Waiting Wednesday: Why South Korea?

We are often asked why we chose Korea. There are several answers to this question so I'll do the best I can explaining it.

~ We fit the profile: we are within the age ranges (Brian didn't qualify for some - he was too young :P), we are within the weight ranges (Korea actually has a set BMI that you must be under in order to qualify to adopt from there), and Korea allowed us to have 2 biological children at home and still adopt.

~ The timeline is on the faster end for international adoption. Approximately 18 months from start to finish (give or take a few months) is faster than many countries, even though it seems slow to us. Since we knew we were going to be here for 2 years (we're hoping for longer, but that's all we know for now) this fit within our time restrictions.

~ The children in Korea are around 1 when parents travel to bring them home. We hoped for a younger child so that there would be a fairly natural transition for B and G into having a younger siblings.

~ Cost and travel! While the cost of international adoption is pretty high no matter what, the fact that we only have to travel for a week definitely helps. Many countries require 2 trips and each trip is anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks in length. With 2 kids at home and Brian's job this wasn't a possibility for us. We also are likely to be able to travel to Korea with our children one day as well.

~ We will have a lot of information. We will have extensive medical information on our child as well as possible contact with the birthmom later on (that's up to her - we will send updates through our agency to the Korean agency once a year). Also, the foster system in Korea is wonderful.

There are many other factors that we discussed at the time but this gives an overview of our decision. I'll discuss domestic vs. international in another post.