International adoption of South Korean children

The International adoption of South Korean children is a recent historical process triggered initially by casualties of the Korean War after 1953. The initiative was taken by religious organizations in the United States, Australia, and many European nations, and eventually developed into various apparatus that sustained adoption as a socially integrated system.

Historical context

International adoption of South Korean children started after the Korean War which lasted from 1950 to 1953. When the war was over, many children were left orphaned. In addition a large number of mixed race ‘G.I babies’ (offspring of U.S. and other western soldiers and Korean women) were filling up the country’s orphanages (Jang, 1998).

Touched by the fate of the orphans, Western religious groups as well as other associations started the process of placing children in homes in the USA and Europe (Jang, 1998). Adoption from South Korea began in 1955 when Harry Holt, a born again Christian from Eugene, Oregon, went to Korea and adopted eight war orphans (Rotschild, The Progressive, 1988). His work has been followed by the Holt International Children's Services. The first Korean babies sent to Europe went to Sweden via the Social Welfare Society in the mid 1960s. By the end of that decade, the Holt International Children's Services began sending Korean orphans to Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Germany (Hong, Korea Times, 1999).

For the next decade, most of the children adopted from Korea were fathered by American soldiers who served in the Korean war. But Amerasians presently account for fewer than 1% of adoptees. Foreign adoptions serve many purposes for the government (Rothschild, The Progressive, 1988).

ocial context

Korean traditional society places significant weight on paternal family ties, bloodlines, and pureness of ‘race’. Children of mixed race or those without fathers are not easily accepted in Korean society (Jang, 1998). Many families would go through excessive and expensive procedures such as surrogacy or "in vitro" fertilization to ensure that their offspring are at least related than to accept a child of a complete stranger into their family. Indeed, it was the case until recently that Korean citizenship was directly tied to family bloodline. Children not a part of a Korean family (i.e., orphans) were not legal citizens of Korea. Another reason is the stigma of adoption. Ninety-five percent of families who do adopt choose babies less than a month old so that they can pass them off as their natural born offspring, overlooking older adoptable children (Yun, Korea Times, 1997).

In addition, most Western countries started to face a shortage of healthy, domestic babies available for adoption in this period, as a result of social welfare programs, legalized abortions and use of contraception. Many Western couples became open to the idea of adopting children from abroad.

This was the start of a popular trend which is still present today, as the demand for foreign babies from infertile, upper- and middle class couples in the West is rising (Jang, 1998). The procedure of international adoption is today a growing and often favoured method for couples to build their families and new countries are constantly opening up for international adoption, both as sending and receiving countries.

Economic impact

Korean adoptees bring in hard currency- roughly $15 to $20 million a year. They relieve the government of the costs of caring for the children, which could be a drain on the budget. And they help with population control. Also, they solve a difficult social problem: What to do with orphans and abandoned children? In 1986, South Korea had 18,700 orphaned or abandoned children. Almost half were sent abroad for adoption, 70% of these to the United States, the rest to Canada, Australia, and eight European nations (Rotschild, The Progressive, 1988). At the time of writing (1988) the amount of $15-20m was significant compared to the spending on social welfare.

Some skeptics claim that Korean adoption agencies have established a system to guarantee a steady supply of healthy children. Supporters of this system claim that adoption agencies are only caring for infants who would otherwise go homeless or be institutionalized. While their motives can not be easily determined, their methods are efficient and well-established.

Korean adoption agencies support pregnant-women's homes; three of the four agencies run their own. One of the agencies has its own maternity hospital and does its own delivery. All four provide and subsidize child care. All pay foster mothers about $80 a month to care the infants, and the agencies provide the food and the clothing and other supplies free of charge. And they support orphanages, or operate them themselves.

When the time for departures arrives, the babies are flown to their foreign families (Rothschild, The Progressive, 1988). Payments are routine to maternity hospitals, midwives, obstetricians, officials at each of the four agencies acknowledged. The agencies will cover the costs of delivery and the medical care for any woman who gives up her baby for adoption. The agencies also use their influence with hospitals, and with the police, to acquire abandoned children (Rotschild, The Progressive, 1988).

Upbringing, identity, and nationalism

The adoption abroad of Korean children has been criticized both in and out of Korea. A number of adoptees grow up feeling out of place or alienated from the Western society they are placed in. Despite the fact that many are well adjusted and go on to live happy and successful lives, in Sweden, Korean and other international adoptees are highly overrepresented when it comes to suicide, suicide attempts, mental illness, substance abuse, social maladjustment, crime and other social and personal issues (Hjern et al. 2002).

Statistics

* Domestic adoptees in Korea 1953-2001: 62 100 (Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2002)
* Overseas adoptees outside Korea 1953-2001: 148,394 (Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2002)

Breakdown by receiving country

Number of adopted Koreans by country, from 1953-2001:

(Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2002).

