Initial Approval

We (finally) heard from our agency today and we have received initial approval from the court! Actually, we received initial approval on 11/28 (Thanksgiving), but our local agency was closed for the holiday. Now, before you get too excited and before you complete the "when do you leave" question, know this:
We do not know if we are in the 14 day wait OR if the Judge will be taking any additional steps before our case enters the 14 day wait.

That's right. Surprise surprise....we still don't know what's going on! At least we are used to living in the unknown. I'll update when we know more, but until then I will be incessantly checking my email. :)

In other news, the post-Korea cold went from bad to...well...bad. I'm glad we had the long weekend as I needed some quality time not moving around, hunkered under the blankets. However, I also needed to get a lot done in those four days! So, busy times ahead (and still trying to overcome this darn cold). I'd hate to leave on a sour note, though, so check out this handsome guy!

Dad is pushing Oliver on a little plane

We played a lot of in and out of the car.

Children are Coming Home (Finally!)

It is with great joy that I announce....children are finally joining their families! After 9+ months of no travel home, two U.S. families have officially wound their way through the process and received approval to bring their children home.

While there hasn't been movement in our case, the fact that families are moving through and reaching the final approval is a great sign. We are hopeful that more and more families will join the ranks of those two pioneers! 

Tony and I continue to take the information we receive and the details of the current process with a grain of salt, knowing things could change before our turn comes up. We have learned, however, that families are finalizing in Korea with an IR-3 Visa, instead of the previous method of receiving an IR-4 Visa and finalizing 5 or 6 months later in the U.S. This is great news as it means Oliver will be legally ours when we come home (there will still be some legal actions needed once we are home, but official custody will lie with us). Yeah!

More on the North Korea Situation

Today our agency posted the following update, which I thought might be helpful for some of those worry-prone folks out there (a.k.a. the grandparents! and others too). Tony and I were discussing the situation earlier this week and while we are both concerned and scared, we also realize that the threats are nothing new. We continue to hope that these also amount to a whole lot of nothing, as they often have in the past. 

The below is copied from the weekly update page on our agency's website.

April 11, 2013: Response to Inquiries About North Korea Situation


This addition to the Weekly Update is in response to the recent news surrounding North Korean threats to South Korea and the United States.


Although ongoing media coverage of the situation on the Korean peninsula and government rhetoric is concerning, there is presently no imminent danger on the Korean peninsula.  The U.S. Department of State has not issued any Travel Warning against travel to or in the Republic of Korea (South Korea).  We continue to follow the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in this regard.
 
All children in care, the caregivers and the Korean agencies are secure and there is presently no need for them to take any action in response to any threat. 


Please note that all children in care of the Korean agencies are under the guardianship of those agencies.  They are Korean citizens and most have not been issued emigration permission.  The care and the safety of the children is the highest priority of the Korean agencies. 
 

Without any intent of minimizing the current situation, but to provide perspective, it is important to note that there have been threats and/or incidents annually between North and South Koreas for several years recently and although unpredictable and frightening due to the unknowns at the time, these past episodes have subsided and not prevented families from traveling to pick up their children.
 
 

We will continue to monitor the situation and share program-related news with you accordingly.

20 Month Update & Wonderful News

He's 20 Months Old!
When the 20 month photos come through this morning I thought that they sent us another family's pictures. I can hardly believe this is the same little boy from last month! I actually called a co-worker over to get her opinion on whether the photos look like the same boy or not (see confirmed, as did Tony, that it seemed to be the same person). I must be loosing it a little!

Click over to the Oliver page for all three. These are truly "action" shots! I can't say I'm digging the pants and shoes, but I am loving the walking around photos. Such a little man!


Program Update
For families waiting to bring their little ones home from Korea, the past two weeks can be summarized in one word: nightmare. Roller coaster, ulcer-inducing, migraine producing, fear-filled...those are accurate descriptions as well.

About two weeks ago the Korea Program rumor mill started churning with hints of "month long stays" "two trips required" "families must appear before the judge" "14 day wait in country to allow birth family another opportunity to change their mind" and more. Panic ensued. Our local agency is not one to jump on a bandwagon -- they are sticklers for offering confirmed and accurate info only (which is usually a great thing, but does cause some delay in their reaching out). Finally our agency sent out a confirmation that there was some truth to the rumors, though much was still unknown. Specifically, they knew that the court was going to require families to appear in person. Beyond that, a meeting was scheduled between the Korean agencies and the Korean Family Court Judges to nail down some of the particulars (set to take place last Monday). We'd be given all of the details the following day.

