As a child in Minnesota, growing up I had many Korean adoptees as friends.  I remember back to my first meeting with my preschool pal Peter.  I was four and had never met an Asian person before then.  I asked my mother why he looked different and she explained that he came to his family from Korea and was adopted.  I remember looking at her and telling her that someday I would find a baby in Korea too. 

I met my husband seven years ago and as I fell in love I let it be known that I needed to find my child in Korea.  He simply said OK.  He liked Korea and had been there several times with the Marine Corps.  We married a year later.  My son was born in 1999 and my daughter was born in 2001. 

In 2002 we fit all the criteria to adopt a baby from Korea.  We applied with an agency and waited to see what came next.  One day I got the mail and in it was a publication from the adoption agency.  I opened it up and saw my son’s face in the waiting child pages.  It was My Son.  I just knew I needed to get him home.  We were matched shortly thereafter and became a family of five in 2003.  As we stood in LAX waiting and I finally saw him in person I truly thought my heart would burst.  He was exactly who I had been looking for.  I just didn’t know his name yet.

Not too long after that we realized simultaneously that “someone is missing”.  We applied with a different agency this time, one in my hometown.  That fall we were matched with a daughter.  We traveled winter of 2004 to Korea to get her and see her in her home environment.  It was the most amazing experience.  We felt as though we knew her and she knew us.  She is a beautiful two-year-old now, full of giggles and kindness. 

But last fall something happened again.  We didn’t plan on it but realized that “if” or “in case” there was a child for us we should let the Waiting Child Program know that we were considering adoption one more time.  We thought of adopting again “someday”.  Well, we called our now friend, the waiting child director, and told her about our considerations.  She said look at the kids waiting.  We did.  There was our little girl, again in Korea.

She was a perfect tiny toddler waiting for her family.  We were a family very familiar with toddlers.  She was a child that we knew, even though we didn’t know we were looking for her.  We were matched and waited.  While we waited we prepared ourselves for a toddler adoption and also how to care for a Little Person. 

When the time came for her to travel I decided to take my oldest daughter along for the journey to bring home her sister.   She was thrilled about the adventure to see this place that “babies come from”, Korea.

The time finally arrived to meet our newest addition.  My oldest daughter kept me from getting too emotional and when saw her, I just smiled and she smiled back.  What an amazing child!  She played with her new sister and her foster sister as though we had always been there.  She opened her presents from America and hugged her dolls.  She didn’t come to me that day but I was OK with that, as soon she would be on her way home with us.

The day we left the agency she cried and my heart broke for her.  We cried together for the loss of her center of gravity, the beautiful home she always known, the happy past in a loving foster home, the unknown future in a family she hadn’t yet met.  It was overwhelming to mother and daughter alike.  But then my oldest daughter reached over and patted her new sister’s head and told her “ken-cha-na Ah-gee”,  Its OK baby, she smiled.   And it is OK. 

Our fifth child has brought us so many blessings in her short time home from Korea.  She is a miracle and we are so grateful that we were open to letting “just one more” child into our hearts.   The Korean Waiting Child Program is something that I will be speaking out about more now than ever, as this time I truly feel like our family is complete.  I hope that now I can help others find this miracle, as my friend Peter from preschool helped me.

Learn more about adopting from Korea