass it on. The article is called Challah and Rice Cakes and it’s about introducing their new Korean adoptee to the Jewish faith. The article talks about the Jewish custom that would give their Korean adoptee her Hebrew name and then their celebration of her Korean tol (first birthday) the next day. I did not celebrate my son’s tol (as Korean tradition would dictate), but I found this article to be uplifting. The author talks about their Jewish tradition and their new Korean tradition with the… [more]

Here are some sites that have interesting Korean items that you can buy for your adoptees. I can just see my mother right now sighing in frustration. When my sister and I were little, you just couldn’t find things like this…now they are everywhere. Adoption Shop - This site is run by the same people as adoptionblogs.com. They have books, art, toys, videos, etc… It’s like one stop shopping. Korean Raggedy - I like these. It’s probably because I liked Raggedy Ann so much when I was little. A Korean Raggedy Ann has to be better right? Besides, they remind me of my favorite doll when I was growing up. I named her Sun Lee and my… [more]

This article in the phillyburbs.com kept popping up recently so I decided that I was supposed to write about it. The article is all about Verispan LLC. Verispan offers its employees an adoption benefit package and there is a short section about one of the families who used the benefit when adopting two children from Korea. I was reading the article and I was thinking about how nice it would be if more companies came on board. I suspect that adoption benefits will continue to grow, but unfortunately it is growing slowly. While FMLA makes it possible for many parents to take the time off without worrying about their jobs, FMLA is an unpaid leave of absence. There are many people out… [more]

We were up bright and early this morning to go to Build-a-Bear. We swung by and picked up my mother-in-law and then off we went. My son was eager to go. We’d been talking about it for the last few days. I wanted him to understand (before we got there) that we were making bears, but that we wouldn’t be taking them with us. In the three year old world, everything is “I want that” and “mine.” I was pretty sure that we would have a melt down if he didn’t have a good grasp of why we were going. The next problem was how to explain waiting children in a way that my three year old would understand (especially a slightly spoiled… [more]

At the Korean picnic that we went to earlier this month, we were given a DVD with a little video about Korea. When we got home, we put it in the DVD player and watched. We didn’t have a clue what was being said because the narration was all in Korean, but we watched. Prior to putting in the movie, we had prepped my son. We told him we were going to watch a Korean movie. I’m not sure that he had any real concept of what we were watching, but he was excited. He sat down on the couch next to my husband and settled in for the show. As the scenes flashed by, he would say, “We’re watching Korea.” Though we couldn’t understand what… [more]

When my son came, it was a nice bonus that he automatically became a citizen when the adoption was finalized. Though a part of me was sorry that we wouldn’t follow the tradition and stand in the courtroom the way my sister and I did, the larger part of me was relieved that I didn’t have to rush through the process. When I read this article in the International Examiner, I was shocked. Here is a young man, just a little older than my sister, who faced deportation. The majority of his life had been spent here and they might send him back to Korea because his parents had forgotten to ensure his citizenship. He is not the first adult adoptee with a criminal record that the… [more]

Mother’s Day has taken on new meaning since my son’s arrival. I still forget on a regular basis that I’m one of the celebrated. The other night, I was trying to decide what to get my mother for Mother’s Day and I was harassing my husband to think of something for his mother. He turned to me and said, “What do you want?” What do I want? What does that have to do with anything? Oh yes, I’m also a mother. The first Mother’s Day that I acknowledged was one of the worst days of my life. We had received our referral in March and May marked the second month of waiting. Everyone was excited… [more]