Welcome to MPAK

EP - It is Really Happening!

2012-03-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

EP is really happening in Korea, starting from March 5th.
I got this email from a friend of mine who works at an adoption agency in Korea.

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Dear Steve,

Hope this finds you and your family quite well as always.
As of today, March 5 (Mon), the Ministry began to accept our paperworks for EPs.
It's a great news though delayed.

Hope you another great day!
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I wish all the waiting families have a great day as well at this great news!

Steve Morrison

EP - The Long Awaited News

2012-02-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

Folks,

A Great News!
Indeed, a long awaited news.

Just called an agency in Korea, and subsequently called MOHW to verify the information.
The agencies will start submitting the EP requests to MOHW next week.
It could be anywhere between Monday, March 5th and Friday the 9th.

When I asked MOHW whether they were able to sort through all the regulations regarding adoption laws and other regulations and policies, they said they were not finished, but said that it will be an ongoing process. Regardless, they do want to move on with issuing the EPs.

I would like to think that all of you have contributed in some ways to make this happen.
Thanks to all of you for waiting patiently all these months.

Your prayers have been answered.
As for me, I just had to thank the Lord.

Steve Morrison

Prayers for Children

2012-02-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

Folks,

Melissa Carbone-Wong, a waiting mother posted the following image below to lift up all the children and the parents in prayer. Starting Sunday, February 26, 2012, there will be nightly prayer vigils at 7PM Eastern Standard Time, which would be 4PM Pacific Standard Time. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whether you drive or whether you are working, spend a minute or two to pray for all the children that need to come home. Pray for all the anxious parents that they will trust God, and find peace in their hearts and certainty that their children will come home soon.

I would like to thank Melissa for providing the image below.

To start off, here is my prayer...

Dear Heavenly Father,

May your name be praised.

You are the maker of heaven and earth,

and your glory is displayed everywhere.

We lift up to you the children you have given to us,

Those children not of wombs but of our hearts,

Not of near but across the ocean,

May your wings carry them all towards the waiting homes.

May you bless all the waiting mothers and fathers,

As they count day by day,

As they behold the pictures of their beloved children,

May you hear their cries and waiting that seems eternity.

May they have faith in your providence,

May they have faith in themselves,

That no amount of turbulence and waves will shake their resolve,

That those who don't know you will come to trust you.

You are the God who created the universe at your command,

We believe you can move the hearts of those in authority in Korea,

That they will hear the voices of those children that need to come home,

That they will hear the cries of waiting parents that have anguished so long.

That their hearts will see duties beyond their daily affairs,

That they would make the right decisions on behalf of the voiceless children.

That they will bring joyful union of families with children,

And let the people witness the faithfulness of the Lord and give thanks.

In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

MOHW Response Received

2012-02-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

Folks,

This is the response from MOHW last night. I was surprised at how quickly they responded to me this time. However, MOHW was very careful not to reveal the date when they might start issuing the EPs, but their response should help all of you to understand what is going on, at least to a certain extent. The recommendations have been made and they are waiting for an approval from the higher up.

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"...Currently, we have submitted our recommendations for the direction of issuing EPs and determination process and other issues for this year. I wish to express my regrets in the delays in the EP process due to the impending impacts by the new adoption laws that will go into effect this year.

For all the concerned and waiting parents, it is our hope that in the future something could be worked out between the agencies to shorten the waiting periods between the time of referral and the time of granting EPs.

Also starting this August, all adoptions will be handled through the Adoption Court, and there will be greater scrutiny in determining the qualification of adoptive parents. (See Steve’s Note 1 below)

There is also an issue of adoptive parents’ responsibility in the US on obtaining the US Citizenships for their adopted children, and please explain to the parents how important this procedure is. (See Steve’s Note 2 below)

Even the US State Department got involved with the issue of long wait period and the issue of some adoptees not getting the US citizenships. We are keenly aware of these problems and it is our hope to resolve them as soon as possible.

I thank you for your interest in adoption and your continued assistance to us."

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Steve’s Note 1: This does not apply to parents of intercountry adoption since there is already a thorough screening process in place through the adoption agencies in the US. What MOHW means here by ‘greater scrutiny’ is that there are thousands (between 3000 – 5000) of ‘unofficial’ adoptions taking place within Korea with no home studies nor proper adoption process. Often a verbal agreement is all that is needed to adopt, and this practice has resulted in very high number of adoption disruptions in Korea (i.e. 700 disruptions in a given year). However, the domestic adoptions that have gone through the proper adoption process through Holt, Eastern, SWS and other smaller agencies, the disruption rate is less than 1%. MOHW is now going to require all adoptive parents go through proper screening process to adopt children.

Steve’s Note 2: Some adoptive parents either forget or ignore to apply for the US citizenship for their children. There are some adult adoptees that have grown up in the US, only to find out later that they are not US citizens. Some adult adoptees have run into the laws, and once these adoptees were reported to the immigration authority, they were deported to Korea. MOHW is trying to stop this happening in the future. Unfortunately, there are some adoptees living in Korea that were deported have joined anti-adoption organization and have spoken against intercountry adoption. Parent, please do your thing.

A Voice of a Waiting Mom - A Cry to Korea

2012-02-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

Folks,

I have just sent another letter to MOHW - A cry letter.

I sent a letter to let the people at MOHW know what is going through the hearts of all the parents that are waiting for their children to come home soon. I used an example from a mail sent to me yesterday by one of the waiting mothers, and I felt that she captured the hearts of all those who are waiting, and I strongly felt that Korea needs to hear the voices of those waiting.

Of course, I translated the message into Korean and sent it.

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.... I don't think anyone over in Korea understands what it means to fall in love with a picture and know, in your soul, that child was meant for you. I think they see us as desperate people who just want ANY baby. That's not the case. I look at the pictures of my son and in my heart, he is our son. I couldn't love him more than if I gave birth to him. If you understood.....I mean REALLY got it...there's no way you would make these parents wait even one more day. Do you understand the thousands of adoptive parents out there who literally wake up thinking of their children? Do you know that we wonder what our children are doing? We look at what time it is in Seoul & HOPE today is the day MOHW will begin processing the EPs. It is as if our lives are held hostages through this experience....

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Please keep on praying.

EP Restart - In February, Not Mid-February

2012-02-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

Folks,

I must apologize for a slight misunderstanding in my understanding of Korean. When I inquired a few weeks ago to MOHW about the EP restart (see my Feb 1 posting) , I was told that it will be in "ewol-joong" (meaning in February). I misunderstood this to mean mid-February, as "joong" usually means "middle". However, I forgot that it could also mean all inclusive February.

Today, I got a reply from the MOHW in response to my inquiry several days ago, and that their intention was to restart the EP process anytime in February, not mid-February as I originally understood. So my sincere apology to you all for not having properly understood the initial message from the MOHW and gave you folks a false hope.

"Ewol-joong" means "in February". So as of now, the MOHW plans to begin the EP process in February, and that leaves about ten days left to go for them to restart. I really really hope they will start in "ewol-joong", meaning they will restart the EP process before the March arrives. Like all of you, I am crossing my fingers.

EP Situation - Sorry No News Yet - Another Inquiry Made to MOHW

2012-02-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

Folks,

Thank you for being patient. I made another inquiry to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) yesterday. I called a couple of agencies in Korea two nights ago and they haven't heard anything. But I strongly believe the EPs will be issued soon. If the MOHW restarts the EP process, I am sure the agencies will be the first to hear about it. If I do hear from MOHW, I will certainly let you all know.

Many have written to me saying that they have waited over 15 months, and this experience has been very trying and hard. My heart is with you all. But most of all, my heart goes out to all the children that have waited long and have grown attached to their foster mothers taking care of them, and to separate the children from them when they leave Korea - that will be extremely hard for the children and the foster mothers as well.

That is why it is so important that children come home when they are in their single digit months. Something needs to change in Korea between the government and the agencies to avoid this from happening. There is no reason why a child referred must wait 15 months to go home. This is really not right.

My EP Dream Last Night

2012-02-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

You might find this a little humorous.

I actually had a dream last night that MOHW started to issue EP permission.
In my dream, I received an email from a couple thanking me as they got an EP news from an agency.
While I haven't done much to warrant such an email from the couple that I didn't know, it was still nice to hear that they got the EP and the EP process started to flow again.

Like many of you, the EP process flow has been a burden in my heart for a very long time and has had a haunting effect on me. So much so that it would show up in my dream.

I am praying that this dream will become a reality any moment and that your sons and daughters will all come home soon.

Steve Morrison

Honest Questions and Answers - by Adoptees

2012-02-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

This dialogue exchange is found in the recently created facebook page for Voice of Love campaign. This is found in http://www.facebook.com/groups/320976787942626/. I post it for all the adoptive parents so that they will be aware of some of the questions or concerns that their children my someday ask, and be able to help them out in their search for who they are and where they came from.

An adoptee named Jenna remarked:

The wall seems to be closed. This campaign has been greatly discussed and debated with many Korean adoptees on various forums. I've read mostly mixed reactions to it. I just want to clarify, some are outraged, some are confused, some are on... the fence. What seems to be the unofficial consensus is that this campaign has it's good intentions but leaves out the Korean adoptee's full experience. We understand positive stories about being adopted would promote the campaign, however many believe it should be with caution. Because it's just not realistic to say adoptions is all sunshine and rainbows. And in my personal opinon, THAT IS OK that there are bad that comes with the good. If you really want to promote this more efficiently, you have to mention that adopting a child (domestically OR internationally) comes with it's amazing benefits and also possible issues along the way. What I am referring to is #1, most likely when we become teenagers, everyone starts asking "who am i?' Korean adoptees have to deal with the fact that they don't know what their biological parents look like, act like.. etc. #2 they have to deal with another layer of being an interracial family. These two things should not be ignored. And every child reacts differently to these two main issues. I think it's great to promote international adoption, but promoting a healthy adoptive parent - adoptee relationship is even more vital. Parents need to learn about ALL consequences and learn how to deal with them properly. I can't stress how important it is to be 110% supportive of your child / teenager / adult adoptee if they become curious to find their bio parents. This can make or break your relationship. Sorry if this is not the right place to say it, but I wanted to stress this.

Steve Morrison replied:

Jenna, your comments are perfectly valid. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion. I think the agencies nowadays are a lot more familiar with the issues related to adoptees as their many babies have grown up to express their experiences and voice opinion. The agencies are now requiring education for potential parents and these issues are starting to be discussed. As an adoptee myself, and now an adoptive father, I am on the opinion that while it is good to make the adoptive parents be aware of the potential issues, when you look at the homeless children, they need homes. They need to grow up in loving family environment where they will have equal chance of being loved, educated, and have opportunity to be who they can become. This opportunity is significantly reduced if children don't get adopted and grow up in institutions. I lived in an institution for eight years before being adopted at 14, and still remember wanting to loved and have my own family, and longed to be adopted. Recently we also adopted an older boy from an orpahange in Korea, and he has expressed the same sentiment. Most of the adoptees have not gone through the experience of living in institutions and they seem to be far removed from the feelings and longings of 20,000 children that are living in the 280 institutions in Korea. I would strongly recommend that many adoptees visit or do some volunteer works in many orphanages to get a dose of reality of not being adopted. It is true that adoptees will go through some cultural/racial/identity issues, some more than others, and you are absolutely right that adoption is not all sunshine and rainbows. But we cannot let these fears deter from providing homes for children whether they be adopted domestic or international. Our job is to provide a voice for these children to have homes of their own. This is the reason for the Voice of Love movement. Thanks for the honest discussion.

Naleigh Moon - by Josh Kelly

2012-02-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

I had to share this incredibly beautiful and a moving music video by singer Josh Kelley, who sings of his love for his adopted daughter Naleigh. Josh is the husband of the actress Katherine Heigl, and their adoption story is widely known.

I want to sincerely thank Josh Kelley for making this video, as his story is not unique to just to him and Katherine, but is shared and echoed by all those wonderful non-Korean couples that have adopted children from Korea, that they too feel the same love and joy expressed by Josh Kelley and Katherine Heigl.

"Naleigh Moon"

I know the kind of guy I am
A bit too much and to myself
Not much left for someone else
And I'm sure I cause my share of pain
But all that changed
When you first touched my face

[Chorus:]
Halfway around my little world
You had no idea that you were my girl
You found my arms not a moment too soon
I couldn't see past me till I saw you
My sweet Naleigh Moon

I love the man you're makin' me
Yeah, everyday, I wanna prove
There's nothin' I won't do for you
Just to see you in your mama's arms
Is more than enough
To bring me to my knees

[Chorus:]
Halfway around my little world
You had no idea that you were my girl
You found my arms not a moment too soon
I couldn't see past me till I saw you
My sweet Naleigh Moon

I can't imagine life without my
Naleigh Moon

Halfway around my little world
You had no idea that you were my girl
You found my arms not a moment too soon
I couldn't see past me till I saw you
I couldn't see past me till I saw you
Naleigh Moon
My sweet Naleigh Moon

EP is Expected to Flow Again by Mid-February

2012-02-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

Many have written to me inquiring on the status of the EP process.
I have been informed that the EP process should start again by mid-February.

As for the priority service for Korean-heritage couples, this is still being reviewed by the Ministry as they try to come up with some ways to be fair for non-Korean-heritage families, and at the same time come up with some meaningful ways to serve Korean-heritage families.

But the good news is that the EP process is expected to flow again by mid-February.
This is indeed a very good news for all the families that have waited so long.
Let's hope that there will be no more delays.

Regarding Negative Comments by Adoptees on Voice of Love Campaign

2012-01-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post my own thoughts based on some critical comments made on the Voice of Love facebook (http://www.facebook.com/groups/320976787942626/). One need to look at the whole thing in a big picture. Adoptions can go wrong. So can children born and living with their biological parents can be unhappy or don't turn out so good. Does this mean that we should stop having children to avoid risk of bringing any mishap in their life? Definitely ...not.

Adoption has some risks, just as children have some risk of growing up under their biological families, or even under their unwed mothers.

Likewise it is the same when it comes to adoption. There are adoptions that don't turn out well. But that's true in normal non-adoptive families where relationships just don't work out. What is their reasons for not turning out so well. Therefore, can you really blame your misfortune in family relationships solely on adoption?

One can share their unfortunate experiences and express their opinion on intercountry adoption, but that should not be the reason to stop all intercountry adoption. Adoption may not have worked for them, but for there are so many more children that have been blessed through intercountry adoption. Intercountry adoption provides opportunity for homeless children at least chance for them to make something of themselves. This is very limited if they have to live in institutions in Korea had they not been adopted.

I wish to comment about unwed mothers situation in Korea on my next comment.

Steve

Voice of Love - A Partnership in Voice for Homeless Children

2012-01-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

MPAK has partnered with Hope for Orphans and the Onnuri English Ministry in Korea to speak out for the voiceless homeless children who need homes. I want all the adoptive families, adoptees, and friends to visit the Voice of Love website and please respond with your voice.

The Pastor Eddie Byun of Onnuri and Mr. Paul Pennington of Hope for Orphans are featured in this short video. For all those waiting families, and for all those waiting children, we continue to be your voice.

Please pray that this will spread like a fire and will bring a new doors of opportunities for thousands of homeless children in Korea.

Listen to the Voice of Love

Another Request Sent to Expedite the EP Process

2012-01-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

Just sent another request to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to process the EP while they are reviewing/revising the policies related to adoption in Korea, rather than wait till all the review/revision is worked out. I asked them whether they couldn't do this simultaneously.

I mentioned that there are many families in the US that are on the edge for having waited so long and eagerly waiting for the arrival of their children. And then there are those children that need to be united with their families. I said that I am appealing on behalf of all the waiting parents and children.

Let's pray that all the issues will be quickly resolved at MOHW and the waiting children will be home soon.

Everyone Is Waiting for Exit Permits to Flow

2012-01-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Updated Blog

I have been getting many questions from a lot of readers wanting to know when the EP process for the year 2012 will begin as everyone is anxiously waiting for The Call.

As the new year has dawned, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has not issued any new Exit Permits (EPs) yet. This is typical in a new year as MOHW usually starts to flow the EP process by mid-January to late January. So the agencies are all waiting for the go ahead signal from MOHW.

The MOHW is working out some guidelines that need some clarifications. They are examining the issues of recent cases of forced deportations by the US on the adoptees that were legally adopted into the US, but somehow the parents overlooked to finalize the adoption process and to file for the US citizenship for them. MOHW is wanting to prevent this from happening and they are reviewing the process of citizenship acquisition process. Also, there is the issue of giving priority to Korean heritage families, where questions remain as to who would qualify and what process is needed. This has not been clearly spelled out yet, thus not able to implement priority service to Korean heritage couples yet. There is also the review due to the changes in the adoption law that requires the family court in Korea to handle both the domestic and the overseas adoptions. So they need to figure out different responsibilities shared between the MOHW and the family court.

MOHW has not yet assigned the quota numbers to the agencies yet. In the past they let the process flow and let the agencies know what their quota would be later, but the agencies do not know what direction the MOHW will take.

The bottom line is this. I think the wait is going to be a little longer this year, but hopefully not too long a wait. I did request MOHW if it isn't possible to start the EP process while all the changes are being made, but I think they are understaffed.

The adoption agencies in Korea and in the US - they are all waiting, just like many of you are. So Everyone is Waiting for the EP process to flow again. The agencies will be more than happy to hear from MOHW to start the EP process again. Hopefully it won't be long. I will post new information as they come my way.

A Dream Come True - Termination of Parental Rights in Korea

2011-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

It took over 15 years to accomplish this in Korea, and the dream has finally been achieved at last.

The Korean National Assembly has just passed a new bill yesterday (December 29, 2011) that would allow more children to be available for adoption by terminating the parental rights. The new law allows the following: 1) The termination of parental rights to those parents that have given up their parental relationship with their children for three years, especially those children in 280 institutions in Korea, 2) Termination of parental rights for those parents that abuse or neglect their children or unfit to raise them, and 3) That all adoption decisions will be handled by the Children's Court, and that any adoption disruptions must go through a due process of the law through the Children's Court.
Also, the law raised the adoptable age of a minor from 15 to 18. This new law will go into effect on July 1, 2013.

Up to now, the knowledge that an orphan has been registered into a family after the birth disqualified children from being available for adoption. This for fear that somewhere in Korea may live a parent of an orphan, and that parent may someday come back to reclaim the child. Currently only the children that have been officially relinquished by their birthmothers, or by the orphanage directors who could sign the relinquishment papers for those children that didn't have any birth registry records, were allowed to be adopted.

Over the years, thousands of children had to grow up into their adulthood as orphans because of their family registry binded them into the families that weren't there for them. For example, a child is born and the birth family registers the child into the family. But due to various reasons such as economic hardship or marital conflict, the birth parents decide to put the child into an orphanage, promising that they will someday come back to reclaim the child if their economic or marriage conditions improve. It is typical that the child will never hear from the birth parents again. The child has been physically abandoned, but not adoptable due to the fact that he was registered into a family, and due to a fact that somewhere there is a birth parent in Korea that might one day come back to reclaim the child. In the mean time the child grows up in the orphanage, and never once visited or contacted by his birth parent, and is forced out of the orphanage when he turns 18. I cannot forget a comment by an orphanage director who really cared for her children. She said, “The fact that there are birth parents living somewhere in Korea has been the most detrimental to children’s rights to grow up in homes.”

This is a very typical scenario of most of the orphans in Korea. While many parents promise to take their children back once their condition at home improve, in truth they have abandoned their children completely. I have been told around 80% of the orphans living in various institutions fall into this category. Now the orphans will have chance to have families of their own. Thanks to the new law that was just passed.

I mentioned at the beginning that it took 15 years to accomplish this. I first mentioned this issue to the visiting Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) officials at the KAAN Conference in 1997 held at Los Angeles using a message written on a piece of paper. While the Ministry went through many personnel changes, I never failed to mention this again and again and again each time I visited Korea. I talked with my MPAK members, and talked with a few professors and a few lawmakers as well. MPAK has been at the forefront to push for this change for the past 15 years.

In the year 2000, at the very first MPAK National Conference to Promote Domestic Adoption in Korea, we at MPAK put together the Ten Propositions to the Korean Government improve the domestic adoption in Korea ( 대정부건의안). As of today, nine of those propositions came true. One of them was the establishment of the National Adoption Day, which became reality in 2006, and yesterday’s passage on the termination of parental rights became our ninth proposition that became reality. I will post in another blog what the other eight propositions were.

I would like to give a special thanks to Mrs. Han, Youn Hee of MPAK Korea president who shared this same vision and pushed for this many years, and to all the MPAK members who worked as one body to be a voice for so many voiceless children in Korea. While the three years wait before the parental rights termination is still too long (whereas in the US depending on states the wait is between six to 15 months), nevertheless it is a start.

