I read with great interest the August 1, 2009, Rainbow Kids article entitled Korea Slowly Closes to Adoption.  Seeing the history and numbers laid out so clearly makes one realize how far international adoption has come over the years and, more importantly, how many lives have been touched.  Over the decades, international adoption from Korea, one of the most predictable, consistent and transparent adoption programs in the world, has brought together thousands of families in the U.S. and around the world. 

While the August 2008 Korea article clearly describes the very real downward statistical trends noticed by many and goes on to suggest the possible end of Korean adoptions in the future, there are other professionals in the adoption community who believe that an international option will continue to provide hope for children from Korea far into the future. 

In the past several years, dramatic changes in Korean policy have created resources to encourage single parent family preservation and domestic adoption within Korea.  As a result, there has been an increase in the number of single mothers deciding to parent their infant children and, for those children who are placed for adoption , domestic adoption is an increasingly realistic option.  Because of this, the overall number of children coming into alternative care and necessitating an international option has decreased.  From a child welfare perspective, this is a very positive outcome. 

Unfortunately, these recent changes have not resulted in positive outcomes for all children.  Despite the policy changes and despite Korea's overall economic strength, children with special medical and developmental concerns and their families continue to have limited options in modern day Korea.  Infrastructural barriers (literally, curbs and stairs), a lack of therapeutic, educational and financial resources and the potential for life-long social discrimination continue to be barriers to success for ch ildren born with special needs in Korea. Because of this, Korean parents, when faced with difficult decisions around the future of a child born with special needs, will continue to consider international options for the health and well-being of their child. 

Korean adoption programming for children with special needs includes the same great procedural elements we have long come to associate with all Korean adoptions: quality medical assessments and treatment prior to placement; foster care in loving family homes, when medically possible; an occasional opportunity for "openness" between the adoptive and birth families; a large Korean adoptee community around the world.  For prospective adoptive parents, pursuing the referral of a Korean child born with special needs brings the comfort of working in a program with a long-standing reputation of excellence and the confidence of working in a program in which the ch ildren are supported with attentive and loving care.

Children with background issues that create medical and development unknowns need families just like all children.  Despite the overall downward trend of international adoptions from Korea, children with special concerns will continue to need access to families around the world.  Families open to a broad continuum of parenting possibilities and those able to approach adoption from a child's perspective will very likely find many wonderful children eligible for adoption from Korea for many years to come. Adopting from Korea remains a viable option to building a family. To learn more about Korean Adoption, visit the Korea Adoption Country page.

Contributed by Children's Home Society and Family Services, written by Richard J. Gibson.