Memories of Korea: baby reception home

One of the reasons we chose to adopt from Korea is because the children are cared for in foster homes. They receive individual care from dedicated and loving foster parents. This isn't just a line - we have seen it with each of our children.

But while this is true, there are also times of transition for children. Transition from the foster home in the city where they were born to the foster home in Seoul or maybe transition from the hospital if they were ill to the foster home in Seoul. During this "in-between" time, the children are cared for at the baby reception home. Our adoption agency, SWS, had their baby reception home on two floors of their guest house. We heard the babies at different times of days when we stayed there in 2008 and 2009. We saw it in 2008, needing to see where our children were at one point in their lives. Needing to have a picture for our children someday. Needing to remind us that they grieve and mourn not only for the loss of their foster parents and all that is familiar, but because, once again, things are changing for them.

We saw two rooms of the "home" - this is the one for older infants...

and this one for newborns...
This isn't a memory I like to have. Because while we saw that the caregivers are giving and attentive, you can see that it isn't one-on-one care. It isn't in someone's home. It isn't a steady caregiver all day and all night. It isn't the foster home. 

So each of our children have been cared for by different people in at least three different places - the hospital where they were born, this reception home, and the foster parents. Sometimes there is one more - the foster home in the city where they were born, which was after their birth but before they moved to Seoul.

That's a lot of changes for a little child. A baby. My children.

But this is another memory that we have of Korea because it is part of our children's lives. We are grateful for these caregivers for what they did for our children when we couldn't yet.

We chose adoption because we wanted a family. It was purely selfish. But seeing these babies reminded me that these children also need a home. I'm just so glad that three of them are home with me.