I would also like to thank all the adoption agencies that shared the same values and saw the needs of many children and came to their rescue time and time again despite all the criticisms they had to endure over the years.

Adoption Finalized for Benjamin

2011-12-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

It took seven months to do it.
Benjamin is now officially declared as our son and proudly bears the last name "Morrison".
Our family stood before a judge and Hyeondong Lee became Benjamin Lee Morrison.

I give sincere thanks to Dillon International for being very helpful from the very start of the application process.
I also like to express a hearty thanks to the Eastern agency in Korea for taking on a difficult adoption case that is so characteristic of adopting older kids from institutions, that other agencies in Korea don't want to get involved with.

Many of you may have been wondering how Benjamin is doing since he was adopted seven months ago as a fourteen years old boy from Korea. He lived all his fourteen years at an orphanage.
To make the long story short, he is doing very well, and is doing great in school also.
We had some challenging moments (the first five months were very difficult).
I plan to share with the readers some of those difficulties we faced in later blogs, and share how we were able to cope and come out of it. I hope we are out of it.

But there is no denying that there has been some tremendous changes in his attitude and in his behavior. We are very fortunate and we thank God that we have come so far.

But for now, I just want to share with you that Benjamin's adoption has been finalized.

Our whole family went to the court to witness Benjamin officially being declared as our son. Ben's grandparents also joined in this special occasion. Ben is holding the Certificate of Family Membership given by the court.

The adoption finalization was granted by the Hon. John Henning, the judge that swore us in. What's interesting was though, this was the same judge that finalized our Joseph (behind Ben next to Mom) 10 years ago. I introduced Joseph to him saying that he finalized Joseph's adoption when he was four years old. The judge was pleasantly surprised to see our family again after ten years.

Benjamin with Mom and Dad, holding his Certificate of Family Membership

The Morrison Kids - Outside the Courthouse

Ever playful kids - (L to R) Jane, Joseph, and Helen. Good thing they didn't do this inside the court room.

MPAK-West Christmas Gathering

2011-12-11T23:28:00.001-08:00

The three MPAK groups in Southern California - MPAK-LA, Valley, and OC groups gathered together for the 12th Annual MPAK Christmas Gathering at the Cerritos Presbyterian Church (CPC) on Saturday, December 3, 2011. There must have been around 150 people in all as the turn out was the biggest ever.

The program started with a sumptuous dinner with lots of great foods, then moved on to an adoption story by Charles and Hedy Lee, as they shared their adoption journey of bringing Faith from Korea recently. The slide presentation given by Charles was awesome as many hearts were touched.

Then there was a magic show by Mr. David Skale, where all the children really enjoyed the magic show. They were all captivated by the show and Mr. Skale made it interactive with the kids participating. Then at the closing our Santa (none other than Brian Shin) showed up for the gift exchange for kids. The evening closed with a group photo, and a brief prayer for the homeless children in Korea.

Special thanks to all those who decorated the place, the tremendous turn out with lots of great foods, and all those that remained till the end to help with the clean-up. Last but not least, a hearty thanks to the Cerritos Presbyterian Church for allowing us to use their facility. Thanks to you all who came and made the Christmas Gathering a special occasion.

12th Annual MPAK Christmas Gathering, December 3, 2011

A Special Cake for Our Gathering - The cake was brought by Emile and Jenny Mack

The Panorama View of the Gathering

Another panorama view of the gathering

Dinner time enjoyed by the MPAK kids

On the screen are Charles and Hedy Lee holding Faith while they were in Korea

Daddy Charles and the newest daughter Faith as Charles shared his journey of bringing Faith home

A magic by Mr. David Skale - Natalie Shin and Nicholas Yum volunteered to be laughed at.

Kids being mesmerized by the magic show

My daughter Jane Morrison volunteered to ride on a Magic Carpet

The Clark Family (Darren and Kim, and the new son from Korea) with the Santa played by Brian Shin

North Korean Refugee Adoption Act

2011-12-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

Friends,

Please visit the following link to help the homeless children in North Korea.

This announcement is by Sandra Oh, a Korean-American actress. Please respond to her plea by signing your petition at: http://www.thinkchildren.org/

Or watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-dO1u6H5Ik&feature=share

Sign your petition at http://www.thinkchildren.org/ It is very easy for you to sign.

The contents in http://www.thinkchildren.org/ says:

As a constituent of yours, I urge you to support the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011 (H.R. 1464/ S.416).

In 1961, Dr. Arthur Schneider adopted Sam Han-Schneider by means of a private bill S.1100, which allowed, for the first time, a bachelor to adopt and bring a foreign child to the United States. Sam Han-Schneider is the founder of Han-Schneider International Children's Foundation, which provides for orphans in need around the world today.

The North Korean Refugee Adoption Act, if passed, would allow Americans to adopt refugee orphans who have fled the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to neighboring countries such as Mongolia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. These children are struggling in harsh circumstances, and run the risk of being sent back to DPRK. According to the World Food Program, DPRK faces regular food shortages, and one in three North Korean children under five are chronically malnourished.

Right now, it is extremely difficult to bring refugee children to the United States. One American family on the east coast is currently working to secure the adoption of two orphaned siblings from DPRK. The adoption process for them could take anywhere from three to 10 years, and approval is not guaranteed. The passage of this Act would reduce the waiting time for families seeking to adopt refugee orphans.

This is not simply an adoption issue, or a Korean American issue. Refugee orphans do not have access to food and clean water, and are vulnerable to human trafficking and deportation. The North Korean Refugee Adoption Act would lessen the burden on parents in the United States who wish to provide a safe and caring home for refugee orphans.
Please vote in favor of the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act (H.R. 1464 and S. 416).

Thank you for your support.

Grand scheme of adopting – Getting in front of the adoption line

2011-12-01T07:06:00.001-08:00

Note: This article was originally posted in the Chicago Tribune on November 20, 2011. It is posted in this blog with permission from Jae-Ha Kim, who wrote the article. Jae-Ha Kim is a syndicated columnist that gives credit to MPAK for her being able to adopt.

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Jae-Ha and her husband Denton with Kyle

By Jae-Ha Kim
November 20, 2011

A couple years ago, actress Katherine Heigl and her husband adopted a little baby girl from South Korea. No one would say that they didn't deserve to be parents. But what some folks — myself included — found curious was that they had been married for less than two years when they were matched with their child.

Who cares? Well, Korea cares, actually. One of the requirements for foreigners to adopt Korean children is that they have to be heterosexuals who have been married for at least three years.

I know this for a fact, because when my husband and I had started our adoption process — with the same agency that Heigl used — we were told that we would not be able to adopt from Korea because (1) we hadn't been married long enough and (2) by the time we had been married long enough, we'd be too old to adopt from Korea.

OK, not we. Me. I'd be too old. That agency's cutoff age was 43. (Darn. Now ya'll know I'm older than 43.)

I pointed out to the agency that I was born in Korea, spoke the language and would be able to raise the child with a sense of his or her birth culture. So perhaps Korea might make an exception. An employee of the agency told me, "None of that matters. You won't be able to adopt."

Thanks goodness we didn't give up. With a minimal amount of research, I found out that this woman wasn't telling the complete truth. Whether it was because she didn't know any better or just didn't care enough is debatable. But we learned that Korea offered a little more leeway — especially when it came to age — for adoptive parents of Korean heritage.

After my husband and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary, we got cracking. After all, neither one of us — especially me — was getting any younger. Through a work contact's cousin, who was married to a reporter who was working in Seoul at the time, who had just covered a news conference about adoption, I found Steve Morrison. Morrison is this awesome adoptee who founded Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea. He put me in touch with another adoption agency. This agency ultimately worked with us so that we could adopt the cutest, smartest and most awesome baby boy in the world.

This is a long-winded way of backing into a peeve of mine. I find it really irritating when you are accused of being unsupportive if you happen to disagree with someone else's opinion. On a public adoption bulletin board, I — along with some other adoptive parents — wondered how Heigl and her husband had been able to circumvent the marriage requirement. Not that I fault them for jumping at the opportunity to bring home their child sooner rather than later. But why were they given special treatment?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Several of us mused that perhaps, maybe just perhaps, Heigl's celebrity status had something to do with getting to jump to the front of the line. Yes, the child had a health issue (that has been rectified). But the same could be said for the child we would've adopted through that agency. Heigl also has a sister, who was adopted from Korea, so maybe that gave her an advantage. Who really knows?

But I found it surprising that there were quite a few posters who took our questioning of the system to mean that we hated Heigl and were just downright bitter. One woman (though I suppose it could've been a man) posted: "Unless you know her it's lame to say she has special treatment."

Oh, I'm sorry. Because we all know that celebrities never receive special treatment. Ever.

Another said she was new to the forum and was disappointed at how mean some people were. To tell you the truth, that just made me want to kick her while wearing my pointiest shoes.

I could make some snarky assumptions as to why Heigl might receive special treatment. But the end result is that an orphan found loving parents in Heigl and her hubby. And for that I'm grateful.

I'm even more grateful that things worked out the way they did for us. Because if that first agency hadn't given us erroneous information that delayed our process, we would have been matched with a different child.

I don't believe that things happen for a reason. Or that things were meant to be. I don't believe much in fate, either.

But I can't imagine life without my beautiful son. I'm sure that's a sentiment that Heigl and I share about our children.

For what it's worth, I had wanted to get Heigl's take for this piece, but her publicist declined the interview request. Fair enough. She's a busy lady.

And because I tend to get angry emails when I write articles that aren't 100 percent glowing about celebrities, let me just say: Yes, I'm fully aware that Heigl is prettier, younger, thinner and infinitely wealthier than I am. But … My husband is smoking hot, and I think that's a pretty fair equalizer in the grand scheme of things.

MPAK National Conference to Promote Domestic Adoption in Korea

2011-11-28T17:39:00.001-08:00

I have been back to the States two weeks ago, and hadn't had a time to post my trip to Korea until now.
MPAK had its 11th Annual National Conference to Promote Domestic Adoption in Korea. It is 11th year instead of 12th year since we skipped one year due to SARs influenza that spread through Korea two years ago, and the government advised against people congregating.

This year's conference was at Jeonju, a city three hours southwest of Seoul.
The conference drew approximately 600 people from all over Korea.
Mainly the MPAK adoptive families came by bus loads from Busan, Kwangju, Seoul, etc.
The conference was held at the Jeonju University, which had a beautiful campus on a hillside.

The group photo of the people that remained to take the picture after the conference.

The city of Jeonju is very beautiful, as the city prides in the traditionally famous Korean dish called, "Jeonju Bibimbap", which is a mixture of lots of vegetables with rice with sesame seed oil and hot bean paste in a hot stone pot. The city also prides in establishing a section of the city with many traditional style houses or buildings to use as hotels or restaurants, and our group stayed one night in such a place. The road to Jeonju was also a pleasant one except for a few spots of traffic jams.

The Road to Jeonju

As we entered the Jeonju University campus, several banners hung on the side of the streets to announce our MPAK events, and they hung there as if to welcome us. The banner states, "An Event of Love and Happiness, Adoption! A Field of Celebration " This was held on November 12, 2011.

Fun activities like crafts were offered to children as they got ready for the conference.

Moonbounces, a stilt walker with balloons, many happy kids enjoyed various activities.

Face paintings for kids

Stage was decorated with fancy ballooons

A senior citizen harmonica band started the event. They kept wanting to play more music, but we kindly had step in to stop them hogging up the time - only lmited time for other programs.

Adopted children from MPAK-Jeonju put on a traditional dance performance that delighted all those in the audience.

Brian Shin, who is from Aliso Vijeo, CA, delivered a moving story of his adoption experience that was a highlight of the event. He and his wife Kathy have adopted three children from Korea. Although Brian lives in the US, the story of adoption is a common bond that unites adoptive parents, and they were blessed through his story.

The audience listens to Brian Shin's adoption story

MPAK Adoptee Children's Choir consists of all adopted children, and they practice weekly. I believe this is one of a kind of choir group, all consisting of adopted children that I have not seen elsewhere in the world. There is a potential that this choir may visit the US to perform next year, but financing their trip is the biggest challenge.

All in all, the amount of efforts and details put into such conference was an enormous undertaking. The event will most likely result in helping more children find homes. I would like to thank MPAK staff in Korea for their hard works and all the volunteers that helped. But most of all I would like sincerely thank all the adoptive families that drove long distance to come together to celebrate adoption from all over Korea.

In the fall of 2000, when I organized the 1st conference to promote domestic in Korea, a special pastor couple attended the conference out of curiosity after seeing a banner in the street announcing our event. They were so moved by our event and immediately adopted a baby girl within weeks of time. That baby is standing at the far right in the picture above (tallest girl). Her name is Suha Kim, whose story was featured earlier at: http://mpakusa.blogspot.com/2011/08/suha-kims-story-childs-perspective-in.html.

Adoption is Love.

Adoption is Born of Hearts.

Adoptee Deportation Issue

2011-11-22T10:07:00.001-08:00

Adoptees that don't have the US citizenships are being deported by the USCIS.

This is the letter I wrote to the US Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who sits on a committee for the US Department of Homeland Security that oversees the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
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Dear Hon. Landrieu,

My name is Steve Morrison and I remember meeting you at the Adoptee Gathering in DC in 1999. Susan Cox organized the event and she is like my older sister and very close.

Two weeks ago I visited Korea and had a chance to have a meeting with the officials in the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). I have a real good relationship with MOHW as I have been promoting domestic adoption and also by Korean-Americans to reach out and adopt homeless children for over ten years. I am also an adoptee and the founder of Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea (MPAK), http://www.mpak.com/

During my visit with MOHW, I was told by the officials a couple of adoptees that had the issue of not getting the US citizenship and were living in Korea. They asked me if I could do something for them when I return back to the States.

One adoptee was living in Korea voluntarily (Matthew Scherer), and the other one was deported. His Korean name is Mr. Mo, Jungbo (MOHW didn't know his American name). Mr. Mo was deported after his criminal activities in the US with drugs, and he quickly ran out of money in Korea and became a homeless man in Itaewon.

His story was brought to light and the Korean media featured his story and many people in Korea have expressed outrage at the US. Also the people were outraged at the MOHW for sending him to the US to be adopted, and the officials took a lot of heat from the public.

Korea is at a juncture where its intercountry adoption (ICA) program is continually being criticized and scrutinized with many questions on when it should continue or not. Some anti-adoption groups have used this incident to speak against ICA, and criticized the Korean government (mainly MOHW) for allowing this to happen.

My reaction to the deportation issue was of disbelief. I wondered how a person that was legally adopted into the US as a child could be deported back to Korea just because his parents did not apply for a US citizenship. This despite whether an adoptee has a criminal history or not.

Especially for an adoptee who doesn't speak the language or know of the culture, I could not believe that USCIS would deport him without due consideration as to how he legally entered the country, and that it wasn't his fault for not being registered as a citizen. I felt that USCIS was very callous and inhumane for the way they handled Mr. Mo's case.

After hearing from the MOHW officials on the plight of Mr. Mo, I remember saying to them, "This is not right, and this is not the America I know."

After I came back to the States, I found to my delight, there was a petition drive already on the way. The drive was put out by the Korean Focus through 'change.org' website that is underway.

I urge you to support this peitition and be a voice for adoptees that are not US citizens for no fault of their own, and be a force in stopping the unfair deportations of adoptees. Thank you very much for your time and I believe you can make a difference in this issue. Thank you.

Steve Morrison

Link to sign petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/citizenship-for-all-us-intercountry-adoptees

Recent Misinformation in Korean Media in Adoption

2011-11-21T10:18:00.001-08:00

Recently there have been flood of articles in the Korean media with big headlines that claimed, "The Number of Korean Children Adopted to the US, Embarrassingly No. 1 After 17 Years - Why?" (美입양 한국아동 수, 17년만에 다시 부끄   러운 세계 1위… 왜?).

This article was first published by the Chosun Ilbo (Chosun Daily) and the article in Korean can be found at the following link: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/11/21/2011112100138.html
The article said that Korea has retaken the lead as the number one exporter of Korean children to the US after 17 years. And this article spread among the Korean media like a fire. I read the same contents over and over on other media outlets.

The article erroneously stated that China, which is the biggest sender of children to the US with around 2589 children (Oct 2010 to Sep 2011 Data) had 48 children adopted by the US citizens and the rest (2541) were adopted through the US to other countries. By the same token, the adoptions of the Korean children to the US families during the same period was 734 children. The article went on to say that in the similar fashion, the 2nd place was Philippines (216), Uganda (196), India (168), and Ethiopia (126)...etc. So Korea with 734 children placed in the US was far above the other countries, and the reporter falsely misinterpreted data and published the erroneous article.

When I first read this article, I knew immediately that the contents did not make sense. Why would the US have the Chinese children to come to the US and re-send them overseas for adoption? All 2541 children? Something did not make sense as I knew the entire 2589 Chinese children were adopted by the US families. So I went digging and went into the US Departement of Homeland Security and found out the following facts in: http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/statistics/adoption.cfm#inter

In the table with the title "IMMIGRANT ORPHANS ADOPTED BY U.S. CITIZENS BY GENDER, AGE, AND REGION AND COUNTRY OF BIRTH: FISCAL YEAR 2010", I list a few countries with the number of children adopted by the US citizens (Note: this is entire 2010 data, not the same period used by the Chosun Ilbo using Oct 2010 - Sep 2011), so the numbers will be different.

1. China     3,361
2. Ethiopia 2,548
3. Russia     1,079
4. Korea     875
5. Ukraine   445
6. Taiwan    277
7. India       249

Note the title of the table says, "...ADOPTED BY THE U.S. CITIZENS..." meaning that these children did not go through the US to be placed in other countries like the Chosun Ilbo claims, but they were adopted by the US citizens.

Upon checking this fact I contacted the Ministry of the Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the adoption agencies in Korea to let them know that the article was in gross error, and expressed my concern that this article may cause anouther uproar to end the intercountry adoption in Korea.  They said that they were busy all day long in answering various questions by media and others. Essentially, they had to spend all day long to put out the fire so to speak.

MOHW talked with the reporter of the Chosun Ilbo and found that the initial error was due to the wrong translation by the reporter who wrote the story. It turned out that he got confused with the terminology of "finalized in overseas" and "finalized in the US". He misunderstood that "finalized in overseas' meant that the children were actually sent abroad instead of the adoption being finalized in overseas so that children could come to the US. Apparently there is different finalization process depending on the countries that children come from.

The reporter admitted his mistake. But the damage has already been done. Thankfully the MOHW and the agencies in Korea have been doing good job in trying to control the misinformation that was caused by the reporter who was too eager to jump into a false conclusion without fully checking the facts. I supposed this sort of things happen all the time in the media world.

My only hope is that this wave of misinformation will pass away quickly, and pray that no children will be suffered from not having family of their own due to this article. And you know that media rarely apologizes for their mistakes.

For Those in Southern California - An Invitation

2011-11-15T12:09:00.001-08:00

For those of you who live in Southern California area, you are welcome to attend the following event hosted by the Golobal Cultural Club in LA that wish to provide "Korean Culture Day" for adoptees and their families. This is open to all (whether you are Korean heritage or not) who have adopted Korean children from 10:30AM - 1:00PM. There will be lots of food, traditional dance, song, and they will also provide gifts to all adoptees. I plan to be there and have been asked to speak a few words to the people. This should not conflict with the 12th Annual MPAK Christmas Gathering scheduled for 5PM on the same day in Cerritos, CA.

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Global Cultural Club Presents...

Wonderful Korean Culture Day

Invitation

♥ Invitee: Adoptee (No age restrictions) and their Families

First 25 Families Registered Only

(Registration must be met by Nov. 20^th for preparing)

♥ Saturday, December 3, 2011 10:30 am – 1:00 pm

♥ Korean Education Center, LA

680 Wilshire Place 2FL, LA, CA 90005

♥ Program:

Korean Traditional Dance, Song, etc. Presentation

Korean Cultural Experience (Traditional Bow, Games, Songs, etc.)

Korean Food, Korean Dresses, Gifts, & Magic Show

♥ Talent Show! There will be awards to participants.

♥ Register (Names of Attendees, telephone, address, email)

Telephone: 213) 388-9191, 213) 448-7646

Email: gcc9191@gmail.com

Hosted By: Global Cultural Club

The Korea Herald Debate: Should Overseas Adoptions Continue?

2011-10-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

This debate was posted in The Korea Herald on October 31, 2001. The link to the paper is at: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111031000653

But I posted the same contents in this blog as the link seems to take real long time to bring up the article as there are many advertisements that seems to slow down the download.

