For me, this is one of those topics that are both old and new. It’s old because once upon a time I was the child being prepared for a new sibling and new because now I have a son who will need to be prepared. How will I do it? I wish I knew. Mostly, I’m going to do what I’ve been doing for the past two and a half years – figure it out while I go.

The first thing I did was observe my friends and family. Many in our group have had more than one child and, though not through adoption, they did have to prepare their children for a new sibling.... more

Someone was complaining to me that the Korean adoption process is too difficult and too long. Why, this person demanded, can’t they make it easier?

So, I started thinking about what you had to do in a Korean adoption…

1. Find an agency 2. Preliminary Application 3. Full Application a. Doctor’s visit b. Biographies c. Reference Letters d. Financials 4. Homestudy 5. Government Paperwork 6. More Government Paperwork 7. Waiting

There were times during the process that I also wondered why the Korean adoption process couldn’t be a little easier. However, looking at it from a different point of view, why should... more

As I’ve talked about in past posts, January 1st marked some changes in the Korean adoption process. The one that I think will affect prospective parents the most is the new five month rule. Korean children will be placed for domestic adoption only for the first five months and then they will be eligible to be referred for international adoption. The initial result will be that children will be older at referral and thus older when the travel call comes.

Because Korean children are generally placed in foster care very early, the... more

Link: Part 1 Link: Part 2 Link: Part 3 Link: Part 4 ... more

My son made cookies with my mother this last weekend. My mother just rolled her eyes when she learned that my son had never seen a rolling pin. Until his cookie world was expanded on Saturday, my son thought making cookies meant taking packaged dough and placing the neat squares on cookie sheets.

Watching them bake cookies reminded me of tradition. When I was little all of the cousins went to my aunt’s house to decorate cookies. It was tradition. I always liked the little silver sugar balls and the redhots, that were supposed to be for reindeer noses,... more

Link: Part 1 Link: Part 2 Link: Part 3 Link: Part 4

In my household the decision was rough. I talked about the “on again,... more

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Awhile back, someone asked me if they thought they should adopt from Korea again because their first child was adopted from Korea. Based on personal experience, I would say no because... more

Link: Part 1 Link: Part 2

Well, if you’ve made your decision to adopt again or at least you can breath normally when you think about it, you also have decide about the agency that you are going to use.

For some, like us, it’s already set. We had a good experience with the agency that we chose for our son and we have no... more

Link: Part 1

A lot of the adoption process is pure emotion, but we have to be practical too. Part of the decision has to be money.

One of the reasons that it took us awhile to decide to adopt again was money. I don’t like to think of money and adoption, but the bottom line is that Korean adoption fees are high and most likely getting higher in the new year. Deciding to adopt again means some changes and we’re going to have to give... more

Awhile back, I posted that my husband and I had decided to adopt again. The decision is not one that we made easily and it has not been without its ups and downs since.

Right after my son arrived from Korea, my husband and I started talking about adopting again. Whenever someone asked me if a second child was coming, I started hyperventilating and I looked a little green. I love my son, but the thought of two kids was almost... more