Below is an excerpt of the prayer and support letter we recently sent to many of our friends via email. We are working on a hard copy for family and the less technologically inclined, which we should be sending out soon. This is about the most concise explanation of why we are adopting, and why we chose South Korea to adopt from. It is written from my (Andrea's) perspective.
Dear friends
We hope this letter finds you well! As you may have heard already, Matt and I are in the process of adopting a child from South Korea. We’re writing to you today to share our adoption journey with you and to ask if you would be interested in participating with us in bringing our child into their “forever family”.
Both Matt and I have considered adoption as an open possibility since we got married. My pregnancies with Eli and Anna were very physically and emotionally difficult. We ruled out any more natural births after Anna was born, but we left the decision to grow our family further through adoption open-ended.
In November of 2008 I visited an orphanage in India for about 5 days. While there, I found it very easy to love the children and I felt the conviction that it was time to consider making steps toward adoption. At the very same time Matt began feeling emotionally prepared to start the process as well. When I returned home we had a long talk about our hopes for our family and the idea of adoption. We also met with some friends who had recently completed an international adoption and asked them all sorts of questions about the process and decision making that goes into international adoption. That next week we began the process ourselves!
Matt and I both felt a desire to adopt a child with Asian/Indian Asian heritage, and therefore took steps to determine what countries we were eligible to adopt from in this region. Since making the decision to adopt from South Korea we have learned a lot about the reasons children are put up for adoption in that country.
“Bearing a child outside of marriage brings shame to the birth mother, her child, and her immediate and extended families… When a child has no legal father, a fact easily discerned from the [mandatory] family register, both birth mother and child face social discrimination throughout their lives. In most cases they risk losing family ties and thus a social and financial safety net. They [both mother and child] may also sacrifice prospects for marriage or a sustainable livelihood.” (an excerpt from I Wish for You a Beautiful Life, Ed. Sara Dorrow).
We recognize that we are blessed as Americans to be able to give hope to a child who may have limited opportunities in their country of birth. We are already in excited preparation for the child we will bring home, and are thrilled to discover who our child will be! From this point, we are approximately a year away from bringing our child home. We know that the child will have a heritage and a history that we hope to be able to teach to them as they grow. We are looking forward to bringing Korean culture to our family. This will not only benefit our adopted child, but also allow our entire family to have a better understanding of the world. We are excited for the chance to provide a future of love, hope, and opportunity for the child we will adopt!
Because of the nature of international adoption, there are many people involved both in the United States and in the adoptive country. This in combination with all of the governmental and miscellaneous fees makes international adoption quite expensive. We are fully convinced that God will provide the funds we need to adopt a child, and ask that you would prayerfully consider joining us in this venture. You will not only be making an investment in our family, but an eternal investment into the life of a child who might otherwise not have the same opportunity for love and freedom.
*We think it will be an amazing testimony to our child to share with him or her the love and faith that was surrounding the entire process of their adoption. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or want to know more about the adoption!With love,
Matt and Andrea Moberly
As stated in the letter, we'd love to hear from you if you want more adoption info or have any questions. We are thrilled to be sharing this experience with all of you and appreciate the all support we've already been receiving to this point!
* Some information (mailing address, etc) was removed to protect our family's privacy.