On the morning of the meeting, a major change took place and the meeting was cancelled "indefinitely." The change? Several judges were rotated off this assignment and new judges were brought in. Everything was once again at a standstill and it was not known when or how things would progress.

A week later, today, the rumor mill began to churn once again. This time with positive news! And moments ago we received a letter from our agency confirming that the courts have reversed their decision. We will not be required to appear before the judge; we will not be required to remain in country for an extended period of time; we will not be required to remain in country during a set time for the birth family to reconsider (though it is important to note that the birth family has the right to reconsider at any time, up until we depart Korea with Oliver). 

Amazing. An answer to thousands of prayers going up world wide. God is certainly good! What seemed to be a negative last week (the changing of the judges) is probably what brought about the decision today to overturn the changes. While it still may take longer than we had hoped for us to get the call to travel, we at least know what to expect and we know that our stay in Korea will be reasonable. Plus, things should begin moving forward soon as the remaining 2012 group gets processed through. 

What a roller coaster!

Update on 'Not Helping' Post

On December 13th I posted an article about a family in the Chicago area who brought a young child into the U.S. from South Korea and were caught up in a debate about the legality of the adoption. You can find the original post here.

This morning the Chicago Tribune posted an update on the situation, which is copied below. The couple previously adopted from South Korea (using an agency) and knew that they were no longer eligible because of their age. During the initial adoption they should have learned about the various requirements for successfully and legally completing the adoption of a South Korean child. What a mess their actions have created for families both here and in South Korea. I am happy to see that the child is set to be adopted and hope that little girl has a happy and healthy future.

I will admit that it is tempting to try to find a way around the legal mumbo jumbo we are currently caught in. Unfortunately there isn't a way around the hoops we have to jump, or the paperwork/interviews/medical exams we have to complete. It simply is what it is. I do hope to have some update on what's going on with Korean adoptions in the near future. Right now all I have are rumors -- not hard facts -- but we are hoping to learn more about additional changes to the process. 

Evanston couple must give up Korean baby
By Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune reporter
6:30 a.m. CST, March 5, 2013

An Evanston couple accused of circumventing South Korean adoption laws have lost their bid to keep a 9-month-old girl whom they've raised since shortly after her birth, with the baby scheduled to return to her native country Wednesday, officials have confirmed.

Jinshil and Christopher Duquet have said they relied on bad legal advice and thought they were participating in a lawful private adoption of the baby, Sehwa, in June.

But when Jinshil Duquet initially tried to enter the U.S. with the baby, authorities at O'Hare International Airport found she lacked the required paperwork for an adoption. After that, South Korean and U.S. officials intervened and fought in local and federal courts for the baby's return.

"It looks like South Korea has prevailed," said Nancy Pender, a spokeswoman for Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, the law firm representing the South Korean government in the case.

She declined to provide details about what triggered the action or how the baby's deportation will be handled. The Duquets had been pursuing a private adoption through Cook County Circuit Court in proceedings that are closed to the public. The court most recently heard the case Thursday, Pender said.

The Duquets, through their lawyers, declined comment. The couple have said that if they must give up the baby, they want their goodbyes to remain private.

"The case didn't work out, basically," said one of their lawyers, Jamie Teich. "Our whole team of people here are saddened and devastated by it."

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice declined comment.

Sehwa will be placed with a South Korean family for adoption, as opposed to an orphanage, Pender said.

The baby's birth mother and grandparents relinquished parental rights to the Duquets and do not want the child back, officials agree. The biological mother lives at a homeless shelter for unwed mothers and already has another child, according to court testimony.

But South Korean officials say the Duquets skirted Korean laws by failing to go through a licensed adoption agency. Jinshil Duquet, a South Korea native who moved to the U.S. as a child, learned about the baby through a pastor with ties to her family, she testified in court.

She contacted immigration lawyers in Chicago, who put her in touch with a South Korean lawyer who said he could arrange for a private adoption. The Duquets had earlier adopted an older daughter from South Korea by going through an agency but were told they were too old under South Korean law to follow the same procedures again.

The Duquets argued that, despite their mistakes, it was in Sehwa's best interests to remain with them.

