Korea Needs the Baby Safe Haven Law

In thinking about the abandoned babies in Korea, and how the Baby Box operated by the Rev. Lee Jong Nak of the Jusarang Church is constantly attacked by those who are against adoption, and by those who care more about institutionalizing the children than to find permanent homes for them, I visited the Baby Safe Haven website and was very encouraged by what I read, and immediately recognized that this is what Korea needs to adopt.  In fact, the Baby Box operated by the Rev. Lee is what is widely practiced in all 50 states in the US as the Baby Safe Haven program.  Korea needs to adopt the same program to save more children being abandoned in Korea.   

The Baby Safe Haven website is at: http://www.nationalsafehavenalliance.org/law.php

The following is an excerpts from the website.

"Each state has a law in place to allow an unharmed infant to be relinquished to the proper authorities, no questions asked.  Since the first safe-haven law was enacted in Texas in 1999, all U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed safe-haven legislation, and every state has reported lives saved through the existence of these laws. Due to less-than-perfect-reporting methods, they don't know the exact number but estimate that in the past decade, these laws have saved well over 1,000 infants.

In the US, the late 1990s had a surge in infant abandonments, many resulting in the death of these innocent babies. In response to these incidents, a movement erupted to allow parents to relinquish custody of unharmed newborn infants without fear of prosecution. At the time, parents risked criminal prosecution for neglect or abandonment.

"Baby Safe Haven" laws or infant abandonment laws were created to remove the potential for prosecution so long as children were given unharmed and given to proper authorities. Since the first law was adopted in Texas in 1999, each state across the US has enacted a Safe Haven law. While each state's law is different, they all ensure the safety of newborn infants and the protection of parents who decide to properly relinquish their child.

Safe Haven laws have been remarkably successful. Unfortunately, babies are still illegally and unsafely abandoned, in part because women do not know that they have another option. It is important that these laws are widely promoted and that women in need are informed that they are not alone."

Today, I sent this website and introduced the concept of the Baby Safe Haven to one of the foremost authority in the child welfare experts in Korea and asked her to learn about this and try to help Korea to adopt such concept.

The Baby Box is just the concept born out of the same concern as the Baby Safe Haven  - to save the lives of children being abandoned. 

Great News! - No Extended Travel Rquirement

NOTE:  WHILE THE CONTENTS BELOW ARE MOSTLY TRUE, THE AGENCIES WILL NOT RELEASE THEIR OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS UNTIL THEY HEAR FROM THE FAMILY COURT.  THE COURT IS EXPECTED TO RELEASE A FORMAL WRITTEN ANNOUNCEMENT IN A FEW DAYS.  I WILL RELAY THAT TO THE READERS WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE.

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Just received a great news from Korea today!

There will be no extended travel requirement for families according to the Family Court judges. In fact most of you will not have to show up at the Family Court.  This is truly an answered prayer.

The three agencies in Korea have heard from a judge in the Family Court, and the court has cancelled the appointments for several families that were to appear before the court in April, and decided to go ahead and approve their adoptions. 

This is how the process will work:

1. The court will review all the adoption documents of a family that wish to adopt a child from Korea.  Before that the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) would approve the family and issue an EP, and all the documents will be forwarded to the Family Court to get reviewed and a judge will conditionally approve the family.  In the past years the MOHW was the final approving authority.  Under the new adoption law the final approvals will come from the Family Court.

2. A social worker appointed by the Family Court will arrange an interview with baby's birthmother to make sure that she is sure of her decision to give up the baby.

3. Once it is determined that the birthmother does not wish to keep the baby, the 14-day clock starts ticking.  Like I mentioned, this is to give the birthmother the time to reconsider her decision.  In most cases, the birthmothers will not want their babies back.  So in a sense they are given two chances at their babies.  They will be given 7 days to change their minds right after the birth.  And they will be given one more chance just before the babies are adopted. In truth they have the power to take back their children anytime after the birth to the time of adoption.

