Adopting A Child From Korea
Links and Overview
Interested? Fill out a no obligation pre-application
Due to delays in matching, we are no longer accepting Adoptive Family Profiles for the Korean program. The good news is that families in the process are still getting matches, Emigration Permission, and Court dates. The process is still working, albeit much slower.
Thank you for your interest in the Korean adoption program. Korea has been providing international adoption services since the 1950s. Hundreds of thousands of orphaned Korean children have been placed for adoption into American homes. With cooperation with the Eastern Social Welfare Society, NB has successfully placed children since 1985. Many of the adoptees are adults with families of their own. Many of the children placed in the first decades are now grandparents. Because of its long history of adoption, Korean agencies developed many of the international adoption procedures. For more on the history of Korean adoption, watch the PBS film, Geography of Kinship.
In addition to ESWS, adoption service providers in Korea include the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The MOHW is the Central Authority that approves the child for emigration and adoptive placement. The Local Government Office secures the legal surrender. Lastly, the Seoul Family court determines if the child is available for adoption and approves the adoption in Korea.
Because of changes in Korean Regulations, we are not accepting new applicants to the program. Once the MOHW has matched the families in the queue, agencies might be permitted to submit new applications to ESWS.
Korean News And Blogs
The Lunar New Year
This year South Korea will celebrate the Lunar New Year’s Day, or ‘Seol-Nal,’ on January 22. Seol-Nal is a traditional Korean holiday. Many Koreans travel to their family’s home for the celebration. Charye, where food is set on a table as an offering to one’s...
ESWS’s 50th Anniversary
This March 18th marks the 50th Anniversary of the founding of our partner, Eastern Social Welfare Society, in Korea. For the past 50 years, Eastern's mission has been to improve the quality of life for those in need. As a professional social welfare organization,...
Korean Donations – It’s Our Turn To Help
Korea has a history of providing quality care and services to the children in their care. This has been possible because of the many generous donors who support Eastern in their mission. It is now our turn to help. There are 150 children in care, and many are waiting...
Korean Adoption Story – Meeting Our Son For The First Time During Covid-19 Crisis
Traveling during the Covid-19 crisis in Korea, a New Beginnings family recently came home with their child. They were kind enough to share these videos of their first and second trips in Korea. Their story is heartwarming and compassionate. It was very realistic about...
Easing The Adoption Transition: Korean Food
Considering the timing, environment, and practices around feeding and types of food your child may have experienced in his foster family, the following are suggestions on how to bring some of those familiar tastes to your mealtimes at home, and create opportunities for attachment with your new child using food.
Easing the Adoption Transition: Korean Sleep Patterns
New adoptive parents consistently report sleep as one of their greatest challenges. Difficulties with sleep in newly adopted children are a normal issue and approaches and solutions vary depending on the child’s individual sleep history.