Exploring Adoption

South Korea is the ONLY country that requires prospective parents to use an agency that the Korean government has accredited specifically to place children with families IN THEIR HOME STATE, if they wish to adopt a child without known special needs. (If you are open to special needs, you have a little more flexibility.) Most other countries let you use an agency located anywhere within the U.S. Most U.S. states have only one to three agencies with Korea contracts. A few states have none. So if your state has no agencies with a Korea contract, or if the agencies in your state have some requirements that you cannot meet or don't like, you will not be able to adopt from Korea unless you go through the special needs program. I hope that there are some people from Missouri who can help you identify the agencies in your state with Korea contracts. The one website that used to have this information seems to be down for repairs or closed. Sharon

I sent you a message.

We just received a referral on Tuesday from South Korea and we were not required to be referred for a special needs child. Our local agency is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and there is a requirement that the homestudy be done in your home state. hey completed our homestudy meeting the guidlines ouf our out of state agency. Our agency that works with South Korea is AIAA(located in Troy Michigan) Hope this helps

Thanks for sharing!

Holt International and Dillon International are both very good organizations, and they would likely help you find a local branch office in your area. I'm fairly sure that one or both of them actually have a Missouri office. As a Korean adoptee myself, all I can say is best of luck :)

They do both have MO offices but one doesn't provide HS services if you're out of their local office area. We found that more difficult. Just another ? to ask. Lisa