The H Man and I are having breakfast. Yes, he still loves those Cheerios. You'd think he'd be bored after almost a year of having them most, if not every, day but he still chomps them down happily. I wonder why Cheerios are the official snack of toddlers?
So, there are some big changes coming to the world of Korean adoption. Read this. The adoption boards are abuzz with the news and with people in panic mode...quite understandably. My heart goes out to those families that are waiting on a referral, or on their homestudy, or who are even just thinking about Korea for their adoption. This throws quite a wrench in the gears. It's hard not to panic when the dreams you have created (for many of us after years and years of devastating infertility) are suddenly in the uncertain hands of a foreign government that is undergoing a change in policy. I think as Korean adoptive parents we felt exempt from the usual uncertainties of international adoption...the program was deemed 'safe' by many for its predictability, its history of stability, and its consistency in delivering healthy infants to families around the world. Our hearts and minds cajoled us into thinking we didn't have to worry about program changes and slow downs, but if I think back to our homestudy visits a year and a half ago, our agency did mention an undercurrent of changes to come. So now those changes are indeed taking place, and we wait to see how it will all work itself out.
So what does this mean for our little family? We were planning to start a second adoption this year, and I think we'll still do that. We'll talk to our agency and see what they've heard, and we'll trust their judgement. They only handle Korean adoptions, so if Korea closes its doors for awhile (worst case scenario in my mind) we'll look into other countries and figure out what our next best option is.
I am trying to focus on the bigger picture, of the change as a good thing for the children of Korea and it really IS good. If the debilitating social stigma attached to being a child born out of wedlock or a mother who gives birth out of wedlock is changed within Korea that is a good thing. If domestic adoption increases for girls and boys in Korea, that is certainly a good thing. I am trying to look at it all as a citizen of the world, not just as a hopeful adoptive parent who might have to wait longer than anticipated to have another child. It is scary and a little devastating because, like so many others, we banked on predictability, stability, consistency, and history in growing our family. So we wait and watch, again.
Best wishes to those currently in the program...I sincerely hope that these changes don't keep you from your dreams of becoming parents, whether it's the first, second, or third time around.
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