Correction: The number 220,000 kids sent overseas is not correct. The actual number is 165,000 as of 2010 data by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

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With Korea’s reputation as a ‘baby exporter’ ...
Should overseas adoptions continue?

Korea’s 220,000 kids overseasSouth Korea has the world’s oldest overseas adoption program, having sent an estimated 220,000 children abroad. In the aftermath of the Korean War, overseas adoptions were largely a mechanism for children to escape poverty and destitution, but in the decades that followed, societal attitudes were the primary driver of the phenomenon. Up to 90 percent of children born to unwed women are placed for adoption, reflecting the stigma that still surrounds out-of-wedlock pregnancy and single motherhood. Last year, Korea accounted for 13 percent of all overseas adoptions worldwide.

But things are changing. For the first time ever, 2007 saw more children adopted in Korea than overseas, indicating the weakening of society’s emphasis on maintaining bloodlines. In July the law on overseas adoption was revised, making the process more difficult, and seeking in the process to end the image of Korea as a “child exporter.” The law gave adoptees greater access to their birth records, introduced a seven-day deliberation period for women to decide whether to keep the child or give it up for adoption and made birth registration mandatory, aiming to end secret adoptions.

YES:Homeless kids deserve a better chance

I strongly believe that inter-country adoption, or ICA, needs to continue indefinitely in Korea because the children have a fundamental right to grow up in loving families, whether they are adopted in Korea or overseas. Every effort should be made for birth families to raise their own children, and the next priority should be given to place them in homes domestically, and the remaining children should have the chance to have their own families overseas. I also believe that the ICA needs to come to an end someday, but now is not the time as there are so many children growing up in institutions who need homes. The ICA should only be discontinued when there are no more children to be sent abroad.

Unfortunately, the overall mood and climate on adoption in Korea over the past few years has been shifting drastically away from being viewed as positive. Some Korea-based adult adoptee organizations have joined forces to bring about the demise of both inter-country and domestic adoption by advocating the ending of adoptions in Korea as well. They have used the terms such as “Baby-Exporting Nation” to deliberately embarrass Korea into reacting against ICA, and as Korea wants to save face in the international community, they have adopted policies to gradually squeeze the life out of ICA by reducing the number of children leaving Korea by 10 percent each year. Essentially what Korea is doing is sweeping the issue of homeless children under a mat by putting them in institutions and hoping they will save face in the international community. This is very sad, and comes at the expense of voiceless children that are moved around like pawns in a chessboard.

According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea, in 2010 there were 8,590 children that became homeless in Korea. About 67 percent of these children became homeless due to poverty, divorce, abuse and abandonment, and the other 33 percent of the children were births by unwed mothers. Of all the homeless children, 1,462 were placed domestically while 1,013 children were inter-country placements. The remaining 6,115 children were placed in 280 institutions throughout Korea. Birth mothers have all the time in the world to reclaim their children if they wanted to, but the fact is they rarely do, and the children grow into adulthood in the institutions. So the claim by the anti-adoption group that adoption is the cause of separation between children and their birth mothers is plainly wrong. No matter what the argument is, it is abuse on a massive scale when you block the opportunity for children to have their own families by forcing them to live in the institutions.

So what would have been the alternatives if children were not adopted through ICA? Orphans growing up in Korea have historically faced incredible challenges as they are subject to strong social stigma. Compared to ordinary children with families, orphans in Korea experience what I call “status discrimination.” By status discrimination, I am referring the denial of opportunities for good education and good jobs that orphans experience, not only because they lack the financial and social support of a family, but additionally because society discriminates against them simply because they are orphans.

In the old days, 3-5 percent of orphans were able to go to college. Although educational opportunities for orphans have increased in recent years, they still fall significantly below the educational opportunities of ordinary Korean children with families. By contrast, approximately 70 percent of Korean adoptees in the U.S. and Europe receive a four-year college education or above.

Orphans in Korea must leave orphanages when they turn 18 years old. Often these orphans are emerging from the orphanage just out of high school, with very few marketable skills. These young adult orphans are usually given a onetime allowance of anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000. This meager allowance runs out very quickly. With no financial or family support available, going to college is impossible. These young adults go through extreme hardship once they leave the orphanages. Most work long hours in low-paying and are vigilant to keep their backgrounds a secret, for fear of status discrimination.

This is the reason why inter-country adoption should continue. Sure, it is an embarrassment in the international community of wealthy countries to admit that Korea still needs to send children abroad. However, it is even a greater embarrassment for Korea to put these children into institutions just to save face. Korean nationals must stop criticizing inter-country adoption and look at themselves for the problem of not wanting to adopt their own children in the first place.

By Stephen C. Morrison

Steve C. Morrison is an adoptee and the founder of the Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea, currently working as a senior project engineer at the Aerospace Corporation on GPS III satellite program. Morrison lived in an orphanage for eight years before being adopted to the U.S. at age 14. To contact MPAK, visit: www.mpak.com (English) or www.mpak.org (Korean) or mpakusa@gmail.com. ― Ed.

NO: Single moms need support

Korea, along with China, has sent the highest number of children overseas for adoption. The actual number is uncertain but it is reasonable to believe around 200,000 children have been adopted abroad. This means that many Koreans are affected by the adoption issue. Sweden is one of the countries that has the highest number of Korean adoptees.

When overseas adoptions started during the Korean War, the primary goal was to save orphans and offer us a new and better life in a Western country. Later on the main reason was poverty. Today, however, the main reasons are a lack of political will to support unwed mothers and discrimination against these mothers and their children.

As a Korean adoptee who has grown up in a Western country, I acknowledge that war and poverty are good reasons for international adoption. Based on my upbringing in Sweden, I find it hard to accept discrimination toward unwed mothers and the lack of a social welfare system as good reasons for why Korea still is one of the biggest providers of adoptees, especially since Korea today has one of the world’s strongest economies.

In Sweden, many unwed mothers receive financial support if needed and therefore have good opportunities to raise their children. The old-fashioned idea that unwed mothers are bad women does not exist in Sweden anymore. Also, I am convinced that as long as Korea continues to adopt children away, the development of support to unwed mothers will continue to change very slowly. This conclusion is supported by well-known adoption researchers such as Rosemary Sarri among others, who argue that the Korean government has chosen overseas adoption before domestic solutions.

Another pro-adoption argument often heard is that children to unwed moms as well as domestically adopted children meet discrimination by the wider society. Even though this might be a good argument, international adoption is no guarantee that the adoptee will do well and be well-treated in the new country. Instead, international adoptees also meet prejudice in their new home countries.

One example of common prejudice against Korean adoptees is that the birth mothers are prostitutes. This idea is, for example, still spread by the biggest adoption agency in Sweden.

The biggest adoption study, which includes more than 10,000 international adoptees, shows that adoptees are overrepresented in drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicides and criminality. Other studies show that international adoptees also are more likely to be single parents, have little education and meet discrimination on the labor market. These studies show that life as an international adoptee is not necessarily easy.

While Koreans are very proud over their country’s rapid economic growth, successful companies and a well-educated younger generation, this is not the picture of Korea among many Westerners. Instead, many of them believe that Korea, like all other countries that send children overseas for adoption, is poor and that Koreans lack basic education.

This condescending opinion will continue to exist as long as Korea continues to export their baby problem instead of finding a domestic solution like other developed countries.

As a Korean adoptee, I am ashamed of Korean society for continuing to discriminate against unwed women and the Korean government for betraying their children.

After being engaged in different associations for Korean adoptees for almost 10 years I dare say that inter-country adoption is not always a good solution. Instead it is time for the Korean government and Korean society to find domestic solutions for the mums and their children.

A bad economy and being undeveloped are no longer arguments for overseas adoption. Today, however, the only reasons are sexism and an obsession with bloodlines, views that modern societies abandoned a long time ago. As long as Korea continues to export the “child problem” instead of solving it, the country will continue to have bad reputation among Westerners while children and their mothers will continue to be treated badly by Korean society.

By Hanna Sofia Jung Johansson

Hanna Sofia Jung Johansson, an associated professor of sociology and researcher at the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, was found in Sungdong District in 1976 by the police. She was given the name Kim Jung-yul and was adopted to Sweden by the Social Welfare Society in August 1976. She holds a B.A. in political science and a Ph.D. in science and technology studies and has published several texts on adoption. ― Ed.

In Defense of Adoption

2011-10-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

I wrote this essay about this time last year. I wrote it because adoption is under attack by several anti-adoption factions in Korea and a few in the US. I wanted to provide a voice In Defense of Adoption.

In Defense of Adoption(Published in Korean Quarterly, Fall 2010, Vol 14, Num 01)

Stephen C. Morrison/MPAK

Introduction

The overall mood and climate on adoption in Korea over the past few years has been shifting drastically away from being viewed as positive, to being viewed as negative. Of all the causes, the greatest impact in the Korean society has been from the work of a few adult adoptees groups that have spoken up strongly against the intercountry adoption (or ICA), and even against domestic adoption as well. Some Korea-based adult adoptee organizations have joined forces to bring about the demise of both intercountry and domestic adoption by advocating the closure of adoptions in Korea.

These organizations, in separate efforts, have accused the adoption agencies of profiting from child trafficking, adoption document forging, coercing birthmothers to give up their babies, and have blamed the Korean government for allowing this practice to go on for many years. They have also advocated that the Korean government should do more to create an environment for birthmothers to raise their own children and avoid the separation of children from their birth families. Further, they blame adoption for being the main cause of the separation of children from their birthmothers. Their position is that if adoption can be stopped or discouraged, then there will be more birthmothers that will be able to keep their own children.

Some of their demands are definitely valid and ideal. Creating an environment for birthmothers to be able to raise their own children is a good thing. Most of the groups have proposed particular steps the society could take to achieve this, such as providing single mothers with more substantial financial assistance. They have also helped single mothers’ groups and carried out programs designed to help change the negative social stigma against single mothers so that they won’t feel negative pressure from the society that often makes difficult for them to keep their children.

While I strongly support the notion that birthmothers should be able to raise their own children, I do not agree that the adoption agencies have provided adoption services over the years because of a profit motive, and I do not agree that adoption is the cause of separation between the children and their birthmothers. Indeed, I can show that the main cause of children becoming homeless in Korea is that the majority of birth families who abandon their children simply can’t or won’t raise their children. Therefore, adoption is simply a response to so many children that have already been separated, and not the initiator of the separation.

Allegations against ICA

Allegations abound against ICA, and somewhat less against domestic adoption. Some groups allege that adoption agencies are engaging in child trafficking, which, if true, would be a criminal act. The idea of child trafficking suggests the adoption agencies have conducted fraudulent activities by forging documents to send children abroad solely for economic gain. While I do not deny that adoption agencies often had to make up adoption documents, I disagree that the intent of the agencies was done to increase profit. If any agency has sent children abroad for financial gain, then its activities are criminal and they deserve our contempt. However, I strongly believe that this was not the case; adoption services in Korea were developed for humanitarian purposes. In seeing the needs of so many homeless children, and knowing the obstacles that lie ahead for them as orphans growing up in a society with strong social stigma against them, adoption advocates have acted responsibly to find better opportunities for children to grow up in loving homes abroad.

So what about the agencies making up the adoption documents? In the old days, it was not unusual for the agencies to accept into their care many abandoned children who arrived with little or no information. In the absence of any information, often children’s names were assigned by the agencies. In addition to names, their date of birth and the place of birth were made up as well. There were many children who had no records at all of their birth origins. Children were found on the doorsteps of orphanages, police stations, markets, clinics, and churches. Some of those children had scribbled notes attached to their clothes with only names and the date of birth, but no other information could be found. It was very typical that children came into orphanage care with little or no information. I, for one, did not know the date of my birth when I was first admitted into an orphanage at age six; the orphanage director made up a date. He did what he had to do to establish a portion of my identity that was missing. The orphanages and the adoption agencies in care of these children assigned names, birth dates, and other information about the children because having this information was a critical step before they could be adopted, either domestically or overseas. Can this be labeled as document forging? Can this be alleged as child trafficking? Clearly this is not the case.

However, there have been some cases where orphanages or agencies did questionable things such as changing the records of children so that they could be placed for adoption. While the cases like these certainly do have the look of illegality, I strongly believe that in most situations these decisions were made for the best interest of children as the decision making authorities knew what the consequences of those children would be living in Korea as orphans. One could argue that profit may have been a motive behind in making such decisions by the agencies. Perhaps it was, or perhaps not; it really depends on what you choose to believe.

But having personally lived in an orphanage in Korea for eight long years, and being fully aware at a young age of the very limited opportunities for me in Korea as an orphan, I am fully convinced that the agencies made a humanitarian decision to give me a better opportunity. I strongly believe that this is the driving motive of the agencies which continue to send children abroad. People who work in these agencies are fully aware of the difficulties that orphans will endure if they grow up in the orphanages in Korea.

Allegations have also been made that the agencies have coerced unwed mothers to give up their children for adoption; this has been widely misunderstood as well. While it is true that there have been many cases where social workers in agencies have tried to talk the unwed mothers out of their desire to keep their children, there is also the other side of the coin that most people don’t think about. The social workers in the agencies are all too familiar with the difficulties facing unwed mothers to raise children in Korea. Often the social workers don’t see the determination and the desire by the unwed mothers to keep their children but only see the difficulties ahead of them for both. Most likely, the social workers are mothers themselves, and more experienced and mature than most unwed mothers. In their services to unwed mothers, they have seen many unwed mothers who decide to keep their children, only to return them later for adoptions when they realize how difficult it is for a single mom to raise a child and be accepted by the families, friends, and the community. Knowing the difficulty, social workers may feel that they are compelled to convince the unwed mothers to give up the children rather than be burdened by them at such a young age. Such motivation could easily be misunderstood.

I have also heard instances where some birthmothers relinquished their children, then later returned to reclaim their children, only to discover that those children have been assigned or sent abroad for adoption. In these instances, the agencies should have waited before assigning the children to be adopted. The revised adoption law now being considered by the legislature in South Korea includes a waiting period designed for birthmothers to reconsider their decision to place a child for adoption. It is encouraging, however, that adoption social workers are now a lot more open to a birthmother’s desire to keep her baby.

In recent years, more and more unwed mothers are choosing to go public with their single parent status and take on the challenge of keeping their children. There is now a network of unwed mothers in South Korea called the Korea Unwed Mothers Support Network (KUMSN).

Although I am not affiliated with nor represent any adoption agency in any way, I speak as an adoptee who lived the orphanage experience. Had I not lived in the streets of Korea at age five, and then in an orphanage for eight years, I am quite sure that I would not be able to defend adoption with such conviction. Without having experienced the pain of being homeless and living in an orphanage, I could easily be persuaded to be suspicious of the agencies, as many are.

For without suffering and without having gone through the orphan life, and without understanding what happens to orphans living in Korea, it is quite understandable for adoptees to view the adoption process as a business of adoption agencies which are selling off children for profit. This misunderstanding alone would make any adoptee angry or bitter.

Alternatives to Adoption

So what would have been the alternatives for (now adult) adoptees if they were not adopted through ICA? Orphans growing up in Korea have historically faced incredible challenges as they are subject to strong social stigma. Compared to ordinary children with families, orphans in Korea experience what I call “status discrimination.” I have heard and read about the experiences of racial discrimination as described by adoptees living in Europe or in the U.S. But this type of discrimination is nothing compared to the status discrimination that orphans have to endure. By status discrimination, I am referring the denial of opportunities for good education and good jobs that orphans experience, not only because they lack the financial and social support of a family, but additionally because the society discriminates against them simply because they are orphans.

In the old days, three to five percent of orphans were able to go to college. Although educational opportunities for orphans have increased in recent years, they still fall significantly below educational opportunities of ordinary Korean children with families. By contrast, approximately 70 percent of Korean adoptees in the U.S. and Europe receive a four-year college education or above.

The status discrimination of orphans does not end with limited educational opportunities. If a young man with an orphan background wishes to date and marry a woman with a family, often the woman’s parents reject the man even though the woman loves him. If two men (or women) of equal ability apply for the same job, and one grew up in an orphanage and the other in a normal family, the applicant who grew up in the orphanage usually loses out.

Although the social stigma against orphans has lessened greatly over the years, it still presents a big challenge for children growing up in orphanages. Not many orphans are adopted domestically in Korea, as they are mostly older, and Korean nationals tend to prefer adopting infants, in order to keep the adoptions secret. (By “secret,” I am referring to the practice of a prospective adoptive mother going through an elaborate deception to pretend to be pregnant and/or to plan a well-timed move to another part of the country, then presenting the adopted baby as a birth child at the appropriate moment)

Orphans in Korea must leave the orphanages when they turn 18 years old. Often these orphans are emerging from the orphanage just out of high school, with very few marketable skills. Leaving the orphanages, these young adult orphans are usually given a onetime severance allowance of anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000. But this meager allowance runs out very quickly.

With no financial support or family support available, going to college would be impossible. These young adults go through extreme hardship once they leave the orphanages. A few find ways to stay with friends and/or extended families, but not all of them are that fortunate. Most wind up working in low-paying jobs at which they work long hours. Some may become successful teachers, pastors, nurses, etc., but these types of successes are very few compared to others who haven’t fared so well. In many areas of their lives, adults with orphan backgrounds must be vigilant to keep their background a secret, for fear of status discrimination.

When I look at the educational accomplishments of some of the adoptees that are strongly against adoption, I have a hard time understanding how they could speak against the very system they have tremendously benefited from. Most of them have college degrees, some of them have Ph.D. degrees and some are college professors. Without being adopted overseas into an environment which supported them to that level of achievement, they most likely would not have received the education or the distinctions they now enjoy. By contrast, the orphans in Korea would die to have the same opportunities the adoptees have. Granted that one’s happiness is not determined by educational achievements; however, there can be no question that ICA has provided opportunities for many orphans that would not have been available had they remained in Korea.

Birthmothers’ Rights vs. Children’s Rights

Adoptees are not the only ones voicing opposition to adoption. Korean nationals have also voiced opposition to ICA. One in particular who is heavily involved in the anti-adoption campaign publicly remarked that adoption is a form of child abuse. They do not understand why ICA continues to this day, now that Korea is experiencing the 13th largest economy in the world, and is about to host the G20 Summit in November 2010. What they fail to realize is that the size of the economy has very little to do with people’s attitudes and hearts towards homeless children. Koreans can be proud of their riches and economic progress, but that doesn’t mean their hearts are more open to orphans. So it is a baseless argument to advocate for the closure of ICA simply because the country is better off economically.

A review of anti-adoption blogs or writings in the media reveals that these writers strongly suspect that adoption agencies are in it for the business or that adoption is promoted by the agencies just to stay in business. The claims are that, to maintain their businesses, the agencies all use the phrases such as “It is better for children to be in homes abroad than to live in the institutions in Korea” to solicit sympathy and support from the Korean public. They claim that this is in opposition to the agencies’ true motive to stay in the business and that if the agencies are truly interested in the children’s welfare, they should make every effort to find ways for birth families to keep their children, and pressure the Korean government to expand the foster care services and group homes using adoption as a last resort.

Some of what they claim is true; I disagree on a couple of key points. While it is true that the agencies and the government should try their best to enable birth families to stay together and look for solutions to enable birthmothers to raise their own children, I disagree that adoption should be a last resort, as they recommend. Adoption should be the second alternative to birth family preservation. Foster care, group homes and institutionalization should be used as a last resort.

I also strongly disagree with the contention that adoption agencies are all in adoption work for business purposes only. After having worked very closely with many adoption agencies in Korea as well as in the U.S. for many years, the agencies I know of are in adoption services for humanitarian purposes. They are sincerely interested in the well being of children. They also know that of all types of social programs available for children; nothing except for adoption can enable children to have families of their own, even if that means a family in another country.

The foster care system in the U.S. has been a failure, with children moving from one home to another on an average of eight moves per child before age 18. Korea is not spared from this. However, foster care can sometimes lead to adoption, and this should be encouraged. Group homes are even worse, because there is no commitment of a parent-child relationship in temporary care. Group homes are essentially miniorphanages with five or six children being cared for by adults who receive funding from the government.

No one would argue that it is better for children to grow up in institutions than to be adopted. Further, in all of these childcare methods only one, adoption, can supply the child with a child’s most basic right ---- their right to their own family. When a homeless child is barred from an opportunity to have his own home, this is a greater child abuse than any alleged “abuse” that may occur because the child is adopted.

The anti-adoption factions in Korea have used the cause of birthmothers’ rights to speak against ICA, as well as against domestic adoption. Because they claim that adoption causes the separation of a child from the birthmother, they use the phrases such as “Family Preservation over Adoption Promotion” to make their points known. However, in their zeal to put an end to adoption by advocating birthmothers’ rights, they have focused more on birthmothers, not on the rights of children.

