What are Post Adoption Services?
The services which adoptees access connections to their birth and adoption stories, if possible
Post Adoption Services offered during the Bridge to Korea Birthland Tour are currently under review due to the adoption records transfer taking effect in July 2025. We will continue to update this page and keep tour participants informed as more details become available.
Adoption Agency Visit
Bridge to Korea staff schedule appointments at adoptees' respective Korean adoption agencies so adoptees and their family members can visit the Korean adoption agency that facilitated their adoption. They will meet with staff (directors, post adoption workers, and other staff) and learn more about the history and present-day mission of their adoption agency. Individual services can also be arranged, if so requested.
File Review I (prior to travel)*
Bridge to Korea staff will assist an adoptee's request to a review of their Korean adoption file (and if necessary, their U.S. adoption file), for any additional information about their birth story, adoption history, medical information, etc. There is no cost for this service as part of the Bridge to Korea tour package.
File Review II (at Korean adoption agency)*
When travelling with Bridge to Korea's birthland tours, our staff will assist adoptees in an in-person review of their Korean file AT their Korean adoption agency. File Review I proceeds this in-country service. There is no cost for this service as part of the Bridge to Korea tour package.
Foster Mother Meeting
Bridge to Korea will assist an adoptee to request a meeting with their foster mother through their respective Korean adoption agency. If there is enough information in the adoptee's Korean file, the Korean adoption agency will attempt to contact the foster mother to arrange a meeting during the adoptee's trip to Korea. Some Korean agencies ask the adoptees contact their U.S. agency to request this service. These agencies may charge fees for these services.
If the meeting occurs outside of Korean adoption agency, additional transportation fees may be incurred
Birth Family Search & Facilitated Meeting**
Using information available from the adoptee's U.S. and Korean adoption files, Bridge to Korea birthland tours will assist an adoptee place a request with their respective Korean adoption agencies OR the central authority in Korea (Korea Adoption Services) to start a search for their birth parents.
A File Review I will take place during this service. If the search results in a meeting, it will be facilitated by a Bridge to Korea staff member. This service is included as a part of Bridge to Korea birthland tours. Additional transportation fees may occur if meeting occurs outside of Korean adoption agency.
Facilitated Meeting with Previously Located Birth Family
If an adoptee is already in contact with their birth family, Bridge to Korea is happy to help facilitate a meeting with previously located birth family members. If a search needs to be reinitiated, our staff is also happy to help assist the adoptee through the search process with their Korean agency to find updated contact information with their birth family member.
Visit to site of importance
An adoptee may wish to visit a site related to their adoption story. Bridge to Korea will arrange a customized personal mini trip to a site of importance. Examples of significant sites include (but are not limited to):
Birth clinic/hospital
Orphanage
Birth city
Birth parent hometown
Finding location
These customized personal mini trips occur outside of the main tour group. Thus, a traveler may miss a scheduled tour activity. Details of this personal mini trip will be discussed individually with each adoptee/adoptive family prior to departure for Korea. Upon review of the timing and any applicable costs, travelers decide on the trip prior to arrival in country.
Additional transportation fees apply. Cancellation fee of $50 applicable, if side trip is cancelled, in Korea.
DNA Testing/Missing Persons Report*
With assistance from Korean police departments, Bridge to Korea will assist adoptees in a visit to a police station to file a missing persons report and DNA sample. This DNA sample is first cross-matched against previously submitted samples, and then stored in the national missing persons database for at least five years. It is continuously run against new submitted samples entered into the system. Adoptees are contacted if a match is found.
*This service is only available for adoptees who do not have birth parent identifying information on file / if birth parent(s) not able to be found during the search process.