Seoul searching

June 16, 1988: Part II

OK, so the title of this post is trite and maybe it's not even appropriate. It was just easy.

The last part of our agency office visit was to tour what is called the reception center. This building is very close to the office and is a place where babies live where they wait to be placed with a foster family. Although nothing can replace a home environment, the children receive excellent care at the reception center. Fortunately, they usually do not live in the reception center for a long time.

In '88, not only were there babies, but there were also toddlers and young children. We were able to hold the babies and it was difficult not to pick up all of them! They were just so sweet and I wanted to bring them back to the U.S. with me. So did everyone else. I am going to assume that these babies were all adopted.

However, there were also toddlers and children up to the ages of 4-5. More than likely, these children were not relinquished as infants. A common scenario would be that the biological parents could not afford to provide for their children any longer and felt that placing them for adoption would give them a better life. Looking at their little faces made me think that at that age, I was already home.

I find it daunting to think about the separation from their birth parents as many were old enough to talk and to understand what was transpiring. At the same time, I can't imagine what the birth parents endured to make that decision and what it was like to say goodbye to their sons or daughters. We hoped that these little ones were matched with adoptive families as it is sometimes more difficult to place older children.

After meeting these sweet, innocent faces, we thought about their loss and how this could affect their emotional growth and development. For many members of the trip, seeing the little ones brought to mind their own past as they could remember their goodbye or the last time that they were with their bio-families.