4. The Baby Box

Before you read on, please watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwV9w5pd9go

I had heard of the place through the church we attend, Songtan Central Baptist.  Our pastor, Nelson Chapman, (great name!) had met Pastor Lee Jong Nak and wrote about him on his blog...

http://www.songtanbaptist.com/blog/2013/02/19/the-korean-baby-box-will-soon-open-its-story-of-love-around-the-world/

When I went to work two weeks ago I told M**** about the Baby Box and asked her if those babies are adoptable.  M**** is one of the nicest women I have ever met.  She and I have talked about my desire (and Patrick's) to have children and start a family and she is doing everything she can to help us.  She said we have touched her heart and she wants to help.  When I came back to work two days later she had already contacted the Baby Box and talked to Pastor Lee personally.  Sidenote: this is one thing I love about Korea, everyone is so willing to help and if they say they are going to do something they ALWAYS follow through and go above and beyond.  Pastor Lee explained that if the babies are in fact left in the box they must go to an Orphanage because there is no parent to consent to adoption on behalf of the child.  Private adoption can only happen if the mother is willing to consent and go through the legal process.  Since most mother's are leaving their child in the box because they do not want their name attached it doesn't seem like a good lead for us. 

However, after M***** gave me the news she leaned in and whispered, "I know that sometimes he meets the mothers."  My heart jumped out of my chest a little.  Patrick and I spoke a lot that week about what private adoption could or should look like.  What would we want to say to a potential birth mother? What information would she want to know about us?  This is where the akward part of private adoption comes into play. 

We had joked with our friends about handing out business cards with our names on them.  But after some real thought on the subject we decided to write a letter expressing our intentions, facts about us, and our message to a future birth mother. Luckily for us, we attended a marriage conference in Seoul the following weekend and had two hours in the car each way to jot down some notes.

M***** said she would like to take me to the Baby Box to meet Pastor Lee soon but nothing has been arranged just yet.  Patrick and I would like to have our letter completed and our intentions ready to share.