We began our search for an adoption agency and studying the countries different qualifications. I felt very strongly from the beginning to adopt from a foreign country. I gave birth to four little boys. I felt that my adoptive child did not need to look like me. I felt that my child was possibly in another country. Here are some countries qualifications for adoption. No adopting to single male parent. Both parents much be under 45 years of age. No adoptions allowed to parents under 21 years of age. You must have proof of good health and financially secure. Some countries expect you to travel for more than one visit and some expect you to remain in the country for up to 4 weeks. Other countries can take years for the adoption to finalize. I had to take into consideration our four children. I was able to eliminate counties with multiple visits and long waits. Some counties place the children in an orphanage and others use a foster family until the adoption is finalized. Our last big concern was the high risk of fetal alcohol syndrome. Some countries have a very high risk and others have very low risk. After all considerations we chose our agency and decided to adopt from India.
We started our paperwork. We were assigned a social worker. We had our first visit. We felt really good about the interview As we talked with our social worker we realized she attended church with our neighbor. We had our second visit once again everything seemed great. Our social worker discussed our family with our neighbor. We have always enjoyed our neighbor and believed that we were friends. Our social worker called us that next week and said we would not be able to adopt a child, that she could not give a a reference for a Mormon family to adopt. She said “a child would be better off dying in India than to be raised by a mormon”. I was shocked, saddened and devastated at this harsh, rude prejudice. I immediately called my husband sobbing. He calmed me down and assured me that it was not legal to discriminate because of religion. I have been discriminated before because of my faith. I mustered up the courage to call our adoption agency. They were shocked and very apologetic. They said they would talk to the social worker. They said it was against the law to discriminate because of religion. They offered to reassign us a new social worker. We thought about it and decided to change agencies. We just felt like maybe we needed to reevaluate our decision to adopt from India.
I immediately called a family from my congregation who had adopted two children from Korea. She told me all about the agency Holt International. I contacted them immediately. I was very open and explained what happened at the first agency. They were very kind, contacted the first agency and took the documents that were already prepared. The first agency was very kind and refunded our money. We began our visits with our new social worker. We were very nervous of another issue but it was a very different experience. Our new social worker was very kind and positive with us. She was aware of our experience and knew we were timid. Our paperwork was submitted in February and we began the long wait.
I remember having an amazing spiritual experience. I said to my family one night as we gathered for family prayer ” I believe our baby has been born lets include her in our family prayers”. We received a call in July that we had been assigned a little girl named Yoon Joo Lee. They sent us all of the paperwork and a photo of her. Yoon Joo had been born the night that I had received the personal revelation to begin including her in our prayers. We were so excited. We carried her picture everywhere to show to everyone. Waiting patiently each week to receive our update and new photo.
We received a phone call early in October that would change our lives. Our little girl was ready to be picked up. I called my husband at work. It was early in the morning. We were so excited we could hardly stand it. There was a Korean travel agency at the business complex where my husband worked. He walked over to tell them the fabulous news that our baby was ready to be picked up. They immediately began working on our flight and hotel reservation. After talking to my husband I called my mother. She was so excited for our family. It is customary to take gifts to the Foster family and adoption agency workers. My sweet mother volunteered to go shop for the gifts. I than called my girlfriends. One of my dear friends came over and packed our bags for us. She travels often with her work and is a packing pro. She neatly rolled up all of our clothes and packed our bags. My parents agreed to keep our boys for us while we traveled. Creed finished up at work and headed home. We said good bye to the boys and family and headed to the airport. We flew out that evening.
The sweet ladies at the travel agency booked us in the business class. We had wonderful roomy seats and we were on our way to Korea. It was an 11 hour flight from Portland Oregon to Seoul Korea. We tried to sleep on the plane but we were still exhausted when we arrived. We took a taxi to the Hotel. Our travel agent had booked us in a traditional Korean hotel. We entered our room and it was dark. We tried to turn on the lights but nothing happened. We were feeling along the wall trying to figure out why the light switch would not turn the lights on. Then we realized we had to take our hotel key slip it into a slot on the wall and the lights turn on. When you leave the room and take your key the lights turn off. Our hotel room only had a bathtub and we were to sit in this square tub and sponge bath. We began to unpack our suitcases and opened the closet. Hanging in our closet was two gas masks incase of chemical attack by North Korea. How sad that South Korean’s live with the fear of needing a gas mask. We also noted there was no silverware only chop sticks and glass tea cups for eating.
