mel@mtuxo.UUCP (m.haas) (05/16/85)
As prospective adoptive parents we we had the following choices: 1. Domestic adoption of a healthy kid through an agency, 2. Domestic adoption of "hard to place" kid through an agency, 3. Domestic adoption through a lawyer, 4. Adoption from South America, 5. Adoption from India, 6. Adoption from Korea. As far as we know these are the only commonly used sources. Most other countries are either in the same situation as the US (where there are far more prospective parents than available kids) or have government or religious restrictions against foreign adoption. Domestic adoption of a healthy kid through a government funded agency is almost impossible. The agencies are setup, funded, and rated for foster care, not adoption. They like to keep kids under their control, rather than let them "escape" through adoption. When we lived near Washington, D.C. we were told that the only kids available were black, and that since we were white we couldn't be considered. The agencies there wanted to preserve the kids' "cultural heritage"! They have several generations of people locked into their cycle of foster care and welfare. In some areas there are boards and courts that oversee the actions of the welfare agencies and some children are being released. The public agencies have very low fees, some none. In some areas there are private adoption agencies that have been granted licenses to handle local adoptions. These are usually the best source of healthy kids. The private agency fees are higher than those of the public agencies. When an agency cannot find a foster parent, they may place the kid up for adoption. These are often kids with severe mental or behavioral problems. Regular physical problems are taken care of by Medicare, so aren't a hindrance to foster placement. Often times the kids are released from the foster care system only after developing just the kind of behavioral problems one would expect from such treatment. These are the "hard to place older children". We have friends who have taken on some of these kids and they have turned out wonderfully well, but it takes a special kind of courage and patience. Some areas have a subsidy program to help parents handle the medical expenses of a "hard to place" child. The waiting time for a healthy baby in most places is at least 5 years through an agency. Some couples contract to care for a pregnant woman in exchange for the baby. This sort of transaction is handled by lawyers. In many places it is illegal. Our opinion is that it is very risky for the prospective parents. This is usually a very expensive way to adopt a kid. Foreign adoption usually involves going through the full adoption process in the native country of the kid. For most people this is not practical except in parts of South America. In these few countries there are agencies that have worked out the details with sister agencies in the US so that only a short visit and a minimum of red tape is required. The need in these countries is so great that everyone helps to get the kids out - it literally means life or death for many of them. A similar situation exists in parts of India, and there is an agency in Washington, D.C. that has been able to cut through the red tape to bring in kids on a regular basis. (We will post the names and addresses of some of the agencies we know about, and some books that have more information.) Foreign adoption is more expensive than domestic adoption through an agency because two agency fees are required, transportation must be paid for the kids and escorts, and immigration fees are applied at both places. (We will post an article on the expenses involved.) The easiest adoption source is Korea. In the 50s both governments set up procedures to handle the orphaned and abandoned kids from the Korean war. Harry Holt, Pearl Buck, and others set up agencies to handle the care of the kids in Korea and the placement of a large number of them in the U.S. and Europe. These agencies and procedures are still in place, and handle hundreds of abandoned kids each year. The social/religious customs in Korea allow foreign adoption. There is no strong belief that the kids must stay in their native religion, and there is a strong family tie through the male line (which discourages in-country adoption and promotes abandonment of kids whose father is gone). When we started we had "not been married long enough" to be considered by any of the regular agencies. After lots of research, we contacted Welcome House in Doylestown, PA, an agency that worked mainly with Korean kids. That worked out so well that we just kept with them over a period of years until we had 5. David came from Love the Children, Quakertown, PA, the agency run by Mary Graves the former director of Welcome House. Mary's primary concern is the welfare of the kids, their proper and speedy placement into a loving home, and the support of the less fortunate kids left behind in Korea.