South Korea and other countries have tightened laws on foreign adoptions in recent years to prevent trafficking and abuse, and the South Korean government has provided new incentives for domestic adoptions. Some experts say many South Korean children remain in orphanages because of a cultural stigma against adoption and unwed motherhood.

While Sehwa's situation "is tragic … it certainly points out to why you follow the rules," said Susan Soonkeum Cox, spokeswoman for Holt International Children's Services in Eugene, Ore., which arranges international adoptions.

She has just returned from South Korea, where the Duquets' case has been covered extensively by news media.

"While people were sympathetic to everyone, within the adult adoptee community, it was reinforced that you just can't willy-nilly get a child," Cox said. "Children deserve to have the protection of authorities and government."

A 'No Update' Update

Well, I'm officially going bananas as I wait for an update on Oliver. 
- Obsessively checking my email in hopes of one with the update: Check
- Worrying that no update means he is sick or injured...or worse: Check
- Worrying some more that the 'no update' is because something is wrong: Check
- Checking my personal email since beginning to type this post: Check

So...no update to share. Hopefully an update comes along soon. 

In other adoption-related news, you may have seen coverage in your local media about the developments in Russia regarding the shut down of adoption between the U.S. and Russia. First, I am happy to see that the media is covering this issue. Second, I was happy to see that our Senator acted quickly to meet with the families directly impacted and begin working to help move things in a more positive direction from her role as our representative.

My eyes welled with tears as I watched thousands of Russians protest the ban -- in the cold of winter and at the risk of being punished for speaking out. I am hopeful for those families already in process, that they will in fact be allowed to finalize their adoptions (although that is not guaranteed, it is hopeful). I am still incredibly sad for the children in Russia who need loving families, and those families in the U.S. who want to be provide such a home but may not be allowed the opportunity to do so. Nothing seems fully settled yet, but at least there is a glimmer of hope. Sometimes hope can make all the difference.

Adoption in the News

Last month I posted an article on Russian adoptions. Today I went onto the U.S. Government's International Adoption website (http://adoption.state.gov/) and learned that Russia is now closed to the U.S. and will remain so for at least 1 year. Families currently in process do not yet know if they will be allowed to continue or if their adoptions will be terminated. Here is the official information:

Alert: Legislation to Ban Intercountry Adoption by U.S. Families

On December 28, President Vladimir Putin signed into law Russian Federal Law No. 186614-6, which prohibits the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens. This law went into effect on January 1, 2013. The law bans adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens, bars adoption service providers from assisting U.S. citizens to adopt Russian children, and requires termination of the U.S.- Russia Adoption Agreement.

The United States regrets that the Russian government has decided to ban the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens and to terminate the Agreement under Article 17(5). The Agreement entered into force on November 1, 2012, to promote stronger safeguards for children and all parties involved in the intercountry adoption process. Under the termination clause of the Agreement, it will remain in force for one year, until January 1, 2014. Despite the adoption ban, the U.S. government remains committed to implementation and fulfillment of its obligations under the Agreement. The United States continues to urge the Russian government, in the spirit of the Agreement, to allow U.S. families already in the process of adopting a child from Russia to complete their adoptions so that these children may join permanent, loving families.

At this time the Russian government has provided no details on how Russian Federal Law No. 186614-6 will be implemented. The Department of State has no information on whether the Russian government intends to permit the completion of any pending adoptions.

Tony and I had to take a day-long class at the agency over the summer and I recall meeting a woman who had been in the process of adopting from Russia for a long time. Prior to the ban, a Russian adoption included three trips to Russia. Two trips for all of your medical evaluations, mental evaluations and various legal/court steps. The third to bring your child home. However, you meet your child on that first visit -- you get to see them and hold them and fall in love with them. 

My heart breaks for the families currently in process who do not know what is going to happen. My heart also breaks for those children, most (if not all) of whom live in an orphanage and have a rather difficult start in life. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Not Helping

I've mentioned this in past blog posts -- international adoptions from Korea have come to a grinding halt as the Korean Government tries to find the best way to implement a law adding a court review step to both domestic and international adoptions. As a result, no further emigration permissions will be issued until the court review process can be finalized. Only then will they allow the first group to move through it. As you may imagine, this is especially difficult for the families who have had their paperwork (quite literally) sitting with the Ministry waiting for approval since early October. This group had expected to travel in 2012, but will now be the first group to travel in 2013. 