4. After the 14-day reconsideration period is over, and the baby is still available, a judge issues the final adoption order, allowing the adoptive family to take their child home. 

5. The agency will contact the adoptive family to travel to Korea to pick up their child right after the 14-day period is over.

So a typical family should expect to stay in Korea no more than a week.  This is a huge burden lifted for most families that are not able to travel for 3-4 weeks.

During that time in Korea, most of the families will not be required to appear before the judges.  I say 'most of the families' because the court reserves the right to summon any family they choose to interview. 

However, there still remains the question of adoption finalization and the type of visas issued. One may question whether the adoption order issued by the Korean judges are really the finalization of the adoption process.  If so, is it possible to finalize the adoption without seeing the parents in the court? Is this in accordance with the Hague Convention?

Since most of the parents will not be required to appear before the judges (based on today's news from Korea), this could mean that the adoptions are not finalized and the children won't be finalized until they are admitted to the destination countries.  In the US, an adoption is typically finalized at an American court six months after the child has arrived.  This is the old method of adoption finalization, and this would mean that the children will be issued IR-4 visas. 

On the other hand, the IR-3 visa is for the parents have met the children.  If the parents were all required to appear before the judges in Korea, then they would be issued IR-3 visas.  But since the judges won't meet most of the parents this could mean IR-4 visas instead.

The agencies are not clear on how this will work, but I am sure it will all be ironed out as time goes by. This is a lot less headache to figure out than what all of you were facing before. 

We can thank God for answering all of our prayers.

Your Voices Summarized - You Have Spoken

The folks who really care about your children are still trying to get on the calendar with the court officials.

It is very upsetting that at this juncture of the process with so many parents that have waited so long, due to the new adoption law and the procedure involving the Family Court, someone higher up would make a decision to replace the two of the three judges with three new judges, who now would have roll up their sleeves and learn the laws and regulations on the adoption process all over again.  This of course is putting additional delays.

But I am hopeful that this group of new judges will be quick learners, and that the process will flow again.  One recommendation I would like to make (if I ever get to visit the Family Court) is that in the future, do not replace several judges all at once.  Instead, replace them one at a time with a year lag in between.  This way the continuity will be remained in the process.

But I did also hear a hopeful rumor that one of the discussion items on the table is the issue on the extended stay requirement, and I am hopeful that they can reduce the requirement to just one week.

In my previous blog, I noted that I would share with you the results of many comments received from many readers.  My team at MPAK (namely Denise Adams and Junhyung Lee) spent hours compiling the comments by category, and we had a meeting to go over the data. I did the final edit and plotted the results shown in the figure below. I want to extend a special thanks to Denise and Junhyung for their hard work.

There were many more categories of reasons why the extended travel to Korea would be difficult for many of you.  However, we narrowed it down to the top six reasons why a parent traveling to Korea for 3-4 weeks is very challenging, if not possible. 

This is your voice.  You have spoken and I hope the judges in the Family Court will hear your voice and come to a better understanding of those waiting families, and come to a workable solution that will satisfy all of you and the Korean government as well.

The response comments were provided through the MPAK blog and also includes many emails and Facebook comments as well.  Some have responded with more than one category.

 

 

I recommended two solutions at the end of the report. 

1. Allow the travel by one of the parent.  If both wish to go this is an option.

2. Deal with the birthmother reconsideration period of 14 days ahead of the visits by the adoptive parents so they won't have to stay in Korea that long.  This also avoids the emotional and psychological impacts on the visiting parents while waiting in Korea for 3-4 weeks, unsure of whether they will be allowed to take their child home or not.

 

I want to thank all of you for so many valuable comments made in my blog, and thanks for participating in this effort together to make your voices known.





To Answer Your Questions - An Update

To answer your questions based on the recent blogs, where record number of people have visited and left comments and questions. I will do my best to give you heads up on what is going on.

Some have mentioned through the comments that the adoption agency representatives were scheduled to meet with the judges of the Family Court to address some concerns with the extended stay requirement.  I was initially told that the meeting would happen March 5, 2013.