I believe that, while birthmothers’ rights should be advocated, it is wrong to do so by trampling on children’s rights to their own homes and families. Birthmothers are adults who have voices, and they can make certain choices for themselves, whether good or bad. But the children have no voice. Many adoptees have spoken out to advocate for their own rights and the rights of birthmothers’, but very few have chosen to speak for the rights of children to have their own homes.

Let the Data Speak for Itself

Since 2001, approximately 10,000 children have been abandoned in Korea each year, and 2009 was no exception, with 10,153 children left homeless for various reasons. According to statistics from the Ministry for Health and Welfare and Family Affairs, in 2009, there were 1,314 children (13 percent) domestically adopted within Korea, 1,125 (11 percent) adopted through ICA, 2,947 children (29 percent) were admitted to foster care programs, and 4,767 (47 percent) were admitted to institutionalized care. (see the attached figure).

The figure clearly shows that there are significantly more children that are abandoned by birth families by choice, and that those families will not reclaim their children, except for in a handful of cases. They were not coerced away from the birth families. These children number over 7,600 (76 percent) not counting the children in adoptions. Birth parents have all the time in the world to go back and reclaim this 76 percent of children who are abandoned, but they don’t. If these children don’t get adopted eventually, then most of the 7,600 children will grow up in institutions. So the argument that adoption is the cause of separation between the birthmothers and children just doesn’t hold up when the facts show that so many birth parents have voluntarily abandoned these children.

As for the remaining 2,400 children that are processed through adoption, there is no reliable data to show how many unwed mothers actually wanted to keep their children. A recent survey from an unknown source in Korea found that, if socio-economic conditions were favorable, the percentage of single birthmothers wanting to keep their children in Korea was projected at 38 percent. If this percentage is accurate, then in the current situation, in which single mothers receive little or no socio/economic assistance, the percentage of unwed mothers wanting to keep their children would be far lower.

In 2009 there were 4,075 children born to unwed mothers. Thirty eight percent of this number is 1,549 children. Even very conservatively-speaking, let us assume that all 1,549 children that were adopted (both domestic and ICA) in 2009 were wanted by unwed mothers. That still leaves 8,604 children that were unwanted by their birth families due to all kinds of reasons. So to advocate for birthmothers’ rights by proposing to eliminate adoption really do a disservice to significantly greater number of children who would need homes. Adoption is not the cause of separation of birth families. Adoption is in response to already-separated children that need homes.

Not One Over the Other, but Both

There is an essential question regarding the rights of birthmothers and the rights of children. Why can’t they coexist? Why must one right be sublimated in order to make the other survive? Why does it have to be one or the other and not both? This is the struggle I have with anti-adoption groups or anti-adoption individuals. The promotion of birthmothers’ rights and the promotion of adoption rights must go hand-in-hand and work together for the common good.

Would it not be more effective if these groups focused just on advocating birthmothers’ rights by insisting on the changes needed in society in order to allow single mothers to raise their children? Could they not focus more of their energies in speaking out against unfavorable socio/economic conditions that unwed mothers must endure in Korea? If they did, it would be a matter of time before more unwed mothers are able to keep their children and the need for adoption would be significantly reduced. Blaming adoption for the cause of unwed mothers’ woes, and insisting on the closure of adoption, can only create more suffering for children. For without adoption, the children will face institutionalized living.

Advocating for birthmothers’ rights is definitely needed. Better financial assistance for single mothers and a more favorable social environment in which single mothers may raise their children are both badly needed in Korea. Single mothers must also take on certain responsibilities in order to successfully negotiate single parenthood in Korean society. Demanding rights on the one hand but neglecting duties to raise their children on the other is an issue.

Further, it is a known fact that some birthmothers simply don’t want their children. They are either mentally or emotionally incapable of dealing with the responsibility. Even if appropriate financial and other assistance were available to them, they still could not or would not raise their children. There have been numerous cases where birthmothers chose early on to raise their children but later decided to place them for adoption. At that point, the children would have already been registered into a birth family registry, which makes them harder to place for adoption, unless mothers willingly sign off their parental rights. This is provided that the mothers can be found and are willing to sign the relinquishment papers.

Closing Thoughts

I do believe there have been some mistakes in the ICA adoption process, through which children were sent to parents who were abusive or not capable of loving children that didn’t meet their expectations. This is a tragedy that should have been avoided, and for them, their adoption perhaps was a mistake. However, for the great majority of children adopted through ICA, their adoptions were not mistakes, and have resulted in blessings beyond measure. I am one of those who have benefited tremendously from adoption.

However, to advocate the closure of adoption (ICA or domestic) based on one’s negative experience is not the right thing to do. Just because it hasn’t worked for one does not mean that other homeless children should not have the same chance. While I share and sympathize with painful adoptive experiences some have had, I know that it is the right thing to continue with adoption, because without it there can be very little hope for children who remain in Korea as orphans.

To advocate the elimination of adoption due to some unfavorable risks that one has experienced in life is like advocating for the passage of a law that forbids children from being born because of the many risks of tragedies and pain the children may suffer in their lives. How tragic it would be if such law was enforced. Conflict and pain is not unique to adoptive families. It is quite normal in any ordinary family. We need to look at the whole adoption issue with a bigger mind and heart, and have a bigger perspective than merely focusing our attention on what has not worked. Life is full of risks, and yet we choose to bring forth lives into this world because we want to have hope and we want to love and to be loved. Adoption is much like this. Despite the risks that it brings, it is still a right thing to do for children to give them an opportunity to grow up as part of a family. This is certainly a much preferred option over institutionalized or foster care.

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption was drafted with a belief that “what is in the best interest of children” should be the primary principle. The Hague Convention priorities state that efforts should be made for children to stay with their birth families first, and if that option is not available, then domestic adoption is the next best choice. If neither option is available, then ICA is the next best option for the children.

If South Korea signs up to join the Hague Convention, then they are signing up to continue to serve children through ICA, perhaps on a smaller scale. The foster care, group homes, institutionalization of children, in this order, should be the last resort for children.

Advocating for the rights of birthmothers is a noble thing to do, and it is really needed in Korea. I hope more birthmothers will make the courageous decision to raise their own children, but this choice comes with responsibility to stick with their decision and not give up their children later due to hardship. Also, if the anti-adoption groups or individuals focus more of their energies on changing the social ills in society that makes it difficult for birthmothers to raise their children, they will see favorable changes much sooner than they would if by concentrating on speaking against adoption. Birthmothers’ rights and the adoption promotion must go hand-in-hand, not be opposing forces.

Adoption does not guarantee happiness or success. The very best environment does not guarantee success nor does the most unfavorable environment result in failure. But I can say with confidence that adoption provides an opportunity for children to realize their full potential in life that would otherwise be very limited if they remain in the institutionalized care in Korea.

At least for this adoptee, adoption has brought me tremendous opportunities. The best of which is my parents that loved me deeply. They had three children by birth, adopted an Amerasian from Korea, and two years later I was adopted as their fifth child. I was 14 years old when adopted. On Mother’s Day of 2009, I sent a little love letter to my mother, who is now 87. In it I wrote, “…Lastly Mom, your son Steve would like to express one more thought of love for you. If God gave me another chance to start my life all over again, I would choose the same path. I would choose the life of being homeless, go hungry, be cold, and become an orphan all over again and live in an orphanage. Yes, I would endure all those hardships again. Why? The answer is simple. It is so that I could meet you and Dad again…”

MPAK Gatherings in LA and OC Areas

2011-10-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

There were MPAK gathering at the Orange County (OC) Area on October 9, 2011, and another one for the families in the Los Angeles (LA) area on October 16, 2011. MPAK-OC group met at Junhyung and Denise's place at Lake Forest, CA, and the LA group met at Emile and Jenny's place in Torrance, CA. Both gatherings were well attended, with great food and BBQs. Jenny remarked that she has never had so many kids in her place running wild before and beamed with smile. Some of us were addicted to such gatherings and decided to be in both places as the gatherings were back-to-back weekends.

A special thanks goes out to Denise and Juhyung for hosting the OC group, and to Emile and Jenny for hosting the LA group. Thanks to all those that helped and to those that came to make the gatherings real success and fun.

Our next gathering will be a big one. It will be on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at the Cerritos Presbyterian Church (CPC). This gathering will be our annual Christmas gathering that will combine all three Southern California regions. So mark your calendar and stay tuned.

MPAK-OC Group met at Junhyung and Denise's Place, Oct 9, 2011

MPAK-LA Group met at Emile and Jenny's Place, Oct 16, 2011

News Flash! "It's Finally Here - Adoption Opportunities for Expatriates Living in Korea."

2011-10-07T15:50:00.001-07:00

It is official. The expatriates (those living out of the country for a prolonged period) can now adopt in Korea. But there is a condition. The primary being that one of the expatriate couple has to be of Korean heritage and able to receive a dual citizenship status, thus qualifying as a Korean citizen living in Korea.

Under this new regulation, the expat couples adopting in Korea would be considered a part of the domestic adoption process since a Korean-heritage expat with a dual citizenship is considered a Korean national living in Korea. However, this is not easy, as other conditions state that the expats must have lived in Korea for two or more years before attempting to adopt, and they need to stay a year to finish up the post-adoption process and also to go through a process of obtaining the immigration approval from their home country.

Perhaps the best news of all in the expat adoption is that since an expat with a dual citizenship would be considered a Korean national, the adoption fee is completely free as it is paid by the Korean government. The expats are not limited to those that have the US citizenship, but also applies to the Korean-heritage immigrants living in other countries such as Europe.

This notice has already gone out to all the adoption agencies in Korea (Holt, Eastern, and SWS), and there will be no US adoption agency involvement whatsoever since the expat adoption will be handled as domestic adoptions. Also the expat adoption will have no bearing on the quota limitation as they don't factor into it. In other words, the expat adoption will not be a part of the quota system.

Details of this new regulation is still being worked out between the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the adoption agencies. This new law is a very welcome thing as I had to turn away many expats in the past as they could not adopt while living in Korea. So this is a real welcome news.

This effort would not have been possible without the hard efforts by the Rev. Eddie Byun of the Onnuri Church in Seoul, who ministers a large English speaking congregation with many expats attending his church. Many expats were wanting to adopt children while living in Korea. The credit also goes to Mrs. Hannah Kook of the Hope for Orphans minstry. I introduced to both an appropriate person to meet at the MOHW, and they started to meet together and got the ball rolling, with a big orientation meeting held at the Onnuri Church. Congratulations to all for making this possible!

9/11 and Adoption - A True Story by Min Lee

2011-09-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

Min Lee and Ben Huh leads the MPAK-NY/NJ Regional Group and this is their story on how the 9/11 event forever changed their lives.

The Huh Family - From 9/11 that brought home two sons.

(From Left Jane, Min Lee, Elliot, Alison, Caleb, and Ben Huh)

It is the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. No one can forget the horrific assault our nation had to experience. What happened on that day has forever changed the ways we lived in America. My life has dramatically changed since that day as well. Here is the story of how 9/11 brought life and hope to my family.

As a Christian, I have always carried a burden and knowing in my heart that I was to live for more, although I never knew how I would actually accomplish it. I was living a typical 1.5 generation Korean-American life. I was happily married with two beautiful daughters. We lived in a nice home in the suburbs. We even had a dog to make it a picture perfect American life. I was comfortable and content.

Then, on September 11, 2001, I was awakened abruptly from my quiescent lifestyle.

It was a typical beautiful morning in September. I dropped off my girls at their school and headed to the gym as I did most mornings. I walked into the lobby of the gym and took a glimpse of the TV which was broadcasting the news about the World Trade Center being hit by a plane. “A bad accident” I thought to myself as I walked over to do my work out routine.

Soon after, I saw a bunch of people huddled together and sobbing in fear. I looked over at the TV screen. The World Trade Center buildings were burning up in flames. A mass of people on Wall Street covered with debris scrambling aimlessly. The sound of explosion, screaming and horror was unbelievable. It looked like a scene out of a disaster movie.

It was surreal. It felt as if all sound was fading out and everything around me was paralyzing. On that day, a huge part of America was taken away. It was a time when even the most secular Americans came together in prayer. Incredible sorrow struck me and I cried for days. A heavy burden came upon my heart to repent on behalf of our nation and for my personal life. I asked God about the purpose of my life. I reflected deeply on the meaning and the preciousness of my life and the life of others.

My heart was filled with urgency and desire to live as Jesus lived and to love as He loved us. I felt a strong call of God to radically change my lifestyle. I could not live with only selfish motivations any more.

I was convicted that I was continuously trying to fill my life with things of the world, bigger house, more glamorous vacations, fanciest cars, etc… Suddenly, it all seemed senseless. My husband Ben and I decided to look for somewhere to serve as a family. During my research, I learned about adoption and found myself becoming more interested and attracted to the idea of adoption.

Then one day, I discovered MPAK’s website. I was immediately fascinated to find stories of Korean families who had adopted openly. I was deeply impressed and challenged by Steve Morrison’s vision and courage to speak up for homeless children. It became clear to me that adoption was the great choice for our family. I asked Ben what he thought about adopting a little boy as our third child. He responded by saying “Maybe”. I took his neutral response as a “yes” to go ahead with it. I started by studying more about adoption. I learned that,

Adoption is another way of building a family and the best way to provide a family to homeless children. Every child has the right to be loved and have a family.

I could have a son without having to give birth and provide a family to a child all that the same time. How perfect!

Right away, I started having doubts. Would I really be able to love a child who is not my own? It was already a challenge managing my own two children, how would I care for another child? What would our family and friends think? If I could not be a good mother, maybe it would be best not to adopt at all. I felt very confused and anxious.

Heavy hearted with uncertainty and doubts, my family and I went on a family retreat where I came to realize that I was blessed to be a blessing.

“ I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you: I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2-3

This very verse was given at our wedding ceremony. It was God’s way of reminding me of his purpose in our marriage. Whom shall I share the joy of blessing with? I asked the Lord. God revealed to me that it would be the child we adopt.

I realized that God gave me the desire to adopt. It wasn’t because I was a perfect mom or a loving person, but just the opposite. I was not to rely on myself for good will and action but to know that it is God who works in me. I was finally comfortable in making a decision.

The next day, Ben told that he saw a vision of an infant boy wrapped in a blanket while he was praying the night before. He was so sure that it was God’s will for us to adopt.

As soon as we got home, we completed and sent off our adoption application. We wanted to adopt a healthy baby boy. During our application process I came across “The Waiting Child” program. I felt guilty that I was not open to special needs children. I began to pray for the waiting children, and also for the child who was going to become our son.

On the last visit of our home study, I saw a photo of a baby boy in the Waiting Child webpage. I was instantly drawn to him, but adopting from the Waiting Child list seemed too risky. Nevertheless, I asked for more information on the baby boy. Other than the birthmother’s medical history, he appeared to be healthy. One amazing thing that we noticed was that the baby was born on exact day that Ben saw a vision of a child in his prayer. We thought that was more than a pure coincidence.

For the next several months, we waited anxiously for the arrival of our son. On February 14, 2003, I received the best Valentine’s Day gift ever – the news that our son is ready to come home. Ben traveled to Korea and brought home our son Caleb Jae Won. He was so small and beautiful. Our girls and I were thrilled to finally have our baby home.

We watched Caleb thrive day by day. We thought we were blessing this child by adopting him, but we realized that he was blessing us much more. The joy and restoration that he brought to our family was immeasurable. We felt blessed that God had chosen us to make a difference in a child’s life by simply being his parents. Adoption has also affected our daughters in many wonderful ways. They have matured into compassionate and open-minded young ladies. We witnessed the immense effect that a family can have on a child. How vital it is for a child to grow up in a loving family. Every child should have that opportunity.

In 2005 we adopted another baby boy. We named him Elliot Si Woo. Si woo was his given name at the adoption agency. We had already picked out a new middle name for Elliot but when we saw that his name meant “bestowed enough”, we decided to keep it. His middle name reminds us each day that God’s grace bestowed upon us is enough. Elliot was born with congenital heart disease among other conditions. He too was a Waiting Child. Elliot’s birthmother’s medical history made Elliot less desirable to many people, but Ben and I felt that it was more of a reason for us to adopt him as our son. After all, we were already so blessed! We knew that our God is bigger than any ‘unknowns’. We overcome our fear by relying on God’s grace each day. We believe that when God created Caleb and Elliot He had us in mind. I don’t have a single doubt in my mind that we are a family made in Heaven.

Presently, Caleb is a sweet and kind 9 year old boy. He is an outstanding soccer player and aspires to become a scientist one day. Elliot is a smart, fun and full of life. He is almost 7 years old. Our boys are very proud of the fact they were adopted. They feel very special that God has unique plans for them. All my children are awesome creation of God and I am so thankful for them. I am blessed to be chosen as their mother.

Becoming an adoptive parent truly helped me mature as a person. Through my children, I see the love of our Father in heaven who adopted us as His own. Although terrible, the incident on September 11^th, 2001 triggered something inside me and changed my perspective on life and challenged me to act according to my faith. God used the evil intent of the enemy and turned it into joy, love, hope and life for my family.

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2Conrinthians 5:14-15

The Huh Children - From Left: Elliot, Jane, Caleb, and Alison

Regarding My Latest Blog on EP Priority for KAs

2011-09-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

It appears that my latest blog regarding the Korean Government's preference over Korean-American (KA) couples by giving priority in the EP process has stirred a lot of negative emotions by non-Korean heritage families. Namely, they feel they are being punished by the Korean government by further delaying the adoption process to already delayed process because KAs will be given priority in the EP process.

I think this is perfectly understandable and justifiable reaction by those that have expressed discontent with the latest decision by the Korean Government (Ministry of Health and Welfare - MOHW). And I fully sympathize with their feelings and reactions. I know I would feel the same if I were in their shoes.

I wish I had a simple and easy solution. While I have always been pro-adoption, whether the couples be Caucasian or Koreans, there is really nothing I can do about the choice that the Korean Government makes.

However, there seem to be some misconception that there are lots of Korean-Americans adopting, but that is not the case. To my understanding, of the approximately 100 remaining EPs left for this year, there are only five Korean-American families in the EP list. So it isn't like giving priority to the Korean-Americans in the EP process would make that much difference.

The group photos of MPAK families in my blog seems to have many KAs mainly because these families have been gathering since 1999 and more and more have joined over the span of 12 years. They didn't all adopt past two or three years, but started from long ago. You will see that some of the children are in their teens.
I want you to know that I am with all of you who are frustrated by the delays due to quota and wish I could do something about it. I have complained a number of times to MOHW that what they are doing through quota is really delaying the union of children with parents, and that delay will affect children negatively in their growth.

But unfortunately the powers that be in the government do not view their children like we do. For instance, there are some in MOHW that those children that won't be placed to be put into various institutions and that would be OK for them. But then there are some very caring individuals in MOHW that try to advocate for children but unfortunately their voices do not go far up the chain of command.

Korea sees the intercountry adoption (ICA) program as something of an eye sore in the international community and they deeply desire to close down the the ICA. ICA also projects image of Korea to the world that despite the economic miracle, it is still a country that cannot take care of its own children, thus not having the character of a strong nation. Korea's effort to shut down or gradually reduce the ICA is nothing more than face saving effort.

I think if Korea is to be a great nation in the international community, it should adopt the Hague Convention and practice the priorities outlined in the convention to give children the chance to be placed with their biological families, then domestic adoption, and when neither option is available to place them with willing and loving families abroad. While the Hague Convention does not specifically state the priority should be given to the same race/heritage people residing overseas, it is nonetheless understandable that a nation like Korea would prefer to place a higher priority in placing its children with people of same race or culture.

I have asked the Korean Government numerous times in the past to exclude the KA adoption from their annual quotas, but this request went unheeded so far. I will continue to try to communicate with MOHW on this and will not stop. But perhaps one of the biggest force in impacting the reduction of ICA in Korea is largely due to anti-adoption organizations that have mobilized together to voice opposition to ICA, or even domestic adoption by claiming that adoption promotes separation of children from their biological parents, which is a total nonsense. We all know that adoption is a response to already separated children that need homes, not the cause.

Korea is going through a lot of transition in the policies related to ICA, and will continue to evolve as they get closer to ratifying the Hague Convention. But they are also struggling to save face in the international community, especially as they get ready to host the 2018 Winter Olympic. Let's hope and pray that Korea will come to recognize that beyond the glitters of their economic success, to be a leading nation in the next decade, they can't just sweep the voiceless children under the mat and hope the problem will go away. This is essentially what they are doing by ignoring children that need homes by taking away their rights to grow in homes, even abroad. Let us pray that Korea will truly make the decisions and set the policies that best serves the interests of children. And I promise that I will continue to be a voice for homeless children.

