Korean Adoption Continues Strong

Many changes have taken place with the Korean adoption program over the past year, and Korea has made good progress in implementing their new exit and court finalization procedures. We can happily report that since the new laws were implemented, AAC has welcomed home 20 children who have been united with their families, and more families will be traveling to complete their adoptions soon.

AAC’s waitlist for a little boy from Korea is currently very short.  For families living in Colorado, Washington, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah or California, you could be matched with a baby boy shortly after your home study is approved!

And at this time, AAC is opening our waitlist for a little girl from Korea.  The waitlist for a little girl is currently quite short; however, we can’t guarantee how quickly a family may be matched.

If you’ve been thinking about adoption from Korea, now is a great time to get onboard.  Just fill out a pre-application on the website to get more information!

Korean Host Program

Have you ever thought about Hosting a Korean Child?

If you have, then now is your chance!!
If you haven't then maybe you should think about it. :)

For more information please contact Sara Falvo 602-237-5889

Friday Feature: Justin

Today's Friday Feature is this little guy... Meet Justin! 

Sweet little Justin was born September 19, 2012, weighing 7.5lbs.

He enjoys toys that make noises when you push them and toy cars. He likes to look in the mirror and talk to himself. (But who wouldn't when you are that cute!!)

He was born with club feet. After some casting his feet have gotten a lot better. He is currently not wearing any walking aids. As of his 1st year check up he was crawling and standing up holding on to the furniture. His leg strength is increasing every day!

If you would like to review Justin's file, please submit a pre-application on our website, and mention the child's name in the comments section.

AAC Fall Festival 2013

Happy Halloween! Happy Fall! Happy Happy Joy Joy. :)

The staff and families had such an amazing time a couple of weekends back at our annual Fall Festival. We wanted to share a couple of the photos from the day with you.

Red took some of the photos but she also swiped some from family pages on Facebook. hehe . We were having so much fun with the kiddos and running from the Big Bad Wolf that we forgot to pull out our camera and snap shots. Sorry.....

Okay so here is what you have been waiting for!

 Click HERE to check out more photos!

Friday's Special Feature: Updates on AAC's Programs

Happy Friday!
We thought we would give you some updates on how AAC's China and Korea Programs are going. We haven't done an update in a long time. Soooooo here we go:

China

The new China system (CPIS) is up and running and seems to be working great. It took us a little bit to get a good handle on the new procedures but we are fast learners and have caught on quick. We still can't accurately predict timelines yet since the process is still new. I am hoping that by the first of the year we will be able to say, "on average it has been taking this long for blah blah", and "our families have been able to get their blah blah in blah average days".
We did get some children for our agency list at the end of August. We have been able to place over half the kiddos with their Forever families. We still have 6 little cuties waiting for their forever families. If you would like to view their photos just click HERE.

Korea

The trip to Korea at the beginning of the week went great. AAC was able to get videos and photos of all of our children there. They are all sooooo adorable. If you are matched with a child in the Korea program, your video and photos are being mailed out today and should arrive sometime next week. If you haven't received them by next Friday, call us and let us know. Wahoooo! 

We were able to sit down and talk with Eastern about some of our concerns and expectations and were pleased at how open and communicative they were. 

If there is one thing we want everyone to know it is that the Korea Program is still a viable program. Even though it has gone through numerous changes over the last year we want to confirm that it is a stable program and is still a good option for families. 

Things to note: 

• Korea is a toddler adoption program, children are typically coming home at about 2 years old
• Both the boy and the girl wait lists are open to families
• All children are in a loving foster care home
• Foster Parents receive extensive training and ongoing support
• All children receive regular medical care
• Yes, Parents do have to travel to finalize the adoption in Korea, but Seoul is a great place to visit! Learn about your child's heritage, eat something you didn't ever think you would eat, take a subway trip to the four corners of the city and explore.

Eastern has an amazing reputation and we have worked great with them these last 20 years and we look forward to many more years of this partnership. 

I think that is all the updates I have for right now. 

Keep up-to-date with AAC by following our blog, Tweet with us on Twitter or find us on Facebook. 

"Please to meet you"... Korea Waiting Children

I know we post the Waiting Children from our China program on Friday's so today (Thursday) we are going to post our Korea program waiting children. They are a bunch of cuties, so hold on to your hearts. 

Meet DILLON: 

This handsome toddler is Dillon and he was born on August 29, 2011, weighing 6.9 pounds. 