Korea continues to send children out of the country for adoption; in recent years, roughly 1 of 250 Korean births are adopted by American families alone. There has been a declining trend in adoptions in recent years, but this is only due to a drop in the Korean birth rate, which is now the lowest of any developed country. [http://www.tribune.com.ng/06082006/news/news13.html]

Korean Adoptions to the United States, 2001-2005

(United States Department of Immigration Statistics, 2005)

Adoptee Associations

Korean adoptees have created associations in many countries. Some of these associations are members of the International Korean Adoptee Associations (website [http://ikaa.org/en/page/68] ), officially created in 2004 as a network for the different associations.

These associations are members of the IKAA :

* Adopted Koreans' Association (Sweden) (website [http://www.akf.nu/] )
* AKConnection (Minnesota, US) website [http://www.akconnection.com/] )
* Also-Known-As, Inc. (New York, US) (website [http://www.alsoknownas.org/New/]
* Arierang (The Netherlands) (website [http://www.arierang.nl/] )
* Asian Adult Adoptees of Washington (Washington, US) (website [http://www.aaawashington.org/a_index.php] )
* Forum for Korean Adoptees (Norway) (website [http://www.fkanorway.org/] )
* Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) (Korea)website [http://www.goal.or.kr/] )
* KoBel (Belgium) (see the presentation by the IKAA [http://ikaa.org/en/page/74] )
* Korea Klubben (Denmark) (website [http://www.koreaklubben.dk/] )
* Racines Coreennes (France) (website [http://www.racinescoreennes.org/] )

Additionally, there exists other associations.

References

*Baker, Michael, "South Korea struggles to free itself from adoption stigma", "Christian Science Monitor", 17 November 1997, Vol. 89 Issue 246, p6
*Elliott, Louise, "Battling pride and prejudice", "The Korea Herald", 30 August 2002, accessed 11 May 2002
*Hjern A, Lindblad F, Vinnerljung B., "Suicide, psychiatric illness, and social maladjustment in intercountry adoptees in Sweden: a cohort study." Lancet. 2002 Aug 10;360(9331):443-8
*Hong Sun-hee, "Subsidy for Families Adopting Disabled Orphans to Double", "The Korea Times", 17 January 1999 [http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/08/30/200208300006.asp]
*Jang, J, "Adult Korean Adoptees in Search of Roots", "Korea Herald", 10 December 1998
*Kane, Saralee, "The movement of children for international adoption: An epidemiologic perspective", "Social Science Journal", 1993, Vol. 30 Issue 4, p323.
*Meier, Dani Isaac, "Loss and Reclaimed Lives: Cultural Identity and Place in Korean-American Intercountry Adoptees", Graduate thesis, University of Minnesota, March 1998
*Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2002
*Rothschild, Matthew, Babies for Sale "South Koreans make them, Americans buy them", The Progressive, U.S, January 1988 16 August 1999
*Shin, Hye-son, "IMF economic pinch increases number of abandoned children", "The Korea Herald", 16 August 1999, [http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/news/1999/08/__06/19990816_0639.htm]

External links

* [http://www.koreanadoptees.net Korean @doptees Worldwide (K@W)]
* [http://ikaa.org/en/page/68 International Korean Adoptee Associations]
* [http://www.asian-nation.org/adopted.shtml Asian-Nation: Adopted Asian Americans] by C.N. Le, Ph.D.
* [http://www.kaanet.com/ Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network]
* [http://www.transracialabductees.org/index.html Transracial Abductees]
* [http://www.mpak.com/MySpeech_English.htm "An Adoptee's Perspective in Korean Adoption"] , Stephen C. Morrison.
* [http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/proed/korfindings.html The Gathering of the First Generation of Adult Korean Adoptees: Adoptees' Perceptions of International Adoption] , The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, June 2000.
* [http://www.azcentral.com/families/articles/0202adoptees02.html "Adoptees: Identity can be a long journey "] , The Seattle Times, February 2, 2005.
* [http://www.modelminority.com/article600.html "A Korean Adoptee's Search for Her Identity"] , ModelMinority.com, November 29, 2003.
* [http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200508/kt2005081919590445250.htm "Korean Adoptees Speak Up in Forum"] , The Korea times, August 19, 2005.
* [http://hyphenmagazine.com/features/issues/summer05/korean_adoptees.php "Homeland Divide"] , Hyphen Magazine, Summer 2005 issue.
* [http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=6360dffe15ef254002cf57c037c402de "New Immigration Strategy: Koreans Send Children to America for Adoption "] , New America Media, January 25, 2006.
* [http://www.aican.org/ AICAN - Australian Intercountry Adoption Network]
* [http://www.adoptkorea.com/ Adopting from Korea and Afterwards: A Prospective Parent's Guide]