It was my goal that your comments will be compiled, summarized, and plotted by category the difficult reasons why the extended stay of 3 - 4 weeks requirement in Korea would be extrememely challenging, if not impossible for all the waiting families.  We chose to summarize based on the top six reasons (will share this on another blog).

At MPAK, I worked with my members in coming up with the summary report and have submitted the final report to the interested parties in Korea.  In addition to the comments posted, there were many emails received and these were included in the final results as well. The agencies were planning to take the results, that is, your voices to meet with the judges.  That is the reason why we worked feverishly late into the night in getting the report finished and forwarded to Korea.

But the agencies were notified by the court that they need to postpone the meeting. This was due to two of the three judges handling the adoption cases had to be reassigned to another area and they have been replaced by three new judges, now totaling four.  There is no doubt that the new judges will need to some time to learn the ropes and bring them up to speed. 

But the issue of the extended stay requirement is a no brainer for the judges.  I think the new judges will understand the situation right away, and hopefully they will agree to a solution where the adopting parents need to be in Korea no more than a week.  And the agencies are hoping for this as well. To be honest with you all, when all is said and done, I have a strong sense that this will be the case.

We need to have a better understanding on the 14-day reconsideration period.  In the current Family Court of law, when a decision is made, it is by law that a 14-day reconsideration period commences for both parties.  This 14-day reconsideration period is not just for adoption related issue.  It could be on other non-adoption related topics dealing with family problems or feud - such as divorce, custody rights, family relationships, inheritance, etc. The 14-day reconsideration period is  an across-the-board ruling for all decisions.

But in the case of adoption, the two parties are an adoptive family, and the other is a birthmother.  The court will first summon the birthmothers.  However it is expected that very few will acually show up, and some birthmothers won't be found.  But there will be a very few birthmothers that will choose to take their babies back.  And they have the right to do so.

If the birthmother does not show up at the court or the court becomes convinced that a birthmother is unwilling or unable to take care of the baby, a decision will be reached to allow adoption. It is hoped that at this time the adoptive parents will be called to make a travel to Korea to finalize the adoption at the Family Court and take the child home, and hopefully they don't have to stay over a week.

This is all I have for now.  In a nutshell, the agencies are trying to reschedule a meeting with the judges to iron out the extended travel issues and come to an acceptable solution that can be satisfactory to all the adoptive families.

Stay tuned.

An Appeal To All - What Will Happen With Your Responses

When I posted the last blog, I had no idea that this would catch such a fire by storm and become viral (over 6,000 hits in one day!).  Thanks for the tremendous responses.  It just confirmed to me what is important to you all.  All you want is your children home.  The children that need families, and the families that want to love and care for them. Period.

Please do not make any hasty decisions on your adoption process and give up because of this let down by Korea.  Your children deserves your patience, and I am sure they share in your disappointments.  It is not the end.  It is still a work in progress.  And I am fully aware that this does not ease your great pain.

However, I appeal to all of you.  Do not give up on your children.  They have waited for you just as long as you have waited for them.  Let no mountain of adversity nor raging storms of events discourage you.

I also appeal to all of you to be calm.  Do not contact your politicians, nor call the agencies nor contact the Korean Embassies or other authorities to complain as these actions may backfire and make the situation worse.  What do they know about all the issues regarding the Special Adoption Laws and its impact?  They are far removed from what is going on with you.  They would have to go out of their ways to just learn about all the issues, and they may rub the folks at the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the powers that be at the Family Court in a wrong way and make it counter-productive. Also, please do not blame any adoption agencies.  They share in your frustrations.

It is enough that you have vent your frustrations through this blog, and many of you have sent me emails as well.  Your responses will not be ignored.  We at MPAK are reading every single one of your comments and responses, and capturing in a database as I write this.  Thanks to Denise Adams and Junhyung Lee (MPAK-Orange County Directors) for taking the leadership role in compiling all the comment feedbacks, and summarize the comments by category and the number of people with similar issues - i.e. financial reasons, family issues, unable to take the time without losing jobs, health reasons, being in military services, and many more. 

