Seoul’s Family Court has decided to allow the birth parents’
opinion on adoption of their children through documents rather than for them to
show up personally at the Family Court, which was required under the Special
Adoption Law, thus potentially making the adoption process to flow with quicker
speed.
The Family Court of Seoul met with the MOHW on May 29th
to find a way to speed up the adoption process.
This special meeting was to evaluate the progress in adoption under the
Special Adoption Law that was enacted nine months ago.
Since the enactment of the law on August 5, 2012 and up to
May 21, 2013t, there have been 103 cases of domestic adoptions, and
only 4 cases of intercountry adoption. (Note
that on May 31st, the court has started the hearings for
intercountry adoptive families to grant additional adoptions).
Up to now, the court has used the social workers to contact
the birth parents personally to notify and to get the opinions from them
directly. But the birth parents have
already been in communication with the adoption agencies, and because the birth
parents do not wish to show up at the Family Court, it was decided the court
will forego their personal appearance at the court and get their opinions
through paper works instead.
Also, if the birth parents do not wish to be notified
regarding adoption decisions by the judges, then the court will bypass this
process or just notify them by phone or through mail, thus making it
simpler. This also eliminates letting birth
parents know the information about the adoptive families involved.
A judge expressed that this new procedure will simplify the
adoption process, and the court dates can be assigned sooner, thus allowing faster
services for all the adoption processes.
As much as the court considers an efficient process is
needed, on one hand they will examine the adoptive parents’ 5-year medical
history, and if necessary they may request comprehensive psychological health examinations
as well.
The Family Court will also work with MOHW on how to resolve
the issue of birth registry to keep the information on birth parents private. I think they are trying to come up with a way
to protect the identity of birth parents without revising the Special Adoption
Law. This may be a good sign that perhaps MOHW is now slowly beginning to admit that there is a problem regarding the privacy of the birth parents brought upon by the requirement of the birth registry.
My opinion is that the only sure way to solve this is to
revise the law itself to remove any questions.
Wow! Very excited about all the positive news lately! Is there any word on when these changes will be implemented? Are they any court dates scheduled beyond the May and June families that are being processed now? Am I understanding correctly that this would mean only 1 trip to Korea and potentially eliminate the 2-week appeal period for the birth parents?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like translating multiple years of medical history for 2 parents per kid could slow it back down though. :-/ What is the reasoning with obtaining the medical records if we have submitted recent physical exam report and documentation by a physician of good health? Maybe it's different per agency, but we had to have physical exams and provide vaccination records already.
Jenna, I believe these changes will happen immediately. I do not have the court dates beyond June, yet. The faster process does not eliminate the need for travel, which has not changed. However, what the court is saying is that a lot of the delays due to the time of locating and contacting birthmothers, and getting their responses, or even for them to show up at the court has been very long, as most birthmothers were reluctant to cooperate and show up at the court, will now be simplified by just letting them know by paperworks. They are finding out that it isn't easy to meet with birthmothers as they had hoped. The medical issue was mainly a concern on adoptive parents that might have substance abuse or alcohol problems. Some may indicate temporary abstinence on paper, but may go back to it, thus wanting to review 5 year history. I think this was the only reason for the court to wanting to view the medical history.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the fast response, and thanks as always for what you do for us waiting parents! It truly is a blessing!
ReplyDeleteI guess somehow I didn't realize that the birth mothers had to appear in court as well. My impression was only that they were contacted and given the 14-day appeal period. That makes more sense now in why it can take so long. Do both the birth mother and the birth father have to be contacted, or is one sufficient?
They will try to contact both, but one is sufficient.
DeleteThanks Steve. Our child's birthmother has been contacted and signed confirmation that she does still want to relinquish. Are you saying that there will be some additional paperwork in lieu of a court appearance? Or will the courts refer back to the docs she already signed?
ReplyDeleteSince she signed to relinquish, nothing more needs to be done.
DeleteOkay thank you. This makes so much more sense than the previous plan. I can not imagine how intimidating a court appearance would have been for our child's young birthmother. I think contacting her over and over just opens up the pain of the difficult decision she has already made. I am glad the judges have changed this.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteWonderful of the Korean court to make such a positive change in the process. This will surely benefit the children! Wonderful news and I appreciate the effort of MPAK during this change in policy and practice.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteAre we assuming that once this change goes into effect one trip would be required? Any idea how long the one trip to Korea would be? Would both parents have to go?
Cat
The judges not requiring the birthmothers to physically show up at court does save some time, but the process still involves the parents to travel, and both the mother and the father must show up. Think of it this way. If your child was finalized at a court in the US, do you think that it would be acceptable of only one of the parents stood before judge? Likewise the finaliztion process in Korea would have the same requirement. I think what is happening is that many couples are opting to travel twice to Korea. The first time (about a week) to meet the judge, then go back to the States and once approved (3-5 weeks later), go back to Korea to pick up the child. On the second time back, only one of the parents is needed to make the trip. So in this way a lot of expenses can be saved and the worry about your other children at home can be alleviated. But then there are those that choose to stay for 4-6 weeks in Korea, and that is OK if you can afford the time and money.
DeleteThat would be wonderful if they could speed up the adoption process. Currently the length causes emotions to run high on both the part of the adoptors and the birth parents, sometimes derailing the whole process.
ReplyDelete