MPAK - Orange County Gathering

2011-08-31T00:58:00.000-07:00

MPAK-OC group met in Irvine, CA on Saturday, August 27, 2011.

MPAK - Orange County Group gathered at Mrs. Nanjoo Choi's house on Saturday, August 27th. The gathering drew a large crowd at the beautiful house of Mrs. Choi, who adopted a son from Korea 11 years ago. The group was headed by Brian and Kathy Shin, who adopted three children from Korea. While Brian cooked Korean Kalbi, the children played in the backyard in a mini golf putt green, and the grown ups sat in different pockets to chat and merry making through their adoption stories.

Helen and Rich Lee Family shared their adoption story

The sumptuous meal was excellent as people brought many types of food. There was an adoption story presented by Rich and Helen Lee on their adoption journey of adopting their two daugthers from Korea. Their story was warm and beautiful, and brought laughter and applause (I will try to post their story in a separate blog). It was wonderful to see all the newly arrived children that came this year. But there were several families that were caught up on the Korean quota issue and lamented the fact that they won't be able to see their children until 2012. We hope their children will come home soon.

Mr. Yoon (right) , an orphange director from Korea meets one his orphanage graduate Kim (center) and her husband Darren (left). This unplanned meeting was a great surprise for both, and a blessing to all of us.

One of the highlights of the gathering was the meeting between the two very special people. One was an orphanage director Mr. Yoon who came from Korea on family matter, and the other was an adoptee named Kim, who grew up in the same orphanage under the care of Mr. Yoon. Kim was adopted 32 years ago, and she and her husband Darren Clark were waiting for their child to come home from Korea. At first Mr. Yoon didn't recognize Kim, but when she stated her Korean name, Mr. Yoon recognized her immediately. Both Mr. Yoon and Kim wept as they hugged. Mr. Yoon shared a brief remarks to all those gathered and could not control his emotion, thus causing many eyes in the room to tear up.

The evening was a tremendously blessing time for all those attending, and I want to thank our host Mrs. Nanjoo Choi again for the great hosting she provided to all of us. Another special thanks to Brian and Kathy Shin for the great job in organizing this gathering, and thanks to all those that came to the MPAK-OC gathering.

NEWS FLASH - Priority EP Processes for Korean-Americans Announced

2011-08-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has just sent out an official notice to the three intercountry adoption (ICA) agencies in Korea (Holt, Eastern, and SWS) that MOHW will now provide priority Exit Permit (or Emmigration Permit) service to Korean-American couples. MOHW has determined that the definition for Korean-American couple to include couples where one is a Korean descent. This also includes adoptee as well. It is MOHW's belief that children being adopted to Korean-American couples will experience less identify and cultural adjustment issues, thus priority service should be given to expedite Korean-American adoption.

The agencies are to notify the cooperating agencies in the US on this new policy and provide a feedback to MOHW by September 30, 2011. This new priority service will go into effect immediately.

Suha Kim's Story - A Child's Perspective in Transparent/Open Adoption

2011-08-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Suha Kim lives in Incheon, Korea

Should you be transparent about your adoption to others? This question is not much of a problem for most non-Korean heritage families adopting children from Korea. But for many Korean-Americans, this is a big struggle - whether to tell their children they were adopted or not, or even to tell others that they are adoptive families. But Suha's story goes even further. She describes the open adoption experience as well. Open adoption is when children are allowed to meet birthparents, and transparent adoption is where adoption is not kept secret. I hope Suha Kim's story will help to put your adoption experience in a proper perspective.

To give a background on her story, when MPAK had a historic first ever national conference to promote domestic adoption in Korea on Saturday, October 14, 2000, there were around 450 in attendance from all corners of Korea. We hung the banners around the city of Kwachon to aanounce the event titled, "The 1st Annual Adoptive Families Gathering - To Promote Domestic Adoption".

A woman named Haeran Lee saw the banners, and got curious as to what the event was all about. She attended and watched musical performances and the presentations on the adoption stories by a few parents. She had no idea that this event would change her life forever. She was so moved by the event, that when Monday came, she and her husband, a pastor of a church, immediately went to an adoption agency to adopt a baby girl. A few weeks later, Suha Kim came home. The family had a biological son, and Suha was their second child.

Suha is now in 5th grade, and she has blossomed so beautifully. The family adopted another girl a few years later named Yuna. The children are being homeschooled, and Suha is a voracious reader, and she is well beyond her years in terms of academic maturity. This blog will feature a writing by Suha Kim on her adoption experiences and her experience of meeting her birthmother. She presented her story at the Annual MPAK Summer Adoption Seminar (Aug 12-14), which was attended by over 250 families from all over Korea.

Open adoption is something that is not comfortable for many adoptive parents, and the concept of open adoption has been in Korea for about six or seven years only. Even I have some mixed feelings towards open adoption, but here is a story of Suha Kim where open adoption seems to be working well for her.
------------------------

Hello my name is Suha Kim. I am in fifth grade. I have an older brother who is in 10^th grade and a younger sister in 2nd grade. In my family, only my younger sister and I were adopted.

Earier picture of Suha's family when she was a toddler, Suha is on the left

When I was seven years old, I met my birthmother for the first time. Since then, I see her every year on my birthday. I call her “Auntie”. Whenever Auntie comes to visit me, she brings a birthday present. She also brings gifts for my brother, younger sister, my Mom and Dad. I love receiving presents from my birthmother.

Time to time my Mom tells me, “I am so glad that Auntie comes to see you once a year. There is yet another person who loves and cares for you, Suha.” Honestly, I thought my Mom would not want me to see my birthmother. But after hearing that from my Mom, I was relieved to know that I could see her once a year. I was thankful that my Mom understood how I felt.

I think my Mom is a courageous woman. It is very unusual in Korea for an adopted child to meet her birthmother once a year. I think you would have to be a bold person to allow such a thing. I also think my Mom understands people well.

Sometime ago, while I was talking with my Mom about adoption she said, “I can only imagine how scared Auntie must have been for having a baby at such a young age. I wanted her to be able see you grow up. That is the reason why I have made arrangements for the two of you to meet once a year on your birthday.”

I also tried to imagine how scared Auntie would have felt. I do understand. Although I see my birthmother once a year, there is one very important fact I will never forget. My Mom is my REAL Mom. If you were adopted and have had a chance to meet your birthmother, you would probably say the same thing -- that your Mom is your REAL Mom. That is why I recommend that adopted children to meet with their birthmother even if it’s just once.

My Mom has always talked with me on adoption. Now I am old enough to understand about adoption. But I still think, “So what if I was adopted?” I think my Mom made a right choice by telling me that I was adopted when I was still little. Because she was so open with me I am able to think positively about adoption.

I think about my birthmother when my Mom scolds me. My Mom says that adopted children often think about their birthmothers when being reprimanded. I think it’s very natural.

I have never asked, “Why couldn’t my birthmother keep me?” I just accept it as reality. When I grow up I really hope to adopt three children. I want to be able to understand how adoptive parents feel and how adopted children feel. I want to share with my adopted children how I felt as an adoptee.

I think adoptive parents usually feel afraid or offended when their kids want to meet their birthmothers. But, I think you should just accept it. Adopted children naturally have desire to meet their birthmothers once in their life time. Some Moms don’t want their kids to have other mothers. They might think that their kids would consider the birthmothers as their real Moms. Kids are only curious to know about them. I remember asking my Mom what my birthmother looked like and if she was pretty.

It was when I met the Auntie for the third time that my Mom finally told me that the lady was actually my birthmother. She tells me that I responded by saying “I had a feeling that was the case”. Even today when I think about that episode, it makes me smile. I was so immature. Meeting Auntie answered all my questions. I know what she looks like, what kind of hair she has—my curiosity has been satisfied.

Once, my Mom was scolding me and I told her that I missed my birthmother. I could tell that she was shocked. She stopped scolding immediately. Since then, I could not share everything with my Mom. I didn’t expect to see her get upset. I thought she would never get surprised by such a thing. When I saw her expression, I was very surprised too.

So, I have one advice for you. When your child says that she wants to see her birthmother, don’t be shocked. If you become upset, your child would not be able to share her honest feelings. Also, when your child wants to talk about adoption, please listen carefully and attentively. When your child sees that you are interested, she would want to talk more and more about adoption. Then, you will be able to have so much more conversations.

I suppose adoptive parents can get help from books on adoption. I read a lot about adoption. When I read I can really learn and understand about adoption and other adopted children.

There is a book titled “No More Secrets.” There are many stories in the book but my favorite is the story about Lavender Princess Eunbi. Princess Eunbi grew jealous of her little adopted sister who drew all the attention from her parents.

She took 2/3 of my parents’ love and didn’t want to listen to me, so I wanted her to be sent back. Now I think she is pretty cute when she listens to me. But when she gets all the attention, I feel like saying “Send her back”. I am glad that I have a younger sister.

Sometimes, I feel very proud to be adopted. I think I started feeling this way ever since I joined The Korean Adopted Children’s Choir. Maybe it’s because people recognize us as the adopted children. I think it’s a good thing. It’s the kind of self confidence that comes by declaring “I was adopted!”

Suha in the Korean Adopted Children's Choir performing during the National Adoption Day event on May 11, 2001, Seoul, Korea. The Choir is organized by MPAK.

I think children need to have self confidence. Children need their parents’ help to become confident. My self confidence started with my parents’ teachings but later I improved on it myself.

Once, as I was getting ready to perform on the stage my inner voice said, “I was adopted, adoption is nothing to be ashamed of!” I wish that a lot of people would realize that adoption is not shameful.

I wish that many people would come to know adoption isn’t something to be embarrassed, but that it has to do with being happy and in love. I wish to continue to declare this through my involvement with the Korean Adopted Children’s Choir. Adoption is not something to be ashamed of, but that it is love!! Adoption is happiness!! When all the adopted children come together and declare together such message, then all the people will believe that adoption is truly happiness and love.

Thank you.

Suha Kim

Will the ICA Program in Korea Come to an End?

2011-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Will the Intercountry Adoption (ICA) program in Korea come to an end? This question has been around for as long as I can remember. And this question will certainly generate uncertainties and discomforts for many wishing to adopt children from Korea. In this blog my aim is to look at this uncertainty in a bigger perspective and show that while the ICA in Korea is unstable and going through a lot of transition, it isn’t all doom and glooms either.

The ICA program in Korea will certainly come to an end unless Korea adopts and ratifies The Hague Adoption Convention (hereafter called ‘Hague Convention’ or ‘Convention’). The Hague Convention proposes the three priorities in the welfare of children. The first is to make every attempt to return the children to their biological families. If that doesn’t work the second option is to place the children domestically within the country of origin. When that option doesn’t work the third option is to place the children overseas. So far, every indication seems to show that this is the direction that Korea is going.

Korea is trying to gear up to adopt the Hague Convention, but they are at odds with a few requirements dealing with how to implement the Hague Convention. One of the requirements by the Convention is for a country to have a centralized adoption authority to control and manage the welfare of homeless children from the time they become homeless to the time they get placed in homes. In Korea, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) is the central authority, and they have established the Korean Central Adoption Resources (KCARE) to develop and implement the database system to track all the homeless children in Korea (whether they are in orphanages or in custody of adoption agencies) and if possible to have database on birth families. In most cases the adoption agencies will be the keepers of the information related to privacy matters on the children they serve, i.e. information regarding birthmothers, etc.

But one issue thing that supersedes all the Hague matter is whether Korea would want to continue to allow their children to be adopted abroad at all (the third option for Hague), and there is a plenty of opposition to this. Thus the struggle is there for Korea whether to ratify the Convention or not. If they ratify, they are essentially allowing ICA to continue. If they don’t, then ICA will certainly come to an end. But I strongly believe Korea will eventually ratify the Convention.

Even if Korea ratifies the Hague Convention, my concern is that even with all the effort is made by Korea to place children based on the first two priorities of Hague (first to place them into their biological families, and second to place them through domestic adoption), Korea may not follow through with the third option of placing the remaining children through ICA due to such a strong opposition to ICA by many. It is much easier for them to put the helpless children in institutions and know it will be quite rather than choose to place the children overseas and hear complaints.

The Convention has been adopted by 79 countries including the US and China. Korea has not adopted the Convention yet, but there is an ever increasing pressure in the international community for Korea to ratify the Convention. By theory, if Korea adopts the Hague Convention, the ICA should go on indefinitely, though in much smaller scale. This aspect of Hague seems to bother all the anti-adoption organizations in Korea, but I have yet to hear any clear and sound objections coming from them.

If by chance Korea does not adopt the Hague Convention, then the ICA will most certainly be closed in Korea. This is evidenced by the general attitude of the Korean nationals, especially the politicians. Over the years there have been several attempts by a few Korean politicians to propose the closure of ICA. I can remember in 1999 when a politician in Korea proposed the closure of ICA by 2006, and in 2007 a government minister promised the closure of ICA by 2011, and recently another congressional representative tried to pass a mandate to close the ICA by 2016, but she was not successful even though she was able to bring about many revisions to the Korean adoption law that now heavily favors birthmother’s rights. (I will write later a separate blog on the adoption law changes). So far, none of these politicians have succeeded, but this does not mean that it won’t happen. It may just be a matter of time when the ICA will come to an end if Korea doesn’t adopt the Hague Convention.

It is without question that this issue on ICA became much more noticeable and debated right after the 1988 Seoul Olympic. The matter of ICA gained much attention during the Olympic as one of the major US networks featured a segment on the ICA that brought great humiliation to Korea as the country only wanted to project positive images to the world. The Olympic had a slogan that said, “The World to Seoul, and Seoul to the World.” So each day every effort was made by Korea to project beautiful sceneries, cultural images and the miracle of economic recovery in Korea. It was during one of those stories that the network featured a story on how Korea continues to send children abroad to be adopted.

You can just imagine the uproar this has caused in Korea (and also in the Korean-American communities). Immediately after the network story broke through, there were many Koreans that demanded to halt the ICA. Their reasons were all the same. That ICA was a national shame, that it is an embarrassment for Korea in light of such an important international event. That Korea was no longer a poor country, and the fact that Korea was economically strong enough to host an Olympic meant that they should be able to take care of their own children. The Korean media flamed these sentiment for many months after the Olympic.

I remember watching that segment of the network story and as I recall, the story itself wasn’t positive or negative. It was just stating a fact that due to Korean nationals not adopting the homeless children they had to be placed overseas. Regardless, Korea did not like it at all because it exposed the weakness in the Korean people.

It was in that moment I began to question, “Why don’t Koreans adopt?” “Why are they upset at foreigners wanting to adopt the children that they don’t want to adopt?” “Is there something I can do about this?” These were some of the questions that later helped me to form MPAK movement to promote domestic adoption in Korea, and to promote adoption by Korean-Americans. Over the years, MPAK has brought tremendous changes in the hearts and minds of Koreans to be more positive towards the concept of adoption.

However, I am concerned for the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games that will be held at Pyeonchang, Korea. While I am very happy that Korea could host such a great event, it may not be so favorable for all the homeless children. I am deeply concerned that Korea may choose to abandon or temporarily halt the ICA program by 2017 as the Winter Olympic Games will be held in February of 2018. Of course, this will be done to avoid another embarrassing situation they faced during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games.

My philosophy in adoption has always been the same as the priorities outlined by Hague. A priority should be given for the children to be placed domestically (either to birth families or adoption). If not then the ICA program should be the next best solution. But placing children into foster care should be exercised with caution, and placing them in institution should be the last option. In my years of promoting adoption in Korea through MPAK, I have never spoken against ICA as there have been so many wonderful families that have done wonders to so many homeless Korean children. Without those families the children would most likely grow up in institutions in Korea. And I am certainly a living proof of that.

I believe the most important thing for children is for them to grow up in loving homes, whether they be in Korea or in overseas. Unfortunately, not too many Koreans seem to put the best interests of children first. If they could only see from the hearts of homeless children…

NEWS FLASH - The EP Process Has Started to Flow Again in Korea

2011-08-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Exit Permit (or Emmigration Permit) has started to flow again in Korea. This according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of Korea today.

Because this year's Quota Level has already reached near the limit before the freeze went into effect, there are fewer than100 EPs that will be granted for the remainder of this year between the four adoption agencies in Korea.

The EPs that were submitted in May will be granted first. It appears that during the first six months of 2011, there have been rather high level of EPs granted that made the Quota get filled up quickly. I hope all the children will come home soon.

MPAK the the East and the West

2011-08-05T23:56:00.000-07:00

MPAK-East Regional Picnic, Van Saun Park, Pararmus, NJ, July 23, 2011

With lots of travels and busy schedule, I am now able to sit down and report two MPAK gatherings that recently occurred within two weeks apart. The MPAK-East Regional met on July 23rd at the Van Saun Park, Paramus, NJ with 40 people in attendance. We endured the 104 degrees temperature and humidity, but the tree shades and gentle breeze provided some comforts. MPAK-East Region has not been very active past two years, and this picnic was an attempt to revitalize the gathering, and it was a very important gathering.

A special thanks to Min Lee and Ben Huh, who took over the leadership role again despite living in South Carolina, and driving 11 hours to organize and attend the picnic. There were some familiar faces at the picnic and it was great to see the Jungs and Hyuns again, and there were many new faces which was very special and I hope they will continue to support the East Regional gatherings. Due to many families spread out so widely in the East coast area, there will be three mini gatherings planned before another big gathering planned for the Christmas time.

MPAK-Valley Region (north of LA), Gathered at Andrew & Helen Kim's Place, July 31, 2011

Out in the Pacific West, the MPAK-Valley Regional group area met at Andrew & Helen Kim's place. The temperature must have hovered around 95, but once the sun set it was very pleasant. The kids swimmed in the pool, jumped in the moonbounce, and played with a dog named Oreo (really looked like an Oreo cookie color). One of the highlights of the gathering was the campfire, where kids roasted the marshmallows, using improvised sticks by taping chopsticks together.

The MPAK-Valley Region director Andrew and Helen Kim have adopted three children from Korea. Their third child has autism, but progressing very well although challenging at times. That day I learned something new about Andrew Kim, or rather Coach Kim. Andrew is the varsity head football coach at the Chatsworth High School, that has a student body population of 3300. This distinction is very rare for a Korean-American to hold. I know of no other Korean-American that is a head football coach of any team. It is a very rare combination of being a football coach and and an adoptive parent that make him and Helen very special.

TV Campaign for Orphans – Restores Human Rights, not the Opposite

2011-07-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

There is a bitter conflict between the pro-adoption organizations and the anti-adoption organizations in Korea. On the pro-adoption side MPAK is teamed with the adoption agencies and the Korean Government’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), and the other side is represented by KoRoots, adoptee organizations called TRACK and ASK, and the Korean Unwed Mothers Support Networks (KUMSN).

With the recent Korean Government’s implementation of a stricter control on abortion practices and limiting the number of children being adopted abroad through the quota system have resulted in overabundance of homeless children in Korea. As of last May, there have been over 1800 babies in Korea that have no place to go. Adoption agencies are filled to capacity to handle additional intakes, and they have in fact started turning away the birthmothers wanting to relinquish their unplanned pregnancies.

It was 1800 in May. By now it may be over 2000. Seeing this tragedy, MPAK in Korea has worked with MOHW and the domestic adoption agencies to produce the PSAs to find homes for these children domestically. Initially we produced 30 such PSAs on 30 different babies that needed homes. Each PSA is only one minute long and features one baby. The images of the babies in the PSAs are real, but pseudo names are used to protect their identities. The PSA provides no other identifying information other than some description on how cute the babies are and what their personality traits are. At the bottom of each PSA lists the names of the domestic adoption agencies that the viewers can contact to learn more on the babies. Each PSA concludes with a remark like, “…who would be the mother and father for this baby...”

A screen shot of a PSA - Kim, Yul (not real name), 6 months old. The small letters in the logo on the upper right side says, "Campaign to Find Families"

Another screen shot of a PSA featuring Jang, Woojin (not real name), (4 mos).

Just a meager 30 PSAs out of 1800 babies that need homes were produced initially. The idea for the PSA was formed when we learned this is how things are done in the US with programs such as “Wednesday’s Child” broadcast featuring children in need of homes. To learn more about this, in April 2011 MPAK and MOHW from Korea visited and interviewed the adoption experts in the US State Department and the Adoption Exchange. There we learned that the success rate for the programs such as “Wednesday’s Child” is staggering 70%, as that many featured children would find homes. So we wanted to use the similar strategy to find homes for the 1800 babies that have no place to go. So producing the 30 PSAs was a start.

