Facts of the Month: October

-Over the last decade, U.S. families have adopted on average approximately 20,000 children from foreign nations each year.

(http://adoption.state.gov/adoption_process/what.php)

-The Hague Adoption Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) is an international agreement to safeguard intercountry adoptions. It aims to prevent the abduction, sale of, or traffic in children, and makes sure that proper effort has been given to the child's adoption in their country of origin. (http://adoption.state.gov/hague_convention/overview.php)

-In 2009, 11,394 children were served in the foster care system in Iowa. This is a decrease from SFY 2008 of 1,172 children. Most children are placed temporarily in foster care due to parental abuse or neglect.

(http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/state/Iowa.pdf)

-The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program was founded in 1999. This program provides services to both youth in foster care who are preparing to transition to adulthood and youth 18-21 who have already left foster care and need assistance.

(http://www.fostercaremonth.org/AboutFosterCare/FAQs/allFAQs/Pages/default.aspx#How can I get help when I turn 18 and leave the foster care system?)

Star of the Month: October

Their Adoption Process:

1) Homestudy – answered 20 autobiographical questions, attended 10 hours of PreAdoptive Classes, and social worker completed home visits

2) Wait for referral – we took this time to read books on adoption and Korean culture; we also took Korean language classes, learned how to cook some Korean food, and attended a couple of local Korean festivals

3) Accept referral – hooray!

4) Wait to travel – we took this time to finally prepare the nursery and our home for a child

5) Receive OK to travel (this means that the Korean adoption agency has completed all the paperwork needed for our son’s travel documents to be finalized and he is legally able to leave the country and enter the US)

6) Frantically and excitedly make last minute travel plans (they would like you to travel within 2 weeks of receiving the travel call)

7) Fly to Seoul to meet and bring home our son after about a 1 week stay in country

Hardest Part of the Adoption Process:

The wait to travel – we knew our child was waiting, but we couldn’t go get him until everything was legally ready.

Favorite Memory of the Adoption Process:

Walking into the foster home and seeing him– he was real and he was still a baby! Also, it was very evident despite the language barrier how much his foster family loved him.

Support Group:

We created Adoptive Families Group at our church and it now includes other adoptive families from our community. It is a great source of support and fellowship with people who have similar experiences.

Talking about Adoption:

We have every intention of making “adoption” a regular part of his vocabulary. Right now, we say a bedtime prayer of thanks for his birthparents and foster parents. We also have multiple books on adoption and are currently working on a Lifebook that will contain his adoption story in words he can understand along with photographs. On Mother’s Day, we honor his birth mother and foster mother with a rose in a special vase from Korea.

Incorporating Korean Culture:

Throughout our house, we have various artwork and souvenirs that we brought back from Korea. We try our best to celebrate some of the Korean holidays and are continuing to learn how to make Korean foods. We have children’s books about Korean culture and toys with Korean writing on them. We are members and participate in the Korean Cultural Center of Iowa and will attend KAMP (Korean Adoption Means Pride – a camping experience with classes on adoption and Korean culture offered every summer at Riverview Conference Center in Cedar Falls) when our son is older.

Media for Parents:

We really enjoy reading Adoptive Families Magazine for stories, support, and resources for us as parents. We also read “The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to Adoption” by Elizabeth Swire Falker and “The Complete Book of International Adoption” by Dawn Davenport while we were in the process of adopting.

Media for Child (2 of many):

How I Was Adopted – Joanna Cole

I Love Korea – Andrew C. Nahm

Other Information:

-They felt that adoption was the best fit for them to create a family.

-Child did live with a foster family prior to adoption.

-The said they chose to adopt from Korea because, “it is a stable program with relatively young children at the time of referral. The timeline for the entire adoption process was very reasonable, and the quality of medical and foster care prior to adoption is very high.”

Media of the Month: A Koala for Katie

I choose this book because I read it as a child and it is still one of my favorite today. Here is a quick overview of the book written by Jonathan London and Illustrated by Cynthia Jabar. It was published in 1993 and has awesome pictures. Here is a review by Jeanne K. Pettenati: 

The special relationship that Katie has with her Koala bear brings home the nature and permanence of adoption. Katie is at the age when she thinks a lot about babies. Her parents provide simple, honest answers to Katie's questions about adoption. A unique insight dawns when she adopts a stuffed animal that her parents buy for her at the zoo. Katie imagines that Mama Koala loved her baby but couldn't take care of her. So Katie adopts the koala, and feeds nurtures, and protects it. Their love is lasting and mutual, just like the love between Katie and her parents. This is an excellent addition to any family adoption library. The appealing illustrations are soft and soothing and perfectly match the text.

*Allison