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.
------------
.... 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....
-------------
Please keep on praying.
Thank you so much for speaking on our behalf. One of the things I've struggled with is feeling like I had no voice in this process. Thank you so much for being our voice. It means more to this momma's heart than I could ever describe. We received new photos of our sweet son today & it just made my heart sing. Staring at his sweet face & knowing that he is growing and thriving provides so much comfort. I am so ready to jump on a blue airplane and pick him up!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Steve, I will also learn how to submit messages (probably mine will sound more like complaints...) to the MOHW directly for all the expats I know here who desire to adopt Korean children. Adoption by expats in Korea is very difficult or nearly impossible right now because Korea doesn't really have an equivalent of a "Green card" which would allow foreign residents to adopt local (Korean) children....there are so many things I do not understand about their policies here.
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve. Today was a really hard day...maybe the hardest one yet. THE only comforting thing about today is knowing that someone is advocating for us...I feel like my voice and passion for adoption has been lost in this process and I'm tired. Those babies need to get home...they need to...they have to.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear if you get a response from this. I'm curious to their reactions.
Thank you.
Thank you. That letter says it all. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully but painfully stated. I wish those in Korea making the decisions as to when we will be united with our children would put aside their pride and be an advocate for the children in their country waiting to meet their families.
ReplyDeleteSteve, do you think Our Local angencies and Eastern and the other Korean orphanges are campaigning to MOHW ?
ReplyDeleteIf i interpreted your earlier blog correctly, you said that one reason MOHW was witholding EPs was to punish the agencies for Not Giving post adoption updates after children went home with their adoptive parents. Is this correct? If so , can we/they just promise to do this and get on with the process? Thanks for taking the time. And if my statment is incorrect , i apologize in advance, i am somewhat naive about the Korean govt side of things. Our child is aging like everybody elses and I am feeling the need to know more and get vocal.
Yes, I understand the agencies are in constant communication with the Ministry, probably more so than me. But they haven't heard anything from MOHW. Also, the MOHW is not punishing the agencies. They have asked lots of data from the agencies to assess and to develop a way forward in formulating a new plan or policies regarding not just intercountry adoption, but domestic adoption as well.
DeleteThanks, Steve, as always for your help to all of us. I also think you should post any response here. The letter is great.
ReplyDeleteThis is so moving. And completely captures it!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for being our voice--it feels good that someone advocates on our behalf. I think the letter is beautiful, and it expresses how I feel every single waking moment of every single day. I just hope that it gets in front of those with the power to change things, and that they choose to enact change rather than simply turning a blind eye. I'm losing faith not only in this process, but in people overall. This is not a difficult issue--we are talking about uniting families. That it has become such an issue--and that our US and Korean agencies won't call it for what it is--is a really sad thing.
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you for being our voice. Well stated letter.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much sending that Mom's letter to Korea. We are also waiting on a travel date to pick up our son and I know what that Mom is feeling. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful he is in foster care and we get updates (I enjoy each and every update we get - they are priceless), but it hurts so bad to know I can't hold or love on my child. We pray daily that the officials will see that all us Mom's want is just our children home in their forever families. Thank you so much again for being our voice.
ReplyDelete