Initially the PSAs were being broadcasted through a Christian Broadcasting Station (CBS) in Korea. They started to broadcast three PSAs each day. However, within a day or two of the broadcast, there were several protests against the station to immediately stop the broadcast, claiming that featuring of the babies through such means is an infringement of human rights violation. The person who led this charge was Rev. Kim Dohyun of KoRoots, who has always spoken out against adoption, whether be it intercountry or domestic.

He has been a strong advocate of birthmothers’ rights. That in and of itself is a good cause and somebody needs to advocate on behalf of them to provide economic and social environment for the birthmothers that want to keep their babies. However, where he is very wrong is that he blames adoption for the cause of separation of children from their birthmothers. So he feels the need to speak against any form of adoption both domestic and intercountry.

What he fails to recognize is that adoption is a response to already separated children, not the other way around. Each year there are so many more birthmothers that choose to give up their babies than those that want to keep them. So his effort to speak against adoption is falling on deft ears. Last year I remember being in a same meeting sponsored by the Korean government on an adoption forum, and he remarked that he will run a campaign to remove The National Adoption Day (May 11) in Korea. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and so did many others in the room. Of course, he will never succeed in this.

Regarding the PSAs to find homes for the children, his reasoning is that using the actual images of children in the PSAs is to commercialize the adoption using children, thus this is a violation of human rights. That using their real images violates children’s rights to privacy. In a country where adoption is often practiced secretly, the PSAs represented a dramatic new approach to the adoption promotion where the majority of Korean nationals were not familiar with. Rev. Kim called on the National Human Rights Commission in Korea to investigate the whole matter.

However, having known the Rev. Kim over several years and being familiar with his work, I believe his real motives for the accusation stems more from his opposition to adoption rather than human rights reasons. To his perspective, there are 1800 birthmothers that deserve to raise their own children, and the PSAs will take that opportunity away from the birthmothers. However, he does not want to admit the fact that those 1800 birthmothers have willingly abandoned their children and don’t want them back. Not surprisingly, Rev. Kim wasn’t the only one that protested against the broadcasting of the PSAs.

The CBS TV station, upon hearing the complaints from several people, decided to temporarily hold off the broadcast as they did not want to be in the middle of a conflict that might risk the status as a Christian broadcast station. It was a very disappointing decision, but I was able to understand their predicament as well.

Upon viewing the PSAs, the Human Rights Commission issued a stated position that the PSAs violated the Human Rights. It was yet another blow in our efforts to find homes. Upon reading their explanation, they did not object to adoption promotion, but objected in the method of using the actual images to promote the cause for children and feared that their interests may not be best served through transparency in adoption rather than secrecy.

It was obvious that the Commission had a bias against the transparent adoption, which they were quiet ignorant. They were not aware that the adoption culture in Korea was moving fast towards transparent adoption culture rather than the traditional secret adoption practices. Adoption agencies have shown that more than 50% of the couples are now choosing to be transparent in their adoptions.

I wrote an email to the Commission explaining why the PSAs are not a violation of human rights but an effort to establish human rights for homeless children. I reasoned that if Korea doesn’t invest in one minute of effort to find a home for a child, he/she may grow up in an institution for 18 years, and deprived of a family that would become even greater form of child abuse and human rights violation. It doesn’t end in 18 years. The impact and the consequences of having lived in an institution will follow the rest of child’s life. I challenged them by stating that either choose one minute or choose 18 years of misery and suffering. Thus the PSAs was an effort to restore the human rights for the homeless children, not the other way around.

The Human Rights Commission in Korea has not responded to my email. Thus I have concluded that the Human Rights Commission in Korea is really out of touch with the reality and I hold them in contempt for blocking the opportunities for children to grow up in homes.

Interestingly enough, when we (MPAK and MOHW) met earlier in April 2011 with the representatives from the US State Department and the Adoption Exchange, we asked a few questions regarding the possibility that some may object to the PSAs by taking issues that it violates privacy and human rights. Their answers were very candid. They stated, “That sort of opposition is seen even in the US, but we just ignore them. There will always be some who will take issue with this approach to find homes, but the results show that PSAs do work and so many children have found homes. What could be more important that?” I guess another question can be raised by asking, “What are the opponents of the TV campaign doing to help those homeless children?”- Absolutely nothing.

Despite some criticisms, The US government took the position that best serves the needs of children by implementing numerous TV campaigns and other programs to find homes for so many children. I hope the Korean Human Rights Commission and the leaders of the Korean government would come to their senses and follow the example from the greatest democracy in the world.

Explanation for the Slow Exit Permits from Korea

2011-07-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

I made phone calls last night to talk with an agency and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) representative to find out why there has been noticeable delays in the Exit Permit (EP) granted recently. Normally once an adoption agency files an EP request with MOHW, it usually takes a month or so to get MOHW to clear it. As of today, there are EPs that were submitted in May of this year that have not been approved yet. This has brought a lot of anxiety among the waiting families whether their children will come home or not.

For those of you who are not too familiar with the intercountry adoption (ICA) process, EP is like the last hurdle in the long process where the Korean Government (or MOHW) finally approves that a child may exit the country to be placed overseas. Once an EP has been granted, the parents are notified by an agency when the child will arrive home. The EP requests are made by the agencies when the number of adoption placements by the agency falls within the allotted quota limitation assigned by MOHW. If an assignment of a child is beyond that quota, then the family must wait until the next year to get the child home.

In talking with MOHW, the delays are a deliberate attempt by them to make the adoption agencies comply with their agreement to provide documents related to post adoption placements. To elaborate on this the domestic adoption agencies in Korea (Holt, Eastern, SWS, & KSS) have an agreement to provide post adoption placement reports back to MOHW, and for many years this part of the adoption process has been ignored by both the adoption agencies and MOHW. I say both because the adoption agencies have not been compliant on this agreement and MOHW for not having requested this until this year. So for over 50 years of ICA, MOHW has finally found a clause in the agreement that this portion of the agreement was not being faithfully followed by the agencies. According to MOHW, the post placement service agreement requires the agencies to report on a child until he/she is issued a US citizenship.

This all came about when a question was raised by a government representative in Korea on how they are to know how well the adopted children are coping with their new environment overseas. At this MOHW could not answer, so they turned to the agencies to provide them with an answer on post placement reports of children and whether they knew what percentage of children they have placed have the US citizenship. The agencies didn't know either. So the MOHW has requested the agencies to provide the post placement reports and a data on the number of children that have been issued the US citizenship. In the mean time all the EP requests filed with MOHW would be put on hold until the agencies comply.

I tried to reason with MOHW that granting EPs to the waiting children and the domestic agencies complying with the post placement clause seem to be two separate issues, thus EPs should be allowed so that children will go to their homes. But MOHW stated that they would not be able to release the EPs without the agencies' cooperation on providing post placement reports. They reasoned that for many years the agencies only cared about sending children abroad, but showed no interest in how children are adjusting to their new environment, thus there is no way to substantiate to those questioning on how the adopted children are doing.
MOHW maintained that this is one area that must be cleared by the agencies for them to get the waiting children released for adoption.

After much wrangling between the MOHW and the agencies, I am happy to report that today (as of 7/19/11 blog) that all four agencies have agreed to sit down with the MOHW to show that they do indeed can provide the post placement reports in the hope of getting the EPs cleared. I don't know what will come out of this meeting, most likely a determination by MOHW on requesting additional data until they are satisfied. MOHW has however given some relaxation to agencies as they seem to understand that to gather so may post placement reports at one time is impossible for the agencies. So the MOHW has asked the agencies to provide the post placement service reports on those children that were placed January and February of this year. And that the post placement reports must be provided from now on. Based on MOHW's review of the reports, they may or may not grant EPs, but I am sure the agencies will do all they can to cooperate to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Please keep on praying for all those involved in the process, that God's wisdom that always advocates for the best interest of children will prevail and that they will all come home soon.

Emile Mack's Story at the MPAK-LA Region Gathering

2011-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

The MPAK-LA Region met at Haram's house (Henry and Miyon Hough) on June 25th. This blog is wee bit late due to my work travels, and other pressing matters. The Houghs did a fantastic job in hosting the gathering, which was attended by 13 families. With a plenty of space for kids to play, and with a great company of people, topped with sumptuous dinner was fabulous.

The main story of the evening belonged to Emile and Jenny Mack as they shared their story of adopting Miya, who came last year. Emile shared his story through a slide show that chronicled the adoption adventure that began when they came to the MPAK picnic in May 2008. After much wrangling with the adoption process due to his age limitation, where Emile and I visited Korea together to resolve this, Miya finally came home. Both Emile and Jenny are very happy and having lots of fun spending time with Miya.

Emile is one of the most successful adoptees I met, as he has a very close ties to his parents that were African-Americans. A very unusual type of adoption, but his parents have molded and inspired Emile to become who he is today. Today he is the Deputy Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fired Department overseeing 4000 employees as the No. 2 man in the department. Both Emile and Jenny wanted a daughter to make a complete family. But Emile also wanted to give back to the adoption, which he feels has blessed him very much. You may read more about his fascinating stories with pictures as he was featured in the KoreaAm magazine not too long ago at: http://iamkoream.com/where-i-come-from/

The surprising part of all, and a very pleasant one, is how Miya resembles so much like her father in looks as if she was born from him and Jenny. The slide presentation culminated with the scenes from their celebration of Miya's first birthday celebration. It was a beautiful presentation, and a beautiful story. We wish all the happiness and blessings to the Mack family.

Emile, Jenny, and Miya shared their adoption story at the gathering.

This is Haram's House where we met.

In the kitchen area where the sumptuous dinner was served

Some of the dinner spread

Me in red conducting the meeting and introducing Emile

Emile shares his adoption story

A group photo of the MPAK-LA families

A Father's Day Tribute - In Rememberance of My Father

2011-06-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

John and Margaret Morrison - My real parents

As we celebrate this year's Father's Day, I thought I'd share with my readers a tribute I wrote to honor my father at his funeral on behalf of the family on March 29, 2006. I share with you the man who changed my life and today as a father myself to five children, I am just an imitator of this great man who I thank God everyday for having brought him into my life. My mother still lives in Colorado Springs with my sister's family. The above photo was taken in July 2001 as we clelebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in Colorado Springs.

-----------------------------

Dear Mom, family members, members of the Village Seven Church, and friends.

My name is Steve Morrison, and I am the eldest son of John and Margaret Morrison.

In order to fully understand and comprehend the greatness of the man we are here to honor and bid fond farewell on his earthly life, and to celebrate the joyful beginning of a new life in the everlasting arms of God, it is important that I share with you the impact he has made in my life and in the lives of my family members.

Although my face doesn’t resemble any of my family members, today I declare to you, as I have before for many years, how proud and happy I am to bear the name of Morrison, and how privileged to have been chosen to be a son of John and Margaret Morrison.

I was born in

Korea

, but lost my parents when I was a six years old lad, and grew up in an orphanage. There I met James who was to become my brother later. Mom and Dad had three of their own biological children named Rhonda, Cheryl, and Mark. In 1968 they adopted James.

Shortly after adopting James, both Mom and Dad felt called by God to adopt another homeless child from

Korea

. While browsing through a Holt’s bi-monthly newsletter, they came across a list of many children with pictures, in need of homes. While Dad was reviewing the pictures and the descriptions, his eyes caught the picture of a 13 years-old boy in a Boy Scout uniform. Dad would later mention many times that as soon as he looked at my picture, he knew that the boy was his son.

My mother wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of adopting a trouble-prone soon to be fourteen years old boy. At which she pointed to another boy who was eight or nine, but my dad did not relent, “I have already made my decision.” Mom pointed to another younger boy and said “What about this boy?” To which my Dad would firmly say, “I have already decided. This is my boy.” Mom was getting more and more worried about the whole idea, and decided to bring out James to the table to settle the question. According to Mom, James looked at my picture and smiled and said, “He is a good boy, get him!” That was how I got chosen that night. That night I truly believe God spoke to my Dad, “John, here is your boy! And I will bless you through him.”

On May 28, 1970, I can still recall vividly the first day when I met my Dad at the S.F. Airport. Because our home was in Salt Lake City, we took another flight to get home. When I left

Korea

, I wore a brand new clothes and shoes. When I got to the S.F. airport, there was a bundle of clothes from the Morrison family waiting for me. The first thing I had to do was to change my clothes and shoes at the airport. I guess it was a regulation at the time. I was shocked to see that the blue jean had holes, and the shoes I put on were worn out and had holes in them. When we landed at the Salt Lake City Airport, my dad took me to his car, and I was surprised to see a 1956 Chevy Bomber with rusted sides and torn up upholstery inside. I looked at other cars and they were shiny and new. By then I was beginning to feel uneasy about coming to

America

. But then it wasn’t long before I realized that it wasn’t because my parents were poor, but it was because they were modest. That was one of the first qualities in Dad that I saw.

I can also recall that same day Mom let me taste her version of Kimchi that is the most unique Kimchi that I’ve ever tasted (I later called it the Irish Kimchi). But that night as Dad tucked me to bed, I remember Dad gently kissing my forehead and saying good night. For whatever the reason, after 36 years later, I can never forget that loving gesture. That day, I knew I had finally found a Dad for my life, and a family of my own.

I enrolled into a Jr. High School and I began to sense a new found purpose and desire to study hard. While in

Korea

, I disliked studying because orphans are considered second class citizens, and marginalized by the culture. You heard nothing but discouraging remarks for being an orphan. Consequently I did not do well at school because I had no hope. But in the US, being in a new family, with a new hopes and dreams, things began to change for me, and I began push myself hard with studies, and had good results in school.

I remember watching Dad each day. As he left each morning for work, he would always hug and kiss Mom and say, “Have a good day today, Honey” in front of us kids. And at the end of the day when he returned, he would hug and kiss Mom again. Not used to seeing that kind of affection in

Korea

before, at first I felt odd, but later I came to like what I saw. Those images of my Dad being affectionate to my Mom have left a special impression in my heart that taught me that is how a man should love his wife. My mother taught me English and although I was a fourteen years old boy, she made me watch Mr. Rogers Good Neighborhood and Sesame Seed Street. I remember the characters like Ernie and Bert, the Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster, and learned how to count backward.

I remember then how happy I was with the Morrison family. As a family, each day we would gather together at the dinner table, and each day we would take turns in saying grace before the meal. My brothers and sisters got along harmoniously and I fondly remember playing hours and hours of card and board games with them. My mother made all the decisions at home and managed the house perfectly. And Dad was an avid reader who always had either newspapers or books in his hands.

I also remember thinking at the time that this is what a happy family is all about. And I began to dream. I dreamed that someday when I grow up, I would become a noble gentleman just like my Dad was, and marry a woman as beautiful and wonderful as my Mom, and have children of my own. That I would treat my wife just like the way my Dad treated, like a queen with utmost love and care and affection. I also began to have another dream. I began to realize that adoption was such a beautiful thing, and I realized what a blessing it was to have a family. It was then that I decided that when I grow up and have a family of my own, I would also adopt a child in need of a home. In December 2000, my wife and I adopted our son Joseph from

Korea

On the night when Joseph arrived, I tucked him to bed and prayed with him. When he was ready to sleep, I bent over and kissed him on his forehead, just like my Dad had done 30 years earlier. Only then, was I able to understand what he must have felt towards me.

Today I am living the dream that I had as a teenager. I can also say that this dream was inspired by watching my Dad. But I also admit that compared to my Dad, I am just an imitator of a truly great man that he was.

In 1979, right after my graduation from a college, I had a month of rest before going into the world of my profession. That one month of time with my Dad was one of the most significant moments in my life. At that time Dad was recovering from a heart bypass surgery. One day as he and I got into a conversation on many topics, he looked at me and said, “Steve, when we adopted you, we adopted because you were in need of parents and a family. We adopted you because you needed our help. But I now realize that after all these years, it is we who have been blessed much more through you.” When Dad said those words to me, I was speechless. I don’t remember if I uttered any words in response, but I felt a special bond of love he had for me.

A couple of weeks later, my Dad and I got into another man-to-man conversation about life, God, marriage, and my future. That day was to change my life in a very significant way. As we talked, my Dad looked at me straight and made a statement so powerful that I will never forget it as long as I live. He said, “Steve, I have made some very important decisions in my life. The best decision I have ever made was to believe in God, the second best decision was to marry your mother, and the third best decision was to have you in our family.” When I heard these words, I was just floored. I could find no words to respond to his remark. I just absorbed all the love that he was pouring out to me. I knew that Dad loved each of his five children equally, but through those words, he was telling me how much he loved me. That day, my love and respect for Dad rose to a new height. His statement would alter my life. His statement has now become my statement and my vision as well. That is, to put God first in my life’s priority, then to love and cherish my beautiful wife, and to value and protect my children.

Dad was not only serious, but he had very humorous side as well. He would often brag about how he whispered sweet nothing into my mother’s ear to win her heart. He would often say with pride, “I turned on my Irish charm”. He and I would even up to a few weeks ago would joke one another with “Sure and vigora” I could never figure out what that meant. He introduced me a term called “floakie” to mean some stuffs floating around on the surface of a cup of water or coffee. He would often be heard of singing, “My Wild Irish Rose, the sweetest flower that grows…”

There are several tricks I have learned from my Dad. My Dad always relished telling the story of how he met Mom. After having seen her three times, while sitting on a porch with his wife to be, he said that he would predict the future for both of them. My dad predicted that someday he would marry her and have a happy family in the Lord. When I was dating a girl that I really liked, I told her that I will predict our future together. I told her that we would be happily married and have a wonderful family in the Lord. Well, the trick worked, and sitting here is my beautiful wife who fell for the trick.

Three weeks ago when I visited Dad at a hospital, I could sense that his life was coming to a close. But during my visit, he kept his spirit up. Obviously he was in a very good mood, and began to sing a song to Mom. “Every day with Margaret is sweeter than the day before. Every Day with Margaret, I love her more and more.” As I listened to him sing, I felt lump in my throat and my eyes welled up with tears. I thought in my heart, “This is my Dad. What a blessed man I am to be his son. His love for Mom is so admirable.” Knowing clearly where the song came from, I asked him, “Hey, isn’t that from a Hymn where it should be “Every Day with Jesus…” To which he whispered at me, “Shhh, don’t tell anyone about it.” At this the three of us had a hearty laughter.

In closing, I would like to say a special thanks to my Mom. You have been a faithful help mate for 55 long years. You have always been at his side, always respected and submitted to his leadership, and you have raised five of us children with utmost love and care, and emphasized the importance of having the right relationship with Christ. You have gracefully aged and have stood by Dad to the end. However, you still have a lot of works to do. You are still needed by all of us, especially by your grand children. We will do our best to fill the void left by Dad, and we will all cherish dearly the loving memories of Dad as long as we live.

And to my brothers and sisters, Rhonda, Cheryl, Mark, and James, let us do our best to imitate our father, and pass on the legacy of Dad to our children and to their children.

To Rhonda, Cheryl, and Mark, I want you to know how grateful I am that you have shared your Dad with me. Thank you so much for being the best brother and sisters. I also speak for James, as this sentiment is equally shared by him as well.

And to Dad, you are the only father I had. Your life is an example for all of us to follow. The memories of your life will inspire all of us. We celebrate now that you in the arms of God. May you rest in peace. You will be missed and we will always remember you.

Your Loving Son,

Steve Morrison

March 29, 2006

12th Annual MPAK Picnic - a Super Success

2011-05-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

There were over 100 people. The weather was perfect. Even more perfect were the adoptive families and their children running around the park happy. With a gigantic obstacle course moonbounce, lots of food and BBQ, the annual MPAK picnic was a smashing success. There were so many new faces of parents, children, and friends. There were a few couples that came to learn more about adoption, and went home convinced. There were games for children, and lots of presents for children. The picnic was held at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park, and the facility was beautiful. For now I only have a group picture, but I will post the other pictures from the picnic later. Thanks to all those that came, and special thanks to all those who served at the picnic.

12th Annual MPAK Picnic at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park, May 21, 2011 (Steve in red on left)

To see the rest of the pictures from the MPAK picnic, please visit the Picasa link below:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116108980798237438960/MpakAnnualPicnic2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvHi9Cy1-uSaQ&feat=directlink

Current Status - A Nice Trip to Korea and Back, Well Almost.

2011-05-23T23:24:00.000-07:00

I am currently writing this during my work related travel. I have grounded myself at a hotel to sit down and finish off the letter to a Korean Government official regarding intercountry adoption. The letter is too long I believe, but cannot cut out any portion of it.

