Our adoption from Korea wasn't necessarily "planned"....although we knew the Lord had it planned for us. We just didn't know it initially!! We had had a dossier submitted for a 2nd adoption from China, and it shipped in October 1996. Of course, as many folks know, that was at the height of the uncertainties re. the definition of "special needs" as it related to families who had children and/or were under 35 years of age.

Due to all the uncertainties re. a possible 2nd adoption in China, we felt the Lord leading us to call another agency re. the probabilities of a special needs Korean adoption. We, as a family, went into adoption in the first place wanting special needs and we just weren't sure we wanted to wait for the issues with China to be resolved. However, having already been to China to adopt Emilee the year before, I felt such a desire to return. It was very much in my heart and so, I initially fought the Lord's leading in having us call up Dillon International. But we knew we had to do as the Lord led, and I called Dillon early November 1996. I had a wonderful conversation with Duk Kyung Um, who's Dillon's Korean placement coordinator. She's a former Eastern Child Welfare social worker and absolutely one of the nicest folks you'd want to meet. She answered some of my questions re. our qualifications to adopt from Korea and for the life of me, I'll never forget what she said next: "Would you possibly be interested in a 4-week-old baby girl who was born missing part of her left forearm?" That was one of the special needs we'd said we could take with our China adoption and we just knew this was meant to be.

Seriously, not more than 5 months later, we were on a plane for Seoul, Korea along with our 2nd son, Justin, to bring our new daughter, then known as Lee, Hye Won, home to North Dakota. The Korean adoption process is so smooth and simple, the children are in such wonderful condition, and you get such good information. We chose to travel to Korea to escort our daughter home, even though we could have had an escort bring her to the States. Having already been to China on an adoption travel trip, I knew what it meant to be there and see where your new child is from. Also, we wanted to meet Kerrie's foster family. The foster care system as it relates to Korean adoptions is one of its hallmarks, we think. We owe a debt of gratitude to that family who gave of themselves to our daughter for 6 months. She was in wonderful condition when we got her and we know the family loved and cared for her as if she were there own. We felt, in a way, we owed it to them to come and meet them personally to thank them for their role in our daughter's first few months. So, we went, leaving Minot, North Dakota through MSP, Detroit and on into Seoul, on Monday, 14 April, 1997.

We landed at Seoul's Kimpo International Airport after a 14 hour non-stop flight from Detroit, Michigan. Our flight had been delayed leaving Detroit for a couple hours, so we were there a bit later than we'd planned on. After we cleared customs/immigration and changed some $$'s into Korean won, we went through the doors and found a staff representative of Eastern Child Welfare waiting for us to drive us back to the ECW guesthouse.

The guesthouse, if it isn't full, is an ideal place for an adoptive family to stay when they travel! We had one of two rooms on the first floor. Two rooms on each floor share a common area where you can read, or cook in the small kitchenette. We enjoyed reading through the guestbook provided, where previous families had written their stories. The rooms were clean, comfortable and we felt very welcome. Also, the ECW guesthouse is located right near subway stop #39. We took the subway nearly everywhere we went, and found it a great mode of transportation. For the Korean equivalent of $1.25 US, the 3 of us could go anywhere one way!!

The morning after our arrival, and after we made ourselves a continental breakfast, which had been provided for us by ECW, we went over to the ECW offices to meet our social worker, who would take us over to meet our daughter for the first time. The staff of ECW couldn't have been more lovely and gracious folks. They all knew who we were and who we were there to bring home and we enjoyed meeting them immensely.

Around 10:30am on the 16th of April, we left in the ECW van for the short drive to Kerrie's foster family's apartment. I'll never forget the anticipation as we walked up the steps of the apartment, knowing we'd be meeting our new daughter for the first time. As we stepped into the apartment, we saw her sitting in a walker and just smiling and smiling... We couldn't have been more delighted. After we were seated on the sofa, the foster mom brought her to me right away. She came right to me and was smiling and happy. We all took turns holding her, taking photos, visiting with her foster mom through our social worker, who interpreted. The foster mom had set up some fresh fruit and orange juice for us to have, which we really appreciated.

The visit went well, and Kerrie was to remain with her foster family until we received her Friday evening, the night before we went home. The rest of the day we spent sightseeing, and the next day, Wednesday, too. We did some sightseeing Thursday, as well and part of Friday. Some of the places we visited were: Namdaemun and Itaewon markets, the Korean Folk Village, the Kyobo Bookstore (one of the largest around) and lots of walking and sightseeing. We really grew to love Seoul--it has an aura about it that's amazing.

On Thursday, we were taken over to visit the Eastern Babies Home, which is where Kerrie spent her first 2-1/2 weeks following discharge from the hospital. It was gratifying to see how well cared for these babies are and the love and dedication of the staff. We got to be there for Kerrie's final exit physical and immunizations as well.

The evening of Friday, 18 April, 1997, her foster mom and the social worker brought her to us at the guesthouse. I was sort of, almost dreading this as I knew it would be difficult for Kerrie and difficult for her foster mom. After speaking to her very quietly for a few moments, the foster mom handed her to me and rushed out of the room in tears....It was a very emotional moment, but yet we knew our daughter had had the best of love, care and devotion her first 6 months.

Within a few minutes, after Kerrie realized her foster mom was NOT coming back, she burst into tears--not "I'm hungry" or "I'm thirsty" or "I'm tired" but tears of real grief. Glynn, Justin and I all took turns walking around the guesthouse with her for hours while she cried out...and that first night I spent with her on the floor on a Korean sleeping mat, which is what she was used to.

She woke up the next morning and looked very surprised to see "that woman" still there, but the crying had subsided for the moment. We had no trouble getting her to take bottles at all.

We left for Kimpo International in the ECW van around 8:30am. Traveling with us to the airport was a US Army soldier and an ECW staffperson who were both escorting babies. The looks on the faces of those two babies' foster moms as they handed them to the escorts in the van was heart-wrending...

The airport was JAMMED and getting through the gate and onto the terminal area took a long time... Finally, though, we were on our way back to Detroit, then MSP, where we were met by our relatives who took us back to one of their homes during our layover, and on into Minot, North Dakota. My sister, a pastor and his wife and the kids were all meeting us there and what a joy that was! Little Emilee, not quite 2, and adopted from China the year before, was delighted with her new sister, but clamoring for us to pick her up... Once again, as we did the year before, we joined in a circle right there in the terminal to thank the Lord yet again for more added blessings on our family and the gift of another precious, wonderful life--our new daughter, Kerrie Alene-HyeWon.