February 2015

February 26, 2015. Korean Program Still Open; More Boys Than Girls Available. The drastic slowdown in the Korean international adoption program has led potential adoptive parents to shun this option. While the program is both smaller and of longer duration than previously, there are non-special needs babies and toddlers available for international adoption. The majority of these children are boys. Domestic adopters in Korea prefer girls because they are thought to be more docile, better carers of elderly parents and because adopting girls will not interfere with inheritance through the male (blood) line. More Information.

February 25, 2015. Thailand Bans Surrogacy for Foreign Citizens. The Thai government has passed a law that forbids foreigners from using Thai surrogates to bear their children. This law comes in the light of a widely publicized case where Australian intended parents took one of their Thai born twins home but abandoned the second twin, who had Down's syndrome. The new law allows surrogacy only for married Thai couples or couples with one Thai partner who have been married for three years. More Information.

February 23, 2015. China Adoption. The Chinese special needs adoption program continues on. Many agencies have established one-to-one relationships with Chinese orphanages which enables these agencies to have access to children prior to listing them. Agencies are then better placed to understand the special needs of each particular child. Over half of the last (small) waiting children list were children with Down's Syndrome. A recent non-special needs referral group was for potential adoptive parents whose papers were logged in with the Chinese government in December 2006. All the referred children were boys, aged 12 to 36 months.

February 19, 2015. District Court Stops DHS From Implementing New Immigration Policy. A Texas Federal District Court has enjoined the Department of Homeland Security from implementing the changes to U.S. immigration policy announced by President Obama. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson explains: "I strongly disagree with Judge Hanen's decision to temporarily enjoin implementation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Department of Justice will appeal that temporary injunction; in the meantime, we recognize we must comply with it. Accordingly, the Department of Homeland Security will not begin accepting requests for the expansion of DACA tomorrow, February 18, as originally planned. Until further notice, we will also suspend the plan to accept requests for DAPA. . .The Court's order does not affect the existing DACA. Individuals may continue to come forward and request initial grant of DACA or renewal of DACA pursuant to the guidelines established in 2012. Nor does the Court's order affect this Department's ability to set and implement enforcement priorities.