Thursday morning we met with Mr. Kim, son-in-law to the older Dr. Kim, Duk Whang. Older Dr. Kim is 96 and he is the founder of Eastern, our Agency in Korea. We met with him when we adopted Quin in 2008, but he is officially retired now. Since he is still in good health, they are keeping his office for him in case he decides to come back.
Mr. Kim talked about the history of Korean adoption and overviewed the many different social services that Eastern is involved in. They operate more than just adoption programs. They are a true Christian organization that serves the poor, mentally and physically challenged, abandoned children, elderly, and single mothers.
A sad thing we learned that we didn't realize before is that there actually are orphanages in Korea. With the wait for adoption so long, we had assumed there were just not as many children needing homes. Even though they may not be able to care for their child, sometimes families choose to not relenquish them, so the child is not available for either domestic or international adoption. Due to many different circumstances, the child may end up needing care. Eastern operates a place called Jacob's Hope where they care for these children up to age 3. At 3 years of age they are moved to the state orphanage. We are still shocked they have orphanages and are so thankful our children's birth families allowed them to be placed for adoption at birth.
After meeting with Mr. Kim, we were invited to a traditional lunch with the staff at Eastern before meeting the twins and Foster Family in the afternoon.
That is really interesting. What a great opportunity to talk with Mr. Kim and hear the history. I had no idea about the orphanages. That is sad. I can appreciate how thankful you must feel for the loving families that have cared for your children.
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