Our local agency will be presenting a webinar late next week to update all of the waiting families on what is going on and what the future could hold. In the meantime, they shared this article with us as an example of why the court review is being deemed necessary and why there is increased pressure on the Korean Government to "get it right." I have not been able to find any other details about this family, so I will not make any assumptions about their intentions. Perhaps they simply didn't realize they were not following the proper procedures. Bottom line, though -- this is not helping.

Much of the recently heightened scrutiny around the adoption process by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and by the Korean Court system is a result of the allegedly illegal adoption of a Korean infant, which took place this year in the state of Illinois. Below is the most recent article from Korea’ Donga Ilbo newspaper (English translation).

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ARTICLE:

We are caught up in a situation in which a six-month infant girl has been illegally adopted overseas.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on the 11th [of this month], Couple A of the United States received a 19-day old baby on June 28, in Tong Yang, Gyeongnam [Korea] and headed for Chicago. The birthmother of the child, Mother B, is a birthmother in her 20s living in a group home for single mothers.

On the cusp of the delivery of the child, Mother B expressed to the Director of the group home where she was living, that she would like to make an adoption plan for her child. Through an acquaintance, the Director of the group home found Couple A in Chicago in the United States. Mother B signed a contract relinquishing her parental rights and she handed the child over to Couple A. Couple A claims that on the 13th of last month, they received custodial rights of the child from an Illinois Immigration Court. As Couple A were filing for custodial rights via the Courts, they also filed for a visa. Since the child does not have citizenship, it would be necessary for a visa to be issued in order for a visit in the United States to be possible. It is in this regard that the United States Office of Homeland Security suspects that Couple A did not receive the adoption visa (IR3) and adopted the child through a Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

On the 8th of last month, via the U.S. Embassy in Korea, the U.S. Office of Homeland Security inquired as to what the legal procedures for adoption via the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOWHA) are. This is the first instance in which the American government has made an official inquiry to the Korean Government regarding an international adoption.

The MOHWA notified the United States as to the results of the investigation regarding illegal overseas adoption.

In accordance with Korean adoption law, overseas adoption is only possible when there is no guardian or when the parental rights have been relinquished for children only under the age of 18 as allowed by the status of “child in care” as established by an adoption agency or via a judgment by the Family Court. A person affiliated with the MOHWA said, ‘The contract written by the child’s birthmother is not a legally valid format.’

Accordingly, on the 19th of last month, the U.S. government isolated the child from the care of Couple A. Couple A lashed back; the next day the couple filed suit with a Federal Court against the Office of Homeland Security for the return of the child.

The MOHW has come forward to bring back the child to Korea. On November 27 and 29 at a trial (part 1 and part 2) in U.S. Federal Court, an opinion was submitted that read ‘since this was a violation of the adoption law, the adoption is invalid.’ This month, the third trial was held and an employee of the MOHW attended. At that time, a lawsuit was filed in a court in the state of Illinois in the U.S. to involuntarily terminate the custodial rights of Couple A. The Korean Prosecutors’ Office has accused Couple A of alleged abduction of a minor, and has accused the director of the single mothers’ group home of alleged violation of adoption laws regarding the intermediary role of single mothers’ homes.

Since the second trial in Federal Court, and until the litigation is completed, Couple A has temporarily been designated custodian of the child. Currently, Couple A has the child and the original relinquishment of the child is still not clear. Things will changes in accordance with the final judgment of the Federal Court. Presently, we must wait to see if the Federal Court rules in favor of Couple A, and we must wait for the judgment of the state court as to whether it will terminate the couple’s formal request for custody of the child. The MOHW has said, ‘we are cooperating closely with the U.S. government. If the child is brought back, she will be placed for domestic adoption.’

Doing Our Part

Apparently we are just doing our part as we are contributing to the latest immigration trend here in the good old U.S. of A.  :) 
New Asian immigrants to US now surpass Hispanics
You can read the article by clicking the title above. They included some interesting statistics at the end of it as well. 

International Adoption - An Article

I came across an article in today's paper talking about the overall decrease in international adoption. It's written by an Associated Press writer, Margie Mason. She gets into a variety of issues including the Hague Adoption Convention (note that Korea is not part of the Hague Convention), fraud and countries shifting their domestic policies in order to reduce or eliminate international adoption. If you have a minute, it's an interesting read: click here for the text.