Eligibility Requirements

Hey there. Our sibling call was through your agency. They work with SWS in Korea which is the strictest of all agencies. You may talk with Namyi and ask her if because of you being a KAD they will let that rule slide. Most often no agency lets the marriage rule slide, but again it's okay to ask. Worst case, you can start the paperwork and just not get a referral until your anniversary. Check with agencies that go through the other two Korean agencies in your state. There's one in particular that's a little more lax. adoptkorea.com is a website that will help you find agencies by state. Then there are also agencies that aren't in your state that can still possibly place in your state if you're open to a waiting child. They great kids. ;) Lisa

I am SO sorry to hear about your losses! I will say a prayer for you and your husband. I have a good friend who just adopted from Korea a little 2 year old girl on the waiting child list. My husband and I have always wanted to adopt from either China or Korea and I asked her what the requirements are for Korea and they are very strict. The agency she went through SWS in Korea says you can not be on any medications for mental illness at all. Here is what she told me on FB: "We are with CHSFS and the Korean agency is SWS. I recommend CHSFS, you wont get your hand held...but I dont think any agency will do that. You have to convince them you want to adopt, they wont convince you. SWS is the quickest agency but as strict standards..weight, medications in your past arent allowed....a few things. We have been pleased with both." Now I also know of a family who recently adopted their second son from Korea through Holt International her is a link to their requirements [url=http://www.holtinternational.org/welcome/countryCriteria.php?country=Korea]Country Criteria - Holt International Adoption Agency[/url] and this adoption agency for Korea gives an extensive list of requirements: [url=http://www.dillonadopt.com/Korea-A.htm#Family_Requirements]Korea Adoption[/url] I know the list is frustrating to me and my husband. I take an antidepressant (for mild depression) and my husband is overweight. It is sad that they are so strict on minor issues like that. Depression, especially mild, does not make you a bad person or parent. Nobody on this earth is perfect and depression is VERY common. Most people go through some sort of depression in their life time and have to take medication for it. I hope this helps with your questions. God bless you and your husband on this journey and best wishes for your family.

Thank you for your information. Im sorry, i am new to these forums... what does "KAD" stand for?

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, it is very frustrating about the requirements, but i thank you again for your information.

korea was great because you could choose NOT to travel, but be aware that Korea is about to close their program and does not appear to be accepting NEW applications for families now. Only families that had dossiers waiting in Korea are eligible to adopt from there. They plan to stop all international adoptions before 2012...if you are for sure wanting an Asian country, right now China may be your only option. Vietnam is currently non-Hague, and I haven't heard any news on Taiwan lately either...

I might not be totally up to date myself, but I recently saw some suggestion that Korea's target to shut down international adoption is being pushed from 2012 to 2016. It is likely that the program will shift more towards special needs adoptions in the coming years. I'm not sure if it varies among the agencies, but we had no choice when it came to travel. I know others who adopted several years ago (with the same agency) and they could have had the baby escorted. We were told from the start of our process though that they now require at least 1 parent to travel to Korea to bring the child home. I could be wrong on both of these points though.

thank you for the input. I was recently in contact with Spence-Chapin and they informed me that my DH and I would not be eligible for adoption with Korea until we hit our 3 year anniversary (2012) and we are not eligible for China adoption either since I am only 25 years old and you need to be 30. So unfortunately we are at a stand still with international adoptions with regard to China and Korea. :grr: We are planning on attending a seminar next week to get a little information on domestic adoptions, what their requirements are, if any, and general information. Anyone have experience with NYS domestic adoptions?

Is is possible for you to work on paperwork and just be ready to submit everything on your 3rd anniversary? I know it seems like a long time from now, but really, it is less than a year away. It could take several months to get a home study done, your medicals done and all of your police and USCIS clearances. In the world of international adoption, any time frame tha tis under 1 year is pretty quick :)

Can someone tell me more about the antidepressant restriction? I can't find anything about it on any official websites, and my friends that have started the process only mentioned the weight issue. I'd like whomever makes these decisions to go through infertility and then the insanity of trying to adopt to manage to avoid any depression! Geez!!! :grr:

yeah tell me about it :( to my understanding, and for China and Korea, there canNOT be any history of any "psychotropic" medications, you are ineligible to adopt from those countries. again, this requirement is for China and Korea, im not sure about any other countries. Even if i was never put on an anti-depressant after the m/cs, my husband, who served our country in Kuwait back in 2003, has been put on Prozac for a mild case of PTSD, which his doctor wants him to take for life.... so right there we are ineligible. how fair is that?