I have come back from Korea, and what a trip it has been. The National Adoption Day was attended by well over 1000 people, the next day MPAK had an adoption celebration in Kwachon City, the next day I traveled down to the city of Busan, where the city invited me to speak in front of their city workers. I spoke for eighty minutes. I had ten minutes left over for Q&A. It was such an honor to speak to them my adoption experience, my values, and my work on behalf of homeless children. Much like what I did at the Forum where I spoke on 'giving back'. On Sunday I gave a testimony at a medium sized church in Chungjoo. Then I went back up to Seoul.

One of the open days, there was a meeting at the MPAK office with a Government official at the MOHW, representatives from all three big agencies, some came from KCARE, and of course me and Mrs. Han represented MPAK. There were couple of professors of law that attended as well. It was about running some public service announcement (PSA) using children's images to tug the hearts of Koreans to reach out and adopt the babies featured. So the concern on the table was on commercialization of children, with potential implication that children's rights are abused by the PSA.

Apparently there were some in Korea that were admantly opposed to it, and the MOHW wanted to bring all the concerned members of the adoption community and hear their opinions. It didn't take long for all of us at the meeting to come to the conclusion that PSA would better serve children by finding homes for them. This was going to be much like the "Wednesday's Child" program in the US where a homeless child or a sibling group of children are featured at many news stations across the country, and this method has been successful in finding many homes for needy children.

So the MOHW decided to run several children's PSA which is one minute long each. MPAK worked with the adoption agencies and other organizations to produce the one minute PSA for 30 children, and 50 more were planned. But when the Minister of MOHW took this case to the Blue House and showed to other ministers what her plan was, there was no support for her plan from the other ministers, that argued about abusing the privacy rights of children. So this PSA idea went nowhere. It was a devastating blow for many children whose voices have been drowned out by ignorant leaders of the country, that probably have not even adopted one child.

What they haven't considered was that to put a child through an institution for eighteen years, ruin his/her life by not cultivating full capacity that a child could have (due to having no family), forced out of the orphanage when they turn 18 with a very little education and very little motivation, most of these children would struggle through their lives in Korea. This is even much greater abuse to a child than a mere one minute PSA. What good is the privacy rights when the lives of children are ruined by blocking their rights to children? We are talking about one minute of PSA, which most people would not even remember of think about. We only need one family for the child. Compare this to the 18 years of delayed growth and suffering by a child who couldn't appear in that one minute, the only time a child might have a voice to say he/she is in need of a family. Sigh.

From Seoul, Korea

2011-05-10T02:32:00.000-07:00

I flew in last night and arrive in Seoul.
Every year about this time I make my trip to Korea.
The main objective is to participate in the National Adoption Day event, and this year marks 6th year since the National Adoption Day was established in Korea in 2005.
The event draws around 1000 people from all over Korea, and it is sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of the Korean Government. The event usually starts with an award ceremony recognizing all the individuals who have contributed much to the cause of adoption, and the second half of the program usually features adoption story and performances by well know artists. Last year, the performance was given by a girl group called 2NE1, whom I didn't know anything about, but apparently popular even among the Korean-American teenagers in the US.
After this event, I have to travel down to the Pusan City, where I have been invited by the city to come and speak to its city employees. I don't have much information on what type of employees, or how many, but I am honored to be there to give a lecture to the city audience.
After that I will visit an orphanage in the Kimcheon city where they will have an adoption promotion event. I have known this particular orphanage for many years and is one of my favorite place due to the warmth and care of the children by the orphanage director Mrs. Kim Jung Sook.
The next day I am scheduled to visit Chungjoo City where I am scheduled to speak at a church giving a testimony on Sunday. After all the events and activities, I am to fly back to the States on Monday.
It is going to be a very busy schedule, and in between times I will try to visit MOHW and an adoption agency on a matter related to the issues of certain waiting children who have been already assigned families but have to wait for next year for visa clearance due to quota placed by MOHW on how many children can leave the country each year.
More to come later.

Mom, Do You Remember? - A Mother's Day Letter by Steve Morrison

2011-05-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

With my mother Margaret

I wrote the following letter to my Mom in 2009 on Mother's Day. The letter was published in a Christian magazine in Korea, and also translated in Korean as well. As we celebrate the Mother's Day, I thought I'd share with my readers the letter I wrote to my Mom and to remember the influence she had in my life. I hope you will all be blessed by my letter, and hope the letter will encourage all of us to relfect on our mothers as we celebrate Mother's Day this Sunday.

Steve Morrison

------------------------

Dear Mom,

It has been three years since Dad passed away. How lonely you must have been during those years. Whenever I think of you and Dad, the first thought that comes to my mind is that of yearning to see you both, and also a swelling heart of gratitude.

Kids are also full of praise for you, and constantly ask me when they could visit their Grandma in Colorado. Thankfully we plan to visit you this summer, and the kids are already excited and they are counting the days.

Mom, do you remember Dad’s funeral service three years ago? Remember that I gave a tribute in Dad’s memory? Do you remember me stating how proud I was to wear the name of Morrison, and how happy I was to be a part of the family? And I also said that being your son was such a great privilege as well.

Mom, do you remember? I had a second birth in May 28, 1970 as the new 14 years old Morrison. That was a special birthday for me. That day as I arrived home, you came out to greet me as I was getting out of the car. I still remember your warm embrace and your loving welcome even to this day. I still remember your warm smiles, but the best part was that you kept that warm smiles everyday. So whenever I think of you, I always have the image of you smiling at me.

Do you remember the day when I first arrived? I cannot forget the Kimchi you made. It was the most interesting Kimchi I have ever tasted. You said that you had the opportunity to taste the Kimchi a few months before I came. So you went to work to make me feel at home by making the Kimchi. To be frank with you, I really had a hard time eating that Kimchi because it was very different. Instead of using Chinese cabbage you used a regular cabbage, instead of putting garlic you put lots of onions. You remembered that Kimchi being a bit sour, so you put some strong smelling salad vinegar (Kimchi is naturally sour when aging). To make it spicy you sprinkled black peppers instead of chili peppers. But the moment you opened the lid, I knew it was not the real Kimchi. However, I was 14 and old enough to know and appreciate the fact that you were trying very hard to please me. That experience has permanently imprinted in my heart your thoughtful and your warm hearted spirit.

Because of your love, I had a new sense of purpose to work hard at school, and do my best. While in Korea, I was treated like a second class citizen because of the “orphan” label that I carried with me, and heard a lot of discouraging remarks. Thus I didn’t want to study, and consequently I wasn’t a good student in Korea. In America, I had a new family, a new hope and a new dream for my future, and that helped me to do well at school.

Mom, do you remember the day when I brought home a straight-A report card? You were so proud of me. Dad was especially proud of me, and for each A he would give us one dollar. Dad gave me $7 for seven A’s and he was very proud of me, while at the same time he felt his wallet becoming a lot lighter. But he was still very happy about it.

I can never forget the way Dad loved you. Every day as Dad left the house to go to work he would hug you and kiss you, and say “Have a good day, honey.” And at the end of the day when Dad walked into the house he would hug you and kiss you and say, “How was your day, honey?” Dad was such a gentleman and I remember how I admired him. The way Dad loved you has taught me that I should also love my wife the same way.

Mom, do you remember teaching me English when I first came home? I was 14 years old boy, and you made me to watch the Sesame Street and Mister Roger’s Good Neighborhood. I remember Ernie and Bert, the Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster. Do you remember sitting down with me and teaching me everyday? It was largely due to your help that I was able to communicate reasonably well only three months after my arrival.

Another fond memory I have as a family was the meal-time prayers. We took turns in saying the grace. We didn’t pray individually, but waited until everyone sat down to pray. We lived as “A family that prays together stays together.”

Not a day goes by when I am not grateful for you. It is because of you I have become what I am. Especially I thank God everyday for having brought you into my life. If God didn’t have a plan and grace for me, I would not be able to become a son of Morrison.

It was largely due to your warm love that I have become a space systems engineer with a good job, a good family that is based on the unshakable foundation that Jesus has established. I have a beautiful wife and four great kids. Also, if it wasn’t for your love, I would not have adopted my son Joseph. I will love Joseph as you have loved me. However, I am only an imitator of your love and I don’t think I can ever love like you loved me.

You are the source of inspiration in my founding a nonprofit organization called Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea (MPAK) ten years ago. MPAK has brought a positive change to the Korean adoption culture in Korea. What I am most grateful is that through MPAK I have met so many wonderful families and exceeding joy as I have witnessed so many children finding homes because of my effort. I fondly remember two years ago when I had the privilege to take you to the land of my birth and meet many MPAK families. They thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and the sharing you had with them.

For 54 long years you have stood by Dad being a true helpmate that God intended. You have always respected him, and elevated him always, while at the same time acknowledging his headship in the family. Out of love you submitted yourself to Dad. You have also done your best to raise us five children, and your ultimate desire and emphasis has always been that we have the right relationship with the Lord. For that I will always be grateful.

Lastly Mom, your son Steve would like to express one more thoughts of love for you. If God gave me another chance to start my life all over again, I would choose the same path. I would choose the life of being homeless, go hungry, be cold, and become an orphan all over again and live in an orphanage. Why? The answer is simple. It is so that I could meet you and Dad again. You mean that much to me.

Mom, be healthy and I hope you live forever. I love you very much. I can’t wait till summer to be with you again.

With lots of love,

Your son Steve

12th Annual MPAK Picnic

2011-04-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Dear MPAK Friends,

It's that time of the year, the 12th Annual MPAK Picnic.
I am happy to announce that this is a joint picnic for MPAK Families in Los Angeles, Valley Areas, Orange County, and San Diego Areas. Non MPAK members and guests are certainly welcome. Because this is a joint picnic with families from San Diego, we are meeting at half way at Laguna Niguel.

The picnic is as follows:

Date: May 21, 2011 (Saturday)

Time: 11AM - 5PM

Place: Laguna Niguel Regional Park, 28241 La Paz Road, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
lagunaniguel@ocparks.com
Shelter: Shelter #5

Food: BBQ provided by MPAK. I have listed some basic items needed for the picnic under "Please select something to bring" and you can check it off. All others please bring your favorite dish.

The picnic will feature:Great Foods
Giant Moonbounce with slide
Fun and Games
Lots of playgrounds
A lake in the park
Gifts for kids

Let's gather together under the May sky and enjoy a day of adoption.

Thanks and see you all at the picnic.

Steve Morrison
562-505-0695
mpakusa@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mpakpage

Benjamin's Confession

2011-04-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Benjamin is doing very well with our family.
He has been enrolled into our medical insurance and his mother took him to the school to start the process of enrolling him. He is full of smiles, and gets along with our four other kids.

On past weekend we took the kids to Desert Hot Springs and the kids had a great time swimming and getting burned by the Sun. It was super windy, but we had a lots of fun.

Last night we (all seven of us) sat down together for a dinner meal at our home.
Helen, our oldest daughter is also 14 years-old. So is Joseph whom we adopted 11 years ago is 14 as well.
So we have three teenagers at our home that are all 14 years-old and their birthdays are all within a month apart. I guess it will be quiet a challenge to send them to colleges all at the same time.

As we sat down to eat dinner, Helen prayed for the meal for all of us.
She thanked God for bringing Benjamin home. She asked God's blessings on our home.
When I explained to Benjamin what Helen had prayed, he said,
"No one has ever prayed for me like that. It is the first time for me." Benjamin said this with a hint of gratitude.

The dinner time (or any meal time) with kids was loud and noisy with unceasing amount of conversations exchanged between the kids and the two parents. As usual, the most loud and talkative of all was Joseph, and understandably Benjamin was the most quiet one. With his limited understanding of English, he didn't know what was being discussed unless I periodically explained to him what was being said. At one part of the conversation, the subject turned to school, as the kids were at the end of the spring break and the next day Monday was their back to school day.

At this point Benjamin spoke up with a Southern Korean accent (just like in the US, Southerners speak with accent).
"Will I also be going to the school, too?" he asked in Korean.
"Yes, your mother will try to enroll you into a school tomorrow." I replied.
"Will I be safe at the school? He asked that with a bit of worry on his face. He continued,
"While I was in Korea I heard some stories where the kids in the US are very rough and tough and violent. Is that true?" Benjamin was concerned.
"It really depends on which neighborhood you are in. There are some places that are dangerous, but our school is a very good school and you do not need to worry about that sort of things." I tried to calm his fear.

"In Korea we have to 'school fight' a lot because there were fightings at our school all the time. What if I get into a fight?"
"Fighting is not an acceptable behavior at the school here in the US. If a person starts a fight, he will most likely get a suspension." I spoke this in Korean where the word 'suspension; is called '정학' (Junghak) in Korean. Benjamin then asked,
"What is 정학 (suspension)?"
"It's a form of punishment where you may not be allowed to be in a class or from the school for a few days."
Benjamin mentioning the word 'school fights' brought me the old memories from my past where I have witnessed many fightings by individuals and by groups in the schools.

Benjamin then looked at me and wavered a bit as if he wanted to say something.
"How do typical Americans view Asians?"
"Well, based on my experience they view Asians as good people that are hardworking and tend to do well at schools and in business." I continued,
"So that means Benjamin would have to work hard at school to keep up with that image, right? I smiled at him as I jokingly told him this.

"Well, I wasn't a good student, and I have a confession to make." Said Benjamin.
"A confession? What is it?"
"Well, um, ah,...well, ah..., I change my mind. If I tell you this you will be in a great shock."
That got all of us interested in what he was thinking of.
"It's OK. Just go right ahead tell us. Nothing will surprise us at all. Go ahead, what's on your mind."
"Ah...well...no, I better not you will get too shocked at this."
By then all of the kids were interested in hearing what the secret was all about, and they all beckoned him to speak.
"Well, if you promise me that you will not get upset or be shocked then I might. I'm not sure if I should tell it." He shook is head as he said this.
"Benjamin, it's OK. We won't think any less of you. Go ahead." I encouraged him again.
"Well, um,...at one time...ugh...well, one time I went to school carrying no text books and did not do any homeworks for a while. This went on for a few weeks and I even slept during the classes."

We all looked at one another, and I blurted out,
"That's all?" I asked. "You call that shocking?"
All of us expected something really bad, but not doing homeworks and not carrying the text books? That wasn't what we expected to hear. At this my wife spoke.
"In the US, kids usually keep their books at school lockers and you probably don't need to worry about that."

I confessed to Benjamin, "Your Dad did a lot worse things than that when he was an orphan kid in Korea." At this my wife chimed in and said,
"Yeah, tell him about the story of how you broke the windows at a church for fun."
This was a news even for the rest of the kids that heard this fact for the first time.
They all beckoned me to share my story.
So I went on telling Benjamin and the kids some of the bad things that his Dad had done as an orphan.
One of my daughters asked me, "Why did you do it?"
"Well, because I was stupid at the time."
At this, they all erupted into laughter and the good dinner continued on.

Hyeondong (Benjamin) Enjoys the DC Experience

2011-04-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hyeondong (Benjamin) fully enjoyed the first few days in Washington DC.

One morning I woke him up and he told me later that when he woke up, he thought that he was still in the orphanage until he saw my face. He said that as soon as he saw my face he was comforted that he was really in America.

Benjamin in the morning at the balcony of the Doubletree Hotel overlooking the Potomac River

We moved over to Hyatt Hotel later as the International Forum on Intercountry Adoption was being held there. Benjamin with Mrs. Kim Jin Sook, the Deputy Director at the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) enjoy swimming at the Hyatt Hotel.

A very informative meeting was held with Dr. Dixie Davis of the Adoption Exchange based in Colorado. Mrs. Kim of MOHW, Mrs. Han of MPAK, and I gain so much from the meeting with her and plan to implement a few ideas to promote adoption in Korea.

At the Hyatt Hotel, there was the Holt International's 55th anniversary celebration through the International Forum on Intercountry Adoption. Various guests from several countries came and presented their studies in intercountry adoption. There were many familiar faces at the event, some adoptees, and some Holt staff. The Forum was well planned and attended by around 250 people, and many of them were adoptees.

Ms. Susan Cox, an adoptee and a vice president at Holt organized the event and I realized again as I always have, that what an important asset she is to Holt and to all the adoptees and parents that look up to her leadership as her efforts results in giving back to the adoption community and moving forward as well. I am glad to call her my "Nuna" (older sister).

I was also very glad to see Molly Holt, the daughter of Harry and Bertha Holt. Since her graduation from a nursing school in her early 20's, she dedicated over 60 years of her life for the cause of homeless children in Korea and she still lives with some children that need her care. Molly was my Sunday School teacher while I was at the Holt Il-San Children's Center. Although I have seen her many times since, it is always humbling and inspiring to see her.

Molly Holt and me at the Forum

The event capped with a breakfast to honor Dr. David Kim, who dedicated nearly 60 years of his life for the cause of homeless children in Korea. He was Harry Holt's right hand man, and I remember seeing him in the orphanage when I was young. When Holt was in financial trouble he saved Holt from being shut down a couple of times, and they wanted to honor him and his work. In the early years of Holt, there were many children that died while in the care at Holt, and Harry Holt would take Dr. Kim to bury the children. One day after the burial of a child, Harry asked Dr. Kim, "Borther Kim, when we stand before the Lord, who will answer for these children?" Dr. Kim never forgot Harry's words and that was the inspiration that kept him going all these years.

Dr. David Kim and his wife Nancy with me and my wife on the right.

A Day with Our New Son in DC

2011-04-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Our Son Hyeondong (현동) has spent his first night in the US, and he has adjusted to the new time very quickly. Hyeondong seems to be very happy to be with us and he said that it hasn't registered with his mind that he is really here. When asked how he feels to be here, I was very happy to hear from him, "It's really wonderful." In fact, when he was about to land in LAX, he wasn't sure that this was not all a dream. So he had to slap on his face a couple of times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. When I heard him say that, it made to realize how much he has longed to have a family of his own. For him this was a dream come true after living all 14 years of his life in an orphanage. I know how he feels, for I was once in his shoes.

On Wednesday, April 13th, we participated in an important meetings, and the most meaningful meetings was with Ms. Heidi Staples of Administration for Children and Families to learn about various programs on adoption and foster care system provided by the US government through all the states and local government. All of us benefited so much from this and gained a lot of knowledge to help homeless children in Korea.

In spare time we did some sightseeing around the Washington DC area. Most notably the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial as they brought me a wonderful memories of visiting the Washington DC with my family when I was also 14 at the time. In addition to my wife and my son, we had Mrs. Kim from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Mrs. Han of MPAK-Korea. One poignant moment was when we visited the Korean War Memorial. Mrs. Han remarked, "Our nation is greatly indebted to these brave soldiers. Too great a debt we owe."

The first night at a hotel with Hyeondong

Visited with Heidi Staples of the Administration for Children and Families under Heath and Human Services (HHS) Department. Ms. Staples had a welth of knowledge and experiences in adoption and foster care.

At the US Capitol Building (From Left: Mrs. Kim from MOHW, Hyeondong, Mrs. Han from MPAK-Korea, my wife Jody, and Steve)

Mrs. Han and Jody Morrison at the Washington Monument

Hyeondong eating his first American sandwich and hot chocolate at the Washington Memorial.

At the Lincoln Memorial, me, Hyeondong, and Jody

With my proud son Hyeondong

Mrs. Kim fo MOHW and Mrs. Han of MPAK

At the Korean War Memorial

The stone pavement had these words inscribed:

Our Nation Honors

Her Sons and Daughters

Who Answered the Call

To Defend a Country

They Never Knew

And a People

They Never Met

Our Son Has Finally Arrived Today

2011-04-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

It took some time to process, but our son Hyeondong has finally arrived in the US today.
My wife and I traveled to Washington DC from Los Angeles to attend the Holt International's 55th Anniversary International Adoption Forum, and one of the several guests attending the Forum from Korea escorted our son.
My interest in the Forum is that I will be presenting my story as an adoptee under the theme "Giving Back".

The Forum is being sponsored by Holt International and an adoptee group named Adoptees for Children (A4C). The Forum is being attended by representatives from many countries. Visit http://www.holtintl.org/ for furthern information.

I will post blogs of each day's happenings as we will spend a few days in the DC area. One of the important guests from Korea is a deputy director who oversees the adoption bureau in the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). Also in attendance is Mrs. Han Youn Hee of MPAK-Korea President. MOHW has made a special request through MPAK to visit a few government organizations related to adoption.

Our son Hyeondong is 14 years old. 41 years ago I was adopted by the Morrison family as a 14 years old boy. Today, another 14 years old by became a Morrison. Even though it was not a deliberate plan to adopt a 14 years old, it just worked out that way. We though Hyeondong was a couple of years younger.