Thanks to many of you that have offered excellent ideas to argue. Many have expressed how this law is not fair to implement in midstream of the adoption processes as the parents were not informed of such things at the beginning when they signed up to adopt. Many have also expressed the insecurity of being in Korea and waiting - not knowing whether the birthmothers would change their minds or not, and traveling to Korea with such uncertainties at such high expenses with enormouse stresses on them and to the rest of the family members...this just isn't right by any standard.

I plan to review the summaries that my MPAK team will put together and have a review with a few members before sending it to Korea.  To whom I will send is sort of proprietary and I won't mention the names or organizations.  But the ultimate destination is the members of the Family Court.  It will be clear to the lawyers and the judges of the Family Court what the waiting families abroad are thinking about and where their hearts are in this matter.  They will clearly hear your voices.

I promise to do everything in my power and ability, and do my utmost to speak for all of you, and hope that reasons will prevail, and that favorable outcomes will be achieved for all the waiting children that need to come home, and the waiting families that ache for them.  I can't promise a miracle, only that I will try my best. So please pray for me.

Steve Morrison

Korea Update - The Issue on the Travel Requirements

I made a couple of calls to Korea last night to find out what the status is regarding the adoption process for those waiting families that are adopting children from Korea.  I am sorry to say that the news is not good for now.  I am somewhat reluctant in sharing this, but you have to know what is going on and be prepared for it.

It has to do with the travel requirements, which will strain and burden many adoptive families, especially those with children in their care already.  The travel is necessary for the parents to go over to pick up their children and finalize adoption in Korea before the judges of the Family Court.  They (the agencies) are predicting that adoptive parents can expect to wait 3 – 4 weeks in Korea while adoption is being finalized.  Today I spoke with a friend of mine who was adopting from Puerto Rico, and he was told that he and his wife had to be in Puerto Rico for six weeks.  So this wait is not unique to Korea apparently.

The great bulk of this waiting is due to the reconsideration period requirement of 14 days.  During this time the parents are expected to be in Korea, at least that is the latest policy, but the agencies will be meeting with the judges and lawyers to discuss the impact that this regulation would have upon the visiting parents in terms of their time and expenses, not to mention the impacts upon the other children in the families.

Once the adoptive parents stand before a judge to interview through a process of questions and answers, and if the judge finds the parents acceptable based on all the paper works submitted and reviewed, then the judge declares adoption to go forward and the 14-day waiting period begins.  This waiting period is designed to give chance to birthmothers to take back their children should they change their minds.

Birthmothers will not be present during the time when the adoptive parents stand before the judge.  However, a separate inquiry will be made by the court beforehand to confirm birthmothers’ intention of giving up their children.  Even if a birthmother confirms her intention to give up the baby, the judge will issue the 14-day waiting period when the prospective adoptive parents stand before a judge.  After the 14-day reconsideration period is over, then the judge finalizes adoption and grants the parents to take the child home. 

As of now, there are still some adoptions that have not been finalized based on 2012 quota.  In other words, the 2012 quota has not been met and it is close to March 2013.  There are about half dozen cases where EP has been granted and these cases are still being processed by the Family Court.  There are another half dozen cases that are still waiting to receive the EP approvals, and another half dozen that are waiting to be submitted to start the EP approval process.  These cases are all from the 2012 quota and they cover all three agencies.  I don’t have the breakdown on the number of cases belonging to a particular agency.

So the intercountry adoption picture gets uglier due to the Special Adoption Law, which seems to focus on giving the birthmothers as much chance as possible for them to raise their own children.  Nobody can deny the well-intentioned purpose of the law, but the reality just does not support it.  What concerns me is that some of these birthmothers may decide on a moment to raise their children, but once the reality and hardship strikes them on their everyday lives, they may give up their babies later.  There have been many in the past where the birthmothers gave up their children as they realized that raising children requires a lot of commitment and sacrifice that they were not prepared for. 

