hi i'm new here

Hi Terri, It is very possible to adopt a child as a military family. We adopted DS through domestic parental placement 16 months ago. There are three primary ways of becoming a parent through adoption: 1. International 2. Domestic parental placement 3. Waiting child/foster care Each has its' own benefits and risks. You should be asking yourselves: 1. How important is it that your child share your ethnic heritage? 2. What age child would you like to parent? Newborn? Toddler? 3. What are you willing/able to spend in fees to complete an adoption? 4. How comfortable are you sharing information on your lifestyle, likes, interests with strangers? 5. How comfortable are you with parenting a child who may have special needs, issues from past abuse/neglect or post-institutionalization issues? 6. And, for military, how able is the AD Member to travel with little or no notice? Can they travel overseas w/o special permisson? How receptive is the command? The fact that DH is not stateside may complicate matters, though it's not impossible. It may make it easier to adopt internationally in Korea, though I'm not familiar enough with international adoption to say for sure. HTH, Regina, AMom to Ryan Joshua Thomas

There are others like you, one that I can think of is usmcfamily. They just adopted domesticly, and are stationed in Okinawa Japan. From what I understand, they had their homestudy done before they left the states, so that could be a problem.... Anyway, you might want to try to private message her and get more info. She is away this weekend, they are going to pick up their son in California. Another thing, talk to your Judge Advocate, they may be able to point you in the right direction.

Regina, Thank you so much for the info. My dh and i are willing to adopt any ethnic group baby. We think it would be fun to share in a new culture. Also we are mixed up ourself..lol my dh is african american and i am white so we have our own thing going for us. I was thinking about korea just because he is there but they say something about weight. I am over weight due to pcos. But i'm going to see. Once again thank you so much for you response. Terri:) Also thank you Brandyhagz all the support is very comforting:)

Ya know...now that I think more about it...someone on one of the boards was talking about military adopting...and they said the JAG would do EVERYTHING (legal wise) for the adoption, but go thru the finalization...because that has to be done in civi court...so they had to hire a civi lawyer for the finalization only... With my previous post, I was thinking you were both in Korea, of course now if I had thought about it more, I would know that isnt the fact...lol... You can also work on trying to set up a homestudy when his 6 month visit is set up...could work.

Thank you again:D I know there is another person who is stationed at fort bragg,nc and her dh also left for korea the same time mine did and is due back the same time to. How funny is that? I sent her an e-mail but haven't heard anything at this point. I'm really glad i found this site to see i'm not the only one struggling to adopt in the military. I thought we would not beable to because of the moves but i see that isn't the case. Thank you, Terri

Brandy, I think it depends on the command whether base legal can and will get involved. If they can be used, and are experienced in adoption, wonderful. Here in VA where we live none of the legal offices were able to help (policy) which wasn't a bad thing because the code here is, well, really hard to read. Better to have a local atty who is experienced with VA code. :-) Regina, AMom to Ryan Joshua Thomas

Brandy, I think it depends on the command whether base legal can and will get involved. If they can be used, and are experienced in adoption, wonderful. Here in VA where we live none of the legal offices were able to help (policy) which wasn't a bad thing because the code here is, well, really hard to read. Also they couldn't represent us in court, which is required for termination proceedings. Better to have a local atty who is experienced with VA code. :-) Regina, AMom to Ryan Joshua Thomas

That's why I said something about it.... she should at least contact them and see :) NC law is more relaxed when it comes to JAG helping out....I know a few of people who have adopted (both full and step parent) in NC using JAG for most of the process....but that was Camp LeJeune...the Marine Corps and Army are different, so they may not be as helpful :( Ya never know till ya ask...It doesnt hurt to ask :) Worst they can say is, "We dont do that" Good luck!

Hey, we have adopted twice domestically while being my husband has been serving in the Army. We have always stayed clear of using JAG, we prefer that there is no problems so we want an experienced adoption attorney. We have used agencies for both adoptions and they were very supprortive of us being military. If you choose an agency that is by a military installation they are usually accustomed to working with families. I will say that both of our agencies told us it may be a turn off to some bm's. We personally did not see it. Our wait was less than a year for both of our kids. We actually plan on adopting again in the next two years!!! Good luck to you. I have watched my husband go to Korea twice so I know what you are going through:)

Thank you:) who did you use for your adoptions, if you don't mind me asking. I have no idea where to start. I'm really feeling crazy about everything..lol Terri