He loves bath time and sometimes doesn't want to get out of the bath. He likes to hum songs to himself. He likes playing ball, looking at books and he cleans up once he is done playing.

He does have development delays in areas. His speech is delayed and he doesn't like to feed himself. He is going through occupational therapy right now to help out in the delayed areas. 

Meet HOLLY: 

This little beauty is Holly and she was born on July 30,2012 , weighing 5.2 pounds.

She enjoys bath time and loves to babble & laugh. She is developmentally on target.

She does have a possible Seizure disorder. An EEG has been requested. There is also a possibility of a hereditary disorder.

Meet JACKSON: 

This handsome little guy is Jackson and he was born on August 29, 2012 , weighing 5.9 pounds.

He likes to babble to foster mom. He is not shy of strangers. He is said to be a cheerful, happy, social and busy boy. He likes looking at books and pretends to sing along to music.

He is on target developmentally. He was born with his cord coiling around his neck and was in fetal distress.

We have requested a video and update of his development and milestones. 

Meet Trevor: 

Sweet little Trevor was born on September 24,2012 , weighing 7.2 pounds.

He enjoys bath time and loves his foster family. He is hitting all developmental milestones.

In March of 2013 he was diagnosed with an Otohematoma on his left ear. After some treatments it has been healed. However, there is a scar on the ear.

With all of the children in the Korea Program, only families living in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, California and Washington may apply to review their files. If you would like to review one of the files, please submit a pre-application on our website, and mention the child's name in the comments section.

My Story Monday: The Hunt Family

It is sometimes hard for me to believe that just 5 years ago, our family consisted of just two of us.  My husband and I were so eager to have children, but after two years of struggling with infertility we wondered if this would ever be a possibility.  Our hearts had always been open to adoption, but the prospect of actually starting that journey seemed scary and uncertain.  There were so many options, so many choices, so many unknowns.  The length and cost of international adoption seemed almost impossible to us at the beginning, but as we prayed about our decision we found ourselves coming back to this option over and over again.  In January 2008, we took the plunge and began the journey to our son, Matthew, who was born in South Korea.

The moment we held Matthew in our arms, our fears and anxieties about adoption fell away.  He was ours, totally and completely!  We were so in love with our sweet little boy and knew without a doubt that we would be adding to our family through adoption again in the future.  I must admit, even I was surprised to find myself talking about another little one only a few months after Matthew came home!  When he had been home about a year, we started our second adoption. 

This time as we started the process, we started wondering if we might be more open to special needs than we had been the first time around.  We started learning about different medical conditions and prayed that the Lord would lead us to our child.  I spent many evenings reading about waiting children on different websites, and one day I saw a little face that instantly made me smile.  Our Nathan was listed on AAC’s waiting children website and he had the best chubby cheeks and spikey hair I had ever seen!  It did take a while for us to research his special needs and honestly the unknowns were pretty scary for us at times, but we knew he was to be our son and I’m so thankful that we didn’t let our fears get in the way of bringing him home.  We met Nathan in June 2011 and he is an absolute blessing to us!

In December of that year, I told Brad not to worry, I wouldn’t be bringing up adoption for quite a while as I knew our hands were full with two active little boys.

Then in January, I got this strange feeling that the Lord had another child for us.  We started talking about adopting a boy older than Matthew, but in the end the Lord made it very clear that our next little one would be a girl younger than Nathan!  We were thrilled to begin the journey to Hannah last February.  Hannah has the same special need as Nathan (they both have bilateral Microtia, a congenital ear deformity, and hearing loss) and we were so excited to travel to China in January to bring her home! 

Everything about our trip went more smoothly than we could have even hoped. With this being our third adoption, we knew that it might be an easy transition (we’d had one of those) or it might be a really difficult transition (we’d had one of those, too!).  We were amazed at how quickly Hannah took to us and began bonding with both of us.  The moment we arrived home, her two older brothers welcomed her with open arms into our family and they never looked back!

When she was first home, we had Hannah evaluated as it was obvious that she was delayed in her physical development.  At 18-months-old, she couldn’t get into a sitting position on her own, and couldn’t crawl or stand alone.  She had very low muscle tone and was assessed to be at a 6-9 month old level for her gross motor skills.  She is a very determined little one, though, and now just six months later, she is running around chasing her brothers, climbing on things, and she has been discharged from physical therapy!  This week she received her hearing aid and she has once again shocked us with her adaptability and resiliency.  We are so thankful for all of the progress she has made in the last few months and it has been a joy to see her personality emerge as she continues to settle into our family.  Hannah is a cuddly, kind, spunky, sweet, smart little girl and we are so glad that she is ours!