It is entirely possible that during the 14-day waiting period some birthmothers may decide to take back their babies (just got an email today from a woman where this has just recently happened to her).  Some may last longer than 14 days, but some will give up before the 14-day period is over.  In this case the patience of the waiting parents may be rewarded. 

But for now, I wish to turn to you folks who are reading this blog.  I wish to compile a list of reasons why the 3-4 weeks wait in Korea may be too hard on you.  I wish to submit a compiled list to the Family Court and see if something can be done to shorten the wait.  The judges and lawyers in the court need to hear your voice. 

Some of the hardships I have already mentioned.  You may ask, “Can just one of the parents travel while the other takes care of the family?” or “Is there a way to shorten the waiting period if a birthmother is very sure of her decision?” or “I have a limited vacation days and this travel requirement is too difficult.”  You may submit your comments along this line, and I am looking for some reasons that will really project the hearts and mind of all the waiting parents who are caught in this mess, and hopefully the powers that be in Korea will listen, and reach a favorable compromise that will work for all.

Increase in the Baby Abandonment - Is Media to Blame?

Despite the significant increase in the number of children being abandoned, the anti-adoption organizations and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and its child organization the Korea Adoption Services (KAS), which should be advocating for the rights of children, have joined together to criticize the Baby Box’s existence and to explain away the rise in the number of abandonment was really contributed by the news media (and no other reason), and have voiced against the revision of the Special Adoption Law.  This is very disappointing to say the least.   

However, I have to admit that the news media has contributed to the number of abandonments at the Baby Box.  But there is a significant difference in the rationale advocated by the anti-adoption organizations / MOHW/KAS and that of mine. Their motive for blaming the media is that this is the only way they can explain the rise in the number of abandonment to defend the Special Adoption Law, while I know the real reason for the increase in the abandonment is due to the Special Adoption Law that forces birthmothers to register their babies against their will.   Also, there was a significant number of abandonment at the Baby Box already in existence right after the law came into being in August 2012.  And the news media flocked to cover this, not the reverse.

A birthmother who recently abandoned a baby at the Baby Box left a note that said, “I was turned away from an adoption agency, and thought about going through a black market type of adoption.  But for the safety of the baby I chose to come to the Baby Box.  So we can learn two things from this birthmother’s note.  The first is the awareness increase by the birthmothers that they have a safe place to abandon their babies.  However, the second thing we can learn from the note is that many birthmothers have tried to give up their children at adoption agencies, but have been turned away (without a birth registry the agencies cannot accept the babies for adoption).  Some have even considered some sort of black market type of adoption.  When they had nowhere to go they turned to the Baby Box.

To simply say that the number of children being abandoned at the Baby Box is the result of media coverage, and that this media has helped to plant the idea to the other birthmothers, only give the impression that the group consisting of anti-adoption organizations and the Korean Government are trying to wash over the serious flaws in the law.  They should not make further mistakes by trying to deny that there is flaw in the law.  The Korean government needs to acknowledge that the law is imperfect and try to revise the law to correct it.

In that spirit the press conference held on February 19, 2013 with the Rep. Baik Jai Hyun at the National Congress with the ‘Committee for the Revision of the Special Adoption Law’ is such an important step and a good start. The committee consists of Pastor Lee, Jong Nak of the Baby Box, Mrs. Han Youn Hee of MPAK, a celebrity named Mr. Chu Young Hoon, and a few others as well.  This is also supported by all the adoptive families, and over 500 churches and many organizations in Korea.

A celebrity Mr. Chu Young Hoon speaks at a press conference at the National Congress building, flanked by other members of the Committee for the Revision of the Special Adoption Law, led by Rep. Baik Jai Hyun (left of Mr. Chu)



If everyone could put themselves in the voiceless children’s perspective, they should do all they can to stop anything that endangers the lives of children before we begin to argue about all the issues regarding them.

I hope that MPAK will continue to do everything it can and come to the defense of all the voiceless children, as we have always been.