Saturday, July 21, 2007

South Korea Adoption

Country Profile: South Korea is the southern half of the Korean Peninsula shared with North Korea. Seoul, South Korea is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Approximately one half of South Korea's population lives in the Seoul metropolitan area. South Korea is the world's leader in shipbuilding and is among the world's most technologically advanced countries.

Children Available: The majority of children available are babies (age 5-6 months at time of referral), as well as some toddlers and special needs. South Korea does not permit the adoption of two or more unrelated children at once. Boys, as well as girls are available. However there may be a longer wait for a girl. Also, some agencies may have varying policies on selecting boy or girl.

Requirements: Married couples age 25- 44 are eligible to adopt from South Korea. Up to one divorce per parent is permitted. Couples must be marrried for a minimum of 3 years before adopting. Singles are not accepted to adopt from South Korea. Up to four biological and/or adopted children in the home is allowed.

Time line: The time line of adoption from South Korea may vary. Unlike some other countries, adoption agencies are the ones to refer children to families, therefore a dossier, required for most countries, is not need for South Korea. Waiting for a referral from your agency comes soon after beginning the process and can take anywhere from 2-15 months to receive a referral. After receiving your referral the wait until travel to South Korea or child escorted home ranges anywhere from 3-6 months.

Cost: $17,000- 22,000

Children placed in 2006: 1,376 children came home from South Korea to the United States in 2006.

Adoption Agencies for Adopting from South Korea:
Adopting from Korea- An Adoptive Parent's Guide to Korean Adoption

*Information is subject to change. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at: bound4meimei@yahoo.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is great info to know.