It was early in the morning when we arrived and we were unable to meet Yoon Joo until the next day. We decided to take a nap before exploring. We walked around Seoul. It was a huge city with around 9 million people. We noticed young children, all dressed in uniforms getting on and off the trains. Most of the children were not accompanied by an adult. Something we do not see in the United States. The young children loved to say “Hello Kitty” to us. Then they would giggle. After a good nights sleep we got up, sponged bathed and headed out for breakfast. The traditional breakfast was rice, kimchi, soup or fish. We wanted a normal breakfast. We headed into a huge market and found something that looked like a donut. My husband loves donuts so we bought two. When we bit into the donut, to our surprise it was stuffed with bean paste. It was not very tasty. We settled for some fruit and our not so tasty donuts. As we walked back to our hotel we saw a convenient store. They sold american cereal Frosted Flakes. We were so excited we bought milk and cereal. We took it back to our room and ate the cereal in our tea cups and used our fingers as spoons. It tasted amazing.
It was finally time to head to the adoption agency to meet Yoon Joo. We hired a taxi to take us to the agency. We were so nervous and excited. We went inside and gave them our name. They had us go sit on a couch to wait. Above the couch hung a red quilted mural with pictures of children from around the world. Seeing the mural brought tears to my eyes. There were many parents waiting to see their babies. We watched the foster mothers coming and going with their babies in front packs. We wondered which baby was Yoon Joo. Than we saw a woman walk by and my husband said, “I think I see Yoon Joo”. Within a few minutes a social worker comes over with our foster mother and Yoon Joo. Seeing our baby brought tear to our eyes, and the most peaceful feeling. We finally were able to hold our baby girl. Yoon Joo loved her foster mother and wanted to stay with her. I was very happy to see how attached she was to this great woman. As we held Yoon Joo and bounced her she had a big smile. Yoon Joo had black hair that stood straight up on her head. Her big, brown eyes just melted our hearts. She was dressed in a cute red and white outfit with a pink hello kitty headband. Yoon Joo seemed to miss her foster mom. I was very happy to see her attachment to her foster mother. After a short visit they handed Yoon Joo back to her foster mother. They told us to could come back on the assigned day and pick up Yoon Joo on our way to the airport.
We spent the rest of the week traveling around Korea. We had a wonderful time. Our travel agent set up a tour for us with some Korean young adults. We visited the palace and saw the King and Queen. We took pictures of the handsome couple at the temple. We took a tour to the Demilitarized zone bordering North Korea. There was military personal on posts with large guns everywhere. We entered the area and we went into the underground tunnels that North Korea had built for a sneak attack on South Korea. We were surprised at the depth, width and length of the tunnels. The tunnels measure about 15 feet wide and 3/4 of a mile long. When you reach the end of the tunnel it is North Korea. The next part of our tour was a traditional dinner. At the restaurant and we sat on the floor on pillows. We ordered Bulgogi. A traditional korean dish. It is a leaf of lettuce, white rice inside and tender pieces of beef in an amazing sauce. We were also served lots of vegetables and kimchi. It was a wonderful meal and very enjoyable experience.
The streets in downtown Seoul are about 12 lanes. Six lanes going each direction. The cars are driving very fast. You do not cross the street. Instead you take the stairway under ground to cross. On the sidewalks as well as underground are markets. Food, clothing, souvenirs, all lying on the ground. At the end of the day the business owner covers their merchandise with a tarp. The payment for theft is strict. Korean is known for beautiful clothing. We went to a district of shopping markets. It is a huge warehouse full of individual tiny shops. It is amazing shopping. The cutest clothes you have ever seen and so inexpensive. I bought Yoon Joo tons of clothes. We had a wonderful day.
The travel day has finally arrived. We prepared to go to the adoption agency to pick up our little girl. As we arrived at the agency, we waited inside with the other families. The foster mothers carry the babies in front packs. They took Yoon Joo out of the pack, put the pack on me and placed the Yoon Joo in the pack. Yoon Joo was screaming, the foster mom and the I were crying. The foster mother, my husband and I bid her farewell. We were so grateful for her loving care she had shown to our daughter. We were walked out to the tax, loaded up and told to go straight to the airport. We were told to call if there was a problem. Yoon Joo was crying. We did not look like or smell familiar. We arrived at the airport, Yoon Joo was so tired and fussy. The time had finally arrived for our flight back to America. The plane was loaded. The plane was heading down the runway, the wheels lift and we are on our way home. Yoon Joo was coming home to four loving older brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbors. Everyone so excited to meet our little princess.