13. Small World Application

Since our last post a few things have happened.

Ashley met with Pastor Nelson Chapman to gain insight on private/independent Korean adoptions.  He seemed to know the same info we do and is currently in the process of finalizing two adoptions himself.  He is a great support and we will stay in contact as our own process progresses.

We now know that in order for a private adoption to be legal it has to follow three separate areas of law.  It must fulfill Korean Law, U.S. Federal Law, and Texas State Law (since that is where we hold our residency).  The good news is that Texas state law basically defers to Federal Law so we only need to worry about two of the three.  We pursued finding an American adoption agency that would work with us and complete a home study.  A home study will navigate us through all of the various clearances we need to get (FBI, Child Abuse registry, and so on...) and is necessary to fulfill U.S. Federal Adoption Laws under the Hague Convention.

Last weekend we officially submitted an adoption application with Small World Adoption. http://smallworldadoption.com/

Today we received this email:

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Chapman,

 Thank you for your recent application to our Domestic program.  Upon review of your application, we have found it to be in accordance with the requirements of this program.  Congratulations!.... "

 

We'll spare you from the rest of the boring legalities, however, you may have noticed they said "domestic program."  That is because we are getting our home study through Small World in hopes of finding a match for private Korean adoption but we will be placed on their domestic list as well.  They told us that we look good on paper (to a birth mother) because we do not already have children and have sweet jobs (pilot/teacher). However, birth mothers almost never chose families who live overseas because that is a huge emotional leap.  And we completely understand not wanting to send a baby to Korea, we had our own reservations before we moved here and North Korea isn't the best neighbor.

 

So now we just have to wait patiently, hope and pray for a connection to be made, and complete piles of tedious paperwork. 

 

In other news, Ashley is beginning Hangul lessons (the written language of Korea) and it has started to snow on the ROK.  Watching snowfall from our 6th floor apartment is pretty spectacular!  Patrick recently returned home from a week long planning conference in the Philippines and has been flying a ton.  We are both tired, but life is good. :)  

 

 

12. The Letter is OUT!

I did not become a lawyer for a reason.

However, I am finding myself reading laws left and right in an attempt to protect ourselves and possibly our future child from a legal nightmare.  There are only two adoption agencies that I know of willing to work with us to do a home study and that is one of the many things we need to make a private adoption legal by U.S. standards. Tomorrow night, I have a Skype meeting with one of them, the director of Small World adoption.  http://smallworldadoption.com/  I am hoping that he can help clear up some of the legal jargon for me.

On Wednesday I have a meeting with Pastor Nelson Chapman of Songtan Central Baptist Church.  He and his wife are in the process of finalizing two independent Korean adoptions so he should have some good wisdom to share.

Now the even bigger news....

Tonight I saw M**** and her husband at bible study.  M**** gave me copies of our letter to a birth mother translated into Korean in a neat little folder.  She said she has been handing them out to all of her contacts but that these ones were for me.  (So excited....I now want to get one framed!) Mr. Joe then explained that he emailed our letter out to over 400 leaders around Korea.  Yes, you read that correctly, 400! So we may adopt a dozen kids now, LOL. He can see when someone has read his email so he is keeping tabs on who has seen it.  The largest church in the world is based in Seoul and the pastor of that church read our letter (the church has over 1 million members)! Check it out here http://english.fgtv.com/

 

I asked Mr. Joe how he thinks the Korean community will react to our letter.  He said that when they read it they will recognize a beautiful mind.  How precious is that?  Thanks Mr. Joe.

So when I titled this post "The Letter is OUT!"... I meant it.  We have no idea how far it has spread or to whom it has reached but it is exciting to think that a future baby Chapman could be a little closer than we realize. We are trying to praise God in all of these little (and BIG) connections that are hopefully going to grow our family.

Thanks for following our journey,
Ashley (and Patrick)

11. Confusion

I titled this post "confusion" because that is what this week has been.  It would be impossible for me to detail all the information that we have come across this week but here's a basic run down.  (We'll start with the good news.)

Our letter to a birth mother was shared with over 100 local businessmen/pastors today!  We are thrilled and hope this will lead us to a connection soon.

I came in contact with a woman who has been trying to complete a private adoption here in Korea for about a year.  She knows the ins and outs of the system far better than we do.  She told me (bluntly-might I add) that there is no way we can adopt from Korea privately because we are simply "out of time."  So...hours of research later...she may be right but she may not.

South Korea is scheduled to join the Hague convention on July 14th of 2014.  This is a good thing because it protects children from human trafficking.  The down side is that Korea really doesn't have it's act together as far as the adoption process goes.  The process has gotten much worse over the last ten years.  The country has more babies than it can handle, prides itself on taking care of it's own (rejecting help), and is limiting international adoptions (again, out of pride). 

After July, private adoptions will be illegal and an agency must be used.

So, you would think we have until July to find a match, right?  According to this lady, all adoption paperwork must be completed 190 days prior to the Hague convention going into effect (Feb 14, 2014).  In order for the paperwork to be complete you need several (and I am using that term lightly) documents including FBI background checks (6 weeks for completion), child abuse background checks (6 weeks for completion), and a home study (2-6 months for completion).  We have to comply with all U.S. Federal Laws, Texas State Laws, and South Korean Laws.

From my research, I cannot find anything saying all of this needs to be completed 190 days out.  However, we are getting fingerprinted tomorrow and have contacted several agencies asking for rush home studies. 

This is definitely an all or nothing season for us.  We are working really hard in obedience to what we feel called to do not knowing if anything will come of it.  It is exhausting but at least we will know at the end that we did our best regardless of the outcome.  Please keep all of this in your prayers!