Tomorrow when I get a chance I will post some pictures. So stay tuned.

Adoption of Korean-American Children in the LA County

2011-03-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

I had an interview with Mrs. Chung Kim of the LA County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). This same notice was sent to all the MPAK members and potential adoptive families in my list.
---------------------------

Friends,

I just spoke with Mrs. Chung Kim of the I called her after an article appeared in the Korea Times (please visit my MPAK blog at: http://mpakusa.blogspot.com/, March 18th posting).

The article is about the increasing number of Korean-American babies being given up for adoption in the LA County area.

The article, according to Mrs. Kim was an over-exaggeration of facts and figures by the reporter, but that is not the main point of this email.

Mrs. Kim handles the adoption services, and she is trying to recruit Korean-American families that are willing to become Resoure Family (another term for foster family).

Mrs. Kim's goal is that whenever there are Korean-American children become available for adoption in the LA county, the priority would be given to the waiting Korean-American Resource Families. The Resource Families would be the first to be contacted when a child becomes available.

A Resource Family may choose to adopt the child once the child comes home.

Unlike the article's claim there are not that many Korean-American children available.

However they do become available time to time.

In order to be a Resource Family, there are a few requirements:

1. You must reside in the LA County area (I am in the process of investigating similar programs in other counties like Orange County). For those in other states, your county should have a similar type of programs. The only problem is that there may not be any Korean-American child available.

2. You must take 33 hours of training on Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting (MAPP) course. This may take 4-5 hours per night each week for six weeks, or all day Saturdays for 4 weeks.

3. For those families living in OC or other counties nearby LA, you have to take the class offered in the OC (something similar to MAPP), and depending on availability of children, Mrs. Kim may be able to help you with the adoption process. The only difference between living in the LA county and not living in it is that for the LA County the families have a chance to start as a Resource Family (or foster care) and then move on to adopt a child, while the non-LA County families would have to start with adoption from the beginning without going through a trial period through foster care.

Other information:

4. There is no age limitation for the parents

5. There is absolutely no cost involved. The County pays on the average of around $500 per child for foster caring (more or less depending on child's physica/medicall needs).

6. Child's medical benefit stays with him till he/she is 18.

7. The monthly support (i.e. $500) and the medical benefit stays with the child even after adoption until the age 18.

8. You are not required to foster any child if you do not wish while waiting for a child to adopt.

9. The down side is that there are not that may children available.

10. There is one year waiting period where birth parents are given the opportunity to take the child back. After the one year is past and the birth parents do not reclaim the child, the parental rights are automatically terminated. You may adopt the child after this. However, there are situations where a birth mother may sign a relinquishment paper allowing immediate adoption.

Mrs. Kim has offered this proposal to MPAK families:

1. Sign up for the 33 hours MAPP training to become Resource Parents

2. If there are 5 our more couples, then she can conduct the classes just for the Korean-American couples

3. Need to be committed with active participation. The classes will be conducted with several situations of role-playing, where a participant needs to take an active part.

MPAK strongly recommends participation in this training so you can be ready to foster care or adopt when a Korean-American child becomes available.

Many of you have expressed desire to adopt domstically in the US due to high costs and length involved. This might be your next opportunity.

What's good about this is that you can still proceed with this program while you are in the adoption process to adopt a child from Korea. If you have not paid the full fee or been assigned a child, then you may keep the Resource Family option open while waiting.

I hope you understand what I have presented.

If you are interested in signing up to become a Resource Family, please reply to me.

The first orientation day is coming April 4th (Monday).

If you don't understand or have additional questions, please email me at mpakusa@gmail.com or call me at 562-505-0695.

Take care,

Steve Morrison

MPAK - OC Region Meeting

2011-03-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

MPAK - OC Group Engaging in the Adoption Diaglogue

While the MPAK Valley Group was meeting at Andrew and Helen Kim's house in Chatsworth, down in 80 miles south of it was the gathering place of the MPAK-OC (Orange County) group at Brian and Kathy Shin's house in Aliso Viejo. The two gatherings were on the same date and time (not planned on purpose).

The OC group had around 35 people, mostly adults. What was unusual about this OC gathering was that there were many new couples that came for the first time to MPAK. According to Brian Shin, the new faces outnumbered the old. Both Brian and Kathy were very excited about the first timers and wished that they will continue to come and be encouraged.

Brian said that he was very moved by meeting one particular couple that is adopting their first child and he is a special needs child. It was obvious the way that Brian described the couple that he was really impressed by them.

Brian and Kathy shared their adoption story, of how they came to one MPAK meeting, and then a long journey after that of adopting three children over the years, and how God had blessed them through the children.

Brian and Kathy were both tired, but said that they were extremely happy and gratified that they could host the MPAK gathering at their house. They have been energized by the whole experience. Brian, Kathy, and myself included, would like to thank all the people that came to make our MPAK gatherings such a great success.

Next up is the MPAK-LA Group gathering (To be announced later), and our MPAK's 12th Annual Picnic at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park on May 21, 2011. The picnic will be a combined four MPAK regional groups (San Diego, OC, LA, and Valley) together in one place.

MPAK - Valley Region Meeting

2011-03-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

MPAK had its first Valley Regional Group meeting tonight.

Because MPAK Southern California group became too large to be a single group, it was decided this year that it would split into three groups: MPAK Valley Region, MPAK LA, and MPAK Orange County (OC). Today, both the Valley Region and the OC groups met at two different locations.
I attended the smaller of the two and the turn out was great. There were a total of 30 people including the children. The picture shows those who stayed through the end to take the picture. Thanks to Andrew and Helen Kim for hosting all of us tonight.
The food was great with ribeye steak, sausage, grilled chicken, mandoos, and so many other goodies. The environment was very electric with kids running around the house merrily, and the adults all sharing one another's adoption experiences, or for some the anticipation of waiting for their children to come home soon.
It was good thing that we split into three groups as I heard a couple of comments that because the Valley Region is close to them it made them so much easier to attend.
The sharing of the adoption story by Andrew and Helen was very touching and moving as they adopted three children from Korea, and how the experiences have blessed them tremendously. Apparently they are not done yet. They are contemplating another adoption either through intercountry or through domestic foster care. I thank them for their openness, and providing great leadership for the Valley Region families.
I will also post the OC group meeting as well.

MPAK NY/NJ Announcement by Min Lee

2011-03-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

엠펙 가족 여러분,
재원엄마 (이민경) 입니다. 제가 오래간만에 인사 드립니다 . 저희 가족은 ‘07샬롯 근처로 이사온후 계속 이곳에서 살고 있습니다. 아이들도 많이 컷고, 저는 대학원에서 상담학 공부도 시작했습니다.
해나 와 리베카 부모님이신 이상환, 이영주 님의 수고로 그동안 엠펙 가족들의 모임을 잘 이끌어 오셨고, 그외 많은 가족들이 적극적인 도움을 주셔서 엠펙 입양 가족들은 계속 모임을 갖었고 서로에게 많은 도움과 격려가 되었습니다.
해나 부모님 께서 육아, 직장, 사업등 으로 매우 바쁜 시간을 쪼개서 엠펙 일까지 하시느라 너무나 수고가 많으셔서 제가 이제 부터 적극적으로 도와 모임을 더욱 활성화 하려고 합니다.
앞으로 여러분의 편리를 위해 남부 뉴져지 (해나나 집 근처) , 북부 뉴저지 (도현이네 근처) 에서 모임을 나눠 각자의 편리한 시간에 갖도로고 하겠습니다. 그리고 일년에 두번정도 (여름, 크리스마스) 모두 모여 연합 모임을 갖자는 뜻을 가지고 도전해 보려 합니다.
봄 모임 소식은 각자 해나 부모님, 도현이 부모님 께서 이멜로 연락해 주실것입니다.
연락을 받으시면 편리한 모임에 리플 하셔서 참석하시면 됩니다.   여러분께 모임의 활성화를 위해 앞으로도 더욱 적극적으로 참가 해주실것을 부탁 드립니다.
7월 둘째 토요일 예정으로 여름 피크닉을 가지려 합니다. 이번 피크닉에는 스티브 모리슨 이사장님께서도 참석 하실것입니다.   정확한 날짜와 장소가 정해지는 데로 제가 이멜로 연락 드리겠습니다. 오래간만에 스티브 이상장님도 만나고, 저희 가족도 만날수 있었으면 좋겠습니다.
이민사회에서 입양가족으로 지낸다는것은 많은 의미가 있다고 생각됩니다. 서로에게 도움이 되고 격려가 되면 더욱 좋은 모임을 가질수 있다고 생각이 되며 또한 이민사회에도 입양을 더욱 활성화 하는 귀중한 모임이 될것이라 생각됩니다. 여러분들의 적극적인 협조가 가장 중요 하다고 생각 됩니다.
입양 문의 또는 질문 등은 연락 주시면 능력 것 도와 드리도록 하겠 습니다. 저희 이멜은 minleemail@yahoo.com, 전화 셀폰:201-294-7976 집) 803-829-8166 입니다.

Dear MPAK Families,
Greetings from the Huh family of Charlotte. I hope this memo finds everyone well. I missed you very much! Our family is doing great! Personally, I have started MA program in counseling.

I am writing to ask for your active involvement with MPAK once again.
Since we left NJ area, Sang and Young Joo Lee have been very active in leading MPAK meetings and we are very thankful for their efforts. Due to their family, business and job responsibilities, I have stepped up to help out with MPAK business.
For your convenience we have reorganized meetings in two separate regions of NJ/NY. Mid-Southern NJ area (by Sang and Young Joo Lee) and Northern NJ/NY area (by Ken and So Hee Lee). Of course the place can change from meeting to meeting. The specifics will be notified via email by Sang Lee and Ken Lee respectfully.
There is a summer picnic scheduled tentatively 2nd Saturday of July. Please mark your calendars. Steve Morrison will be joining us at this picnic. When I have a place and a date I will be sending out e-mail to everyone on this list. I hope to see everyone there.
Please make every effort to join our meetings. It is imperative that we gather as much as possible to encourage one another and expose our children to other adoptive families. Furthermore, we are making a difference in our community.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns and/or suggestions. My email is minleemail@yahoo.com, cell phone: 201-294-7976, home: 803-829-8166
Thank you so much and I look forward to seeing you all again.

Min

More Korean-American Children in Foster Care in LA Area

2011-03-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine forwarded me this article from the Korea Times published on March 10, 2011. It reports that there are more and more children being born from Korean-American single women or students. I will contact Ms. Chung Ja Kim mentioned in the article and see how MPAK can get involved with this situation. In the past I have been requested by many Korean-Americans that have expressed their interest in wanting to adopt Korean-American children locally in LA, and always gave the answer that they are very rare. But it looks like this article is making me rethink about the situation and this might be a new opportunity for the adoptive families.

More Korean Kids Ending Up in Foster Care

-------------------

LOS ANGELES—There is a silent and often unspoken tragedy growing in the Korean-American community involving broken families and the children they leave behind.

According to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in Los Angeles, the number of Korean children in foster homes has risen steadily in recent years, an effect of the increasing number of divorced or single parents choosing to give up their kids for adoption.

What’s worse, for many of these “deserted youth,” foster homes have become their final destination, as few in the Korean community are willing to adopt.

Kim is a 20-something Korean mother who left her child with DCFS a week after giving birth. An international student, Kim, who asked that her last name be withheld, says her family back in Korea never learned of the pregnancy. “I had no choice. I don’t have the capacity to raise the child and could not bring myself to tell my parents.”

Despite three days of counseling with social workers from DCFS, Kim made the decision to give her baby up “for the sake of my education.”

In a similar case, Ms. Park, a young mother, left her one-year-old daughter with DCFS following a bitter divorce from her husband of three years. Although she was given custody of the child, the 30-year-old divorcee said her daughter would prevent her from ever being able to remarry and start a new family.

Efforts by DCFS to reunite the daughter with her father were unsuccessful, officials said, as he had returned to Korea and remarried soon after the divorce, showing no interest in taking responsibility for the child.

DCFS says the number of such abandoned children has spiked in recent years, attributing the rise to increased instances of unwed mothers and broken families within the Korean community. They add that while the number of such cases is still relatively small compared to the larger population, among Asian communities the situation has grown particularly acute.

Chung Ja Kim, a social worker with DCFS, says it is becoming more common for her to come across young Korean mothers looking to give their kids up for adoption. “Last year I worked on 10 cases involving single Korean mothers who were unwilling to raise their children, three of whom were newborn infants,” she noted.

Kim added that most women were either international students from Korea or Korean Americans in their early 20s, and that a majority of them were driven to give their children up for adoption out of concern over their own futures. “I recently came across one mother who gave her first child up for adoption several years ago. She had recently gotten pregnant again and was looking to leave her second child with DCFS.”

For some parents, alternatives to adoption include abandoning their children with a friend or with a day care center. According to DCFS, many of these children are traumatized by the experience.

Experts say the issue of adoption remains an awkward one within the Korean community, where the emphasis on blood ties remains strong. Soon Ja Lee is a practicing psychiatrist in the Los Angeles area. She says that compared to other ethnic groups, “Koreans tend to lay a great deal of stress on blood relations.”

Kim with DCFS says that in recent years there has not been a single Korean family that has approached the organization seeking to adopt. She adds that many Koreans harbor preconceived notions about the nature of abandoned children.

And while there is a consensus among adoption experts that abandoned children do better when adopted by parents from the same ethnic group, statistics show that on average the number of adoptions among Korean-American families remains miniscule at best. DCFS adds that there is not one Korean family registered on their list of eligible foster care homes.

“The Korean community has to step forward,” says Kim. “It is essential that they take more interest in the welfare of these children.”

The Chosen Son – A True Christmas Story

2011-03-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

As a part of the blog beginning, I wish to share some of the writings from my past that have been posted in the Korean MPAK website in 2004. This is a true Christmas story of my family from 2004 that actually happened, and you have to read it to the end to understand the signifcance of the story. This story will tell you a little about who I am, and why I do what I do through MPAK.

It was first written in Korean, then translated to English. I heard that many people shared this story on other blogs, and some pastors have used it as illustration on their sermons. I am very privileged that so many have been blessed with this story.

The Chosen Son – A True Christmas Story

I will never forget the special Sunday of December 26, 2004.

My family was visiting my parents for the Christmas Holiday, and I had the opportunity to worship with my parents at their Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs. As members of the church, both of them had served at the church for many years.

It was the day after Christmas, and the church was filled to the capacity crowd. We dropped our kids at the children’s ministry, and my wife and I sat together with my parents to worship together. The church was predominantly white and there were around 1000 people, and it has been a while since we worshipped together. But ironically, the sermon on that day by the Pastor Wheat was on adoption.

Anyone who has attended some church services would have most likely heard about how God has adopted us through Jesus and given us the privilege to call Him the “Father”. The pastor spoke about the three important lessons on adoption. The first was that there is a transformation of our “special status”. That is, through adoption, an adopted child is entitled equally with the other children in the family the rights and privileges that the family bestows. Jesus Christ came to this world to give us that right.

At the mentioning of the words “special status”, I thought about my parents sitting next to me. It occurred when they adopted me, I too underwent a transformation into a special status…from a lowly orphan to a son of great parents. This realization made me to be more appreciative of my parents while my heart was filled with gratitude.

Secondly, through adoption we have special relationships with the God the Father. The pastor claimed that adoption was God’s idea. Through adoption He has given us the right to call him “Father”. The pastor used an example where many adoptees become curious about their backgrounds and later ask the question “Why?” to the parents. “Why did my birthmother abandon me?” As many adoptees ask this question, they are often shaken by self identify as to who they are, and in some cases they fall into depression.

But the pastor stated that he has met many adoptive parents whose children asked such questions, and these parents have taught him some valuable lessons. The lessons came from what the parents said to the adopted children. They would say, “Do you feel you have been abandoned? We don’t fully understand how you came to be in this world, but one thing that is very clear to us is that we wanted you in the first place, and ‘we chose you’. Because of that you are more precious to us than anything in the world.”

The pastor then stated that likewise, God has chosen us while we were yet sinners, and because He has adopted us, we now have special relationship with Him.

As I reflected on the statement, ‘We chose you’, I again thought about my parents sitting next to me. I thought about the hopeless days of living in an orphanage long ago. I also remember the time when my picture was featured on Holt’s newsletter at the end of my 13^th year. In that issue of the newsletter there were pictures of many other children needing homes, and most importantly they were all younger than me. My father looked at all the pictures of the children and his eyes caught mine, and upon seeing my picture, I don’t know what inspired him, but he said to my mother, “Here is the boy. Here is my son.” That day, far away across the Pacific Ocean in America, a man chose me as his son.
As I listened to the sermon I looked at my father. He was now 81, and he could hardly walk even with a cane as he was very weak. I wondered as he was listening to these words what thoughts were running through his mind? And what would my mother be thinking of? I became curious.
Likewise, they were probably wondering the same about their son Steve.

I was chosen and adopted, and through adoption I had a special relationship with them. I was able to experience their sincere and deep love for me. Because of this I was someone very special. My wife and I adopted Joseph from Korea in 2000. Someday my boy Joseph may ask the same question, “Why?” When that day comes I hope to answer him with confidence the words filled with strength and love.

The third lesson on adoption was that it renews one’s life. When God adopts a person, He does not try to fix the person up. He doesn’t take apart the wrong things one by one and fix them back. Instead, He renews the person. When I heard this, I realized for the first time that there has never been a time when my parents tried to take my bad habits or behaviors and put efforts to fix them. Of course it doesn’t mean that they never scolded me for my mistakes, but all I know is that they never gave up on loving me, and their kindness and love made a new person out of me. They accepted my weaknesses and allowed me to experience a new love, a new family, a new faith, a new hope, and a new dream.

It was evident the pastor’s sermon moved my mother immensely. After the service my mother got out of her seat and hugged me, and she buried her face in my chest and started to sob. I understood what she was going through. Mother held me for some time and finally lifted her face up to me. Her eyes were red and filled with tears streaming down as she said, “I am so thankful that you are our son.” And then she buried her face again and cried.

My heart was indescribably moved, and all I could do was to caress her shoulder. I said, “No mother, it is I who is even more thankful.” My wife was watching this whole episode and she took out my video camera and starting taking shots while tears streaming down her face. I was thinking, “How could she even think about shooting this scene at a time like this?” My wife’s tears were the tears of love. My father also came over and we hugged each other. In a trembling voice, he said, “We truly are grateful that you are our son, Steve.”

After the service, my mother and I, along with my kids Joseph and Helen went over to the pastor Wheat to thank him for the message. Later when our family was talking in the hallway, the pastor passed us by. While he was exchanging the greetings with my parents, I directed his attention to my father sitting on a chair, and said, “Pastor, this is the Dad who chose me a long ago.” Pastor Wheat exclaimed, “That’s Wonderful!”, and after exchanging a few more words he went on his way.

In looking back on that Sunday, I couldn’t help thinking about many things. Was our visit that day a coincidence? Or was it God’s will to bless me with this experience? Or how I was reluctant to drive from LA to Colorado for the Christmas, but my wife, who was at the time eight months pregnant with the fourth child, insisted that we visit my parents for the Christmas. There are many possible explanations, but I believe our trip to Colorado Springs that winter was divinely guided. It was God’s affirmation of how my parents chose me as their son, as well as God’s way of showing me His story on adoption. The Christmas of 2004 will always live in my memory.

Introducing Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea (MPAK)

2011-03-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the founder of MPAK

Thank you for visiting the MPAK blog site! My dear friend. Mr. Harry Holt once said, "Every Child Deserves a Home of His Own." I believe the time has come for Koreans and Korean-Americans to reach out and help homeless children in Korea. Although each year over a thousand of homeless Korean children find homes overseas, there remains much greater number of children who are not adopted and must grow up in orphanages in Korea. Also the intercountry adoption program will come to an end someday. Time is short and there is an urgent need to promote adoption in Korea.

In my attempt to create this blog site for MPAK, every effort will be made to cover the topics that are of interest to Korean-American adoptive families. This does not exclude so many great families that are not of Korean descent that have adopted children from Korea, you are certainly welcome to join the blog.

This blog is also hopeful of many potential Korean-Americans that are considering adoption but have various concerns or issues that stand in their way. The blog does not have all the answers, but it will evolve to cover inputs by viewers. The web site is designed to help the viewers to look at the concept of adoption positively, and help them to overcome fear in adoption. It is designed to address the needs of homeless children in Korea. It is designed to help them to see the beauty in adoption for the sake of children as well as for them.

Stephen C. Morrison

A Korean Adoptee
Founder of MPAK

MPAK's goal - is to bring about positive changes to the Korean adoption culture, so that all the homeless children will grow up in loving homes.