My name is Joshua Kim Dockum, and I am adopted. Furthermore, I am not ashamed. I am proud of my parents, and I encourage people to consider adopting.
U.S. citizens adopted 265,677 children between 1971 and 2001 from other countries, according to the Adoption Institute.
United States citizens tend to adopt more children from foreign countries following wars, periods of extreme poverty and social upheaval.
Sixty-four percent of internationally adopted children are girls, and 36 percent are boys. Most are girls from China. The Chinese government actually restricts births. Parents who have more than one child are encouraged to place girls for adoption.
Experts say that almost 90 percent of internationally adopted children are younger than 5. In 2001, nearly 75 percent of all children came from five countries; China, South Korea, Russia, Guatemala and Ukraine.
Parents considering adoption should be prepared. Children can be adopted domestically or internationally, but the process can be time-consuming and expensive.
Here are the steps that most couples follow:
•Be prepared to spend $7,000-$25,000.
•Choose an adoption agency, and be prepared to complete numerous forms
•Get required home studies completed by social workers
•Secure the match
•Fill out foreign documentation (for the international adoption process)
•Select a girl or boy (international adoption process)
•Be prepared for follow up visits from social workers
My parents followed this process to get me from Kyunggi, South Korea. They went through the Holt Adoption Agency from Oregon.
After submitting information to the agency, they sent it to South Korea. My parents paid the initial fees to get me, so I cost my parents $20,000.
The process took my parents a year, and my mom said it “was worth it.”
I encourage everyone to adopt a child because you are making such a big difference in someone’s life and enriching your own life as well.