TONS of questions- agency, eligibility

[url=http://adoption.state.gov/country/south%20korea.html]Country Specific Information for south_korea.htm[/url]The thing I would worry about the most is that Korea has expressed an interest to end international adoptions of Korean children by 2012. ((Also on the link above you will find answers to a few more of your questions. :) ))Good luck. Many many years ago I spent every Saturday I had working in a newborn nursery at an orphanage near where I lived in Seoul....so Korea is near and dear to my heart, too :) I wish you the best!

Aside from the Korean program possible closing, I would see the age restriction as a major barrier. It is unusual for this to be waived - basically the older parent has to be 45 by the time child is placed with family. If he is older than that when you reach eligibility, you would not be able to get through the waiting period for referral and travel, which together can last as much as 10 months and can last more at times late in the year when visas have all been granted.

Some very knowledgable people that I have talked to don't think the Korea program will close and if it does they believe the Waiting Child program will remain open. No one knows what will happen but this is their best guess.

Do you have any idea how absolute the age limits/spouse differences are? Is there anyone who, otherwise a good candidate, has been absolutely denied based on 1 or 2 years outside the age range? Likewise do you know of anyone for whom an exception was made? By the time we are eligible to apply he would be 46, then 47 by time of placement, depending on how long it takes. We are almost 15 years in age difference (technically 14 years and some change). He's fairly confident, based on his experiences and work with Korean government agencies and the embassy throughout the years, that reasonable exceptions can be made down the road, but as the program winds down (or tries to) I am afraid that things will become more black and white in an effort to reduce international adoptions. I know it seems silly to worry about now (since its not an issue for a while and things may change by then) but I like to ask questions and make plans well in advance.

Why don't you find out what agencies working in your state say? It is my understanding that the age limit is imposed by the Korean government. The laws on international adoption stipulate an upper limit of 45 on parents at the time of adoption. I have heard of a few cases when these age restrictions being waived for parents who have already adopted from Korea and are seeking to adopt a hard to place special needs child or a bio-sibling.

I'm afraid that you are going to have to look somewhere other than Korea, if you wish to adopt a NSN child. First off, Korea's law says that the parents must not have attained age 45 at the time the child is placed in their home. The reason for different numbers given by agencies is that they are making educated guesses about how long it will be from the time you apply to the time of placement. With fewer children available, time frames are lengthening considerably, so many agencies are now saying that you can't be older than 43 at the time you apply. They don't want to risk starting to work with you, and even making a referral, only to have you unable to complete the adoption because you have "aged out" during the wait. At this time, the number of foreign families wanting to adopt NSN children from Korea far exceeds the number of children available for international adoption. Over the past few decades, the number of available children has been decreasing, because of the increased prosperity of the country, increased acceptability of domestic adoption, and increasingly Westernized attitudes regarding things like unmarried parenthood and contraception/abortion. The Korean government has also begun giving financial incentives, such as tax breaks, to its citizens to adopt domestically. As a result, Korea is very unlikely to waive basic requirements, such as the age limit, for NSN adoptions. The Korean government doesn't want or need more applicants. In fact, given the small numbers of children eligible for international adoption and the increased emphasis on domestic adoption, the Korean government expressed a hope that the program could be phased out by 2012. Whether that hope is realistic is unclear, but the fact is that the Korean government will be in no hurry to expand the pool of eligible foreign parents by granting waivers. It is possible, however, that a waiver could be granted for families willing to adopt a child with significant special needs. You should also know that, unlike some countries, Korea has never made a big issue of giving preference to people of Korean ancestry living overseas. So just because your fiance is Korean does not make you any more likely to get a waiver. Be aware, also, that Korea requires American adoptive families to use an agency that is licensed in their state and that has a contract with the Korean government to place children with families in their state, for NSN adoptions. (The rule is relaxed slightly for special needs adoptions.) This rule makes Korea unique; all other countries allow an American to use an agency based anywhere in the U.S. Korea has intentionally kept the number of agencies with which it works quite small. In general, states have 0-3 agencies from which a family may choose. If your state has no agency with a Korea contract, then you must either adopt through the special needs program or turn to another country. And some of the agencies with Korea contracts are currently closed to new applicants, to prevent the development of long waiting lists. All in all, especially since you won't be eligible for Korean adoption for several years, my guess is that you are going to have to choose another country. I would strongly suggest that you consult the U.S. State Department website, at adoption.state.gov, to identify some countries that would be a good fit in terms of your age, length of marriage, and so on. Sharon