Liam's adoption story

Photographer Romin Lee Johnson documents the adoption of 13-month-old Liam to Ashley and Kurt. You can follow Liam’s adventure on Ashley’s blog at www.ourhappilyeverafters.com. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Groove Korea. To comment, e-mail opinion@groovekorea.com. — Ed.

I nodded to DJ, the social worker, that I was ready. I was standing at the back of a small meeting room at Holt Adoption Services with a precocious 13-month-old Korean toddler and his foster family, my camera at the ready. DJ ducked out of the room into the hallway to retrieve Ashley and Kurt, the toddler’s adoptive parents, who were in the final few moments of their year-long journey for their son Liam.

Liam turned back to his foster family, and reached out to his foster mother, whose emotions finally betrayed her otherwise stoic demeanor. The whole foster family was in tears.DJ opened the door to Ashley, followed by a beaming Kurt. Click. Her eyes locked with her son; she stood frozen in the doorway for a moment as her hands moved to cover her face. Click-click. She took a tentative step forward. Then another. Emboldened, she approached her son assuredly with the inviting hands of a mother. Click. Liam’s foster father passed him over into Ashley’s arms. She held his face against her cheek, closed her eyes, and started to cry.

I felt humbled by the moment. Much of the next 30 minutes was a blur of clicks and changing rolls of film.

After the meeting was over and the final papers signed; after presents were exchanged and countless tears were wiped from cheeks flushed with unguarded emotion; after the goodbyes and prayers were said and wished, I felt I needed to share what I had just witnessed.

“First meet at an adoption > first look at a wedding,” I tweeted. The first meet at an adoption is greater than the first look at a wedding.

You see, much of my time as a professional documentary photographer has been occupied shooting weddings.  As such, many of my twitter followers are fellow wedding photographers. The “first look” is a staple moment of many weddings. It’s the first time the groom sees his bride after she’s put on the dress. It’s a moment that evokes strong emotions, a moment when the reality of the wedding hits the couple full-force.

I’ve documented over 100 weddings, and I’ve never gotten chills like this. It seems obvious now, but I didn’t appreciate then that I was witnessing only the latest chapter in a long, arduous adoption story. If it takes a village to raise a child, it must also take a village to assist in adopting one.

Ashley later told me that they were truly lucky to be able to bring Liam home this year. They decided in September 2010 that they wanted to adopt a child from Korea after a month of prayer and consideration. After sending in their application to Holt along with the necessary documentation, they were nearly matched to a special-needs child, but it didn’t work out. The months passed as autumn gave way to winter, winter to spring.

In March, they were matched to a healthy 8-month-old boy. They were ecstatic.

Their journey was only just beginning, though. More paperwork. I-600. Waiting. Legals. Fingerprinting. Packets. More waiting. Phone and e-mail tag with the embassy. A home study. The international adoption process is necessarily demanding. A gauntlet of paperwork and bureaucracy to prove your mettle.The Korean government is making it more difficult for international adoptions to take place.

In an attempt to promote domestic adoptions, the government has been steadily decreasing the number of Emigration Permits (EP) it issues for the purposes of international adoption each year. Once the annual EP quota is reached, the remaining applicants must wait until the following year to be processed. Each year, the quota drops.

Furthermore, the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) announced in June that it would be halting EP processing for several months. More waiting. The MOHW resumed application processing in August, but it was announced that EPs would be prioritized for children with Korean-American adoptive parents. Since neither Ashley nor Kurt had Korean heritage, it was possible that Liam’s EP would be delayed until 2012.

September rolled around and Ashley received word that Liam’s EP was finally approved. After a visit to the embassy and Liam having his visa physical for travel clearance, all that was left was to wait for the travel call from Holt. On Oct. 10, 13 months after they made the decision to adopt from Korea, the call finally came — a week later, after a mad flurry of e-mails and logistics, they were on a plane to Seoul.

I found myself in a crowded meeting room that was brimming with emotion and tears, bearing witness to what filmmaker Caveh Zahedi describes as a “holy moment”. (Remember Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life?”(2001))

The foster family made their way out of the room first while Ashley and Kurt finalized the paperwork with DJ. Ashley’s father, who had been playing videographer throughout the meeting, put his camcorder away and began packing the gifts left by the foster family.

Liam spent our final few minutes in the meeting room climbing over the couches, ripping through gift wrappers, doing things that toddlers so love to do, blissfully unaware that his life had just dramatically changed.

We made our way to the street, Liam babbling and poking, safe in the arms of his mother. We hailed a cab and made our way back toward their hotel for lunch. Sitting in the back of the cab with Ashley, Kurt and Liam, I managed to take a few final shots. It was beginning to dawn on Liam that his foster family wasn’t around, and he began to grow agitated, calling, “Omma, omma?”

Ashley held him close and hummed, lovingly stroking his hair as he drifted to sleep, a single tear falling slowly down his cheek.