Same-Sex Adoption woes
Canadian-based Sunrise Adoption explores the issues faced by a same-sex couple seeking a Korean child and the alternatives.
Many same-sex couples who have a Korean partner will want to try to adopt a Korean child. Following the Korean government recently published ‘Health and Family Basic Plan ‘in March, with diversified definitions of the family, it failed to include same-sex couples and this is a problem for couples in and beyond Korea.
Korea is reputed as a conservative country and the implication has far-reaching consequences, adoption agencies around the world operate to get children into comfortable families and this includes hundreds of same-sex couples.
“The two ideal options for same-sex couples in North America include domestic adoption and our new project with Mexico and Columbia,” said Angie Chalke, Sunrise Adoption.
If couples want a child from their own culture, it is not that easy if you are coming from places like South Korea. Angie explains as many countries still hold a prejudice against the LGBTQ community and it is something that adoption agencies worldwide are fighting.
“Canadian domestic adoption is straightforward, couples pick a child, make a case and the birth Mother will decide’ she explained.
The urgency to start a family often leaves people to want ‘‘tomorrow or never” as couples want to make to start building their families after lengthy paperwork loaded application, Angie believes.
‘‘tomorrow or never”
And, in some cases “you could be fortunate that the right fit happens right away” and that could largely be due to the fact that the application is domestic.
For women who want to find the right home for their child, same-sex couples have proven popular across Canada and the USA.
The Canadian application process includes an application, a home study that consists of six meetings, 2 hours with a social worker who would then generate a report for the birth mother to review.
The good news for Canadians at home or abroad looking to adopt is that the Canadian government changed the definition of ‘parent’ in the Citizenship Act, 2020. Allowing Canadian citizenship to pass from non-biological children whether in Canada or not.