Life is very busy these days with a 4-year-old, 3-year-old, and 2-year-old, but we really wouldn’t have it any other way!  Hannah has fit seamlessly into our family and we can hardly remember life without her here.  We all love her so much!

I never could have imagined 5 years ago the incredible plan God had for our family.  We are blessed beyond words!

Double Feature Friday: Henry and Parker

Henry:

Sweet little Henry was born on July 2012, weighing 7.8 pounds. 

He loves to babble and squeal and is meeting all developmental milestones. 

An echo cardiogram shortly after his birth revealed “AS (valvular and subvalvular, dp+47mmHg) c subaortic membrane and aortic valve thickened.” His heart condition continues to be monitored. A follow-up echo was performed January 22, 2013, and another echo was performed recently and looks good.

Henry’s birth mother was prescribed medications for insomnia and depression from February to March of 2012, and took electroencephalo therapy once at a mental health center. She also received mental health consultations. 

 There is a $3,000 grant available to assist with his adoption costs.

Families living in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, California and Washington may apply to review Henry's file. If you would like to review his file, please submit a pre-application on our website, and mention Henry's name in the comments section.

___________________________________________________________

Parker:

Little Parker was born April 2012. He is described as "cute and lovely". He loves to play, babble and squeal when he is excited. He likes picture books. He is shy around strangers but very outgoing. He is developmentally on target. He is now walking and running! 

When he was a couple months old he had surgery to correct Malrotation of Colon. He healed very well. He does have ASD, reduced mild, and Cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart.

Parker's birth mother would like to stay in contact after the adoption through photos and letters.

He is available for adoption in the following states only: Colorado, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Washington.

A $3,000 grant is available for this child's adoption.

If you would like to review this little sweetheart's file, please submit a pre-application online and be sure to mention Parker's name in the comments section.

Update for Korea Families

Dear AAC families,

I’d like to share a quick update on recent happenings in Korea.

Last week, AAC was informed that 4 of our families’ files have been submitted to Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) for EP approval.  All of these families were matched with their children early in 2012 and are part of the first group filing for the 2013 exit quota.  After the files are approved by MOHW, they will be presented to the Korea family court for review.

On Friday May 31^st, three AAC families had their hearings at the Korea family court.  Here is a copy of an email I received from one of the families describing their experience:

It (the court hearing) wasn't as bad as we expected.  There was one judge and we sat the whole time.  Christie was there as our translator and the Director of Eastern, Mrs. Kim, came into the courtroom as well.  The questions they asked us were: 

•            Why did we choose to adopt from Korea? 

•            Do we know anyone that has adopted from Korea? 

•            Did we get to meet our son? 

•            After meeting him, what was our experience and do we still want to proceed with his adoption? 

•            How long have we been waiting? 

•            Are we going to make sure he will be a US citizen? 

•            What we both did for a living?

•            Are we staying in country for the duration? 

The whole thing took about 10 minutes.  We spoke to other families and they were asked pretty much the same questions.  The judges were very surprised at how long all the families have been waiting.  We felt very positive after we came out of the courtroom and it seemed like they wanted to expedite this process.

Korea was wonderful and we had such a great time.  I can't wait until we hear word on our court approval and we can go back to get him.  We are hoping to travel in the next couple of weeks. 

~Paula

  

Our staff will return from Korea at the end of the week.  I’m looking forward to hearing more about their trip!

Also in the news last week was the announcement that Korea has signed the Hague Adoption Convention. This is the first step for South Korea in becoming a Convention partner.  There is no set timeline for the ratification and implementation of the Convention.  You may check for updates through www.adoption.state.gov.  We have no way of knowing what impact (if any) this may have on the overall timeline of the adoption program.

Korea has been moving toward Hague compliance for some time and we expect a relatively smooth transition.  AAC experienced the same type of Hague transition when China became a Hague partner a few years ago. 

I hope to send more updates after our staff gets back to the office and settled in a bit.  Stay tuned!

Best wishes,

Regina

PS. All the families that had their court appearance on May 31st have their court approval and are now in the 14 day waiting period!!!