Birth mothers in South Korea (international adoption)

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Birth mothers in South Korea (international adoption) refers to the group of biological mothers whose children were placed for adoption in South Korea's international adoption practice. The decades-long phenomenon of international adoption in South Korea began after the Korean War. In the years since the war, South Korea has become the largest and longest provider of children placed for international adoption, with 165,944 recorded Korean adoptees living in 14 countries, primarily in North America and Western Europe, as of 2014. [1]

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Birth mothers in South Korea faced social and economic hardships following the war, and many were left with no choice but to place their children for adoption. It was virtually impossible for unwed mothers to raise children on their own in South Korea, due to social exclusion and an inability to escape severe stigma [2] and discrimination. Many found shelter in maternity homes, which opened their doors for unwed pregnant women, but still struggled with grief and psychological effects of losing a child. Recently, there has been an uptick in birth mother activism, with birth mothers finding each other on online forums, through support groups, and on search and reunion television series.

Aftermath of the Korean War

The Korean War (1950–1953) caused extensive damage to the economies and infrastructure of North and South Korea, including over 2.5 million casualties, or about 10% of Korea's pre-war population. [3] The physical and emotional toll of the war had severe effects on the Korean population, most of which lived in extreme poverty following the war's end. [3]

Effects of the Korean War on women

During the war, the US military established camptowns, or kijich'on, where Korean women became prostitutes for soldiers. By 1953, there were 350,000 women working as prostitutes in or near camptowns. [4] Some made contract marriage arrangements with US soldiers, in which soldiers would pay for sex workers' living expenses in exchange for a monogamous relationship. [5] Viewed as the lowest class of sex workers, kijich'on women faced extreme amounts of social stigma during and after the war. Kijich'on women were called derogatory names, such as yanggongju, or "Yankee whore," and were seen as sexually deviant and morally corrupt. [6]

Women who became pregnant in camptowns comprised the first generation of birth mothers: after the war, over 100,000 war orphans were left in need of a home. [7] Many of their children were mixed-race, or honhyŏla, which led to social exclusion for both the mother and child. The mothers of mixed-race children were automatically seen as low-class military prostitutes, and their children were seen as illegitimate, with any drop of American blood invalidating their Korean blood. [8] Both faced strong prejudices and were excluded from educational and occupational opportunities, which pressured many women to give up their children for adoption. [8] Children of Korean women and African-American soldiers faced the most prejudice due to racist and nationalist sentiments. Due to their exclusion from Korean society at large, many mothers and their mixed-race children lived in extreme poverty following the war. [7]

After the war, South Korea relied heavily on aid from faith-based foreign governments and organizations. Many foreign aid organizations helped to develop South Korea's child welfare and family planning policies, which had previously been nonexistent. [9] The newly regulated family, which consisted of a father, mother, and one or two children, rendered single mothers, birth mothers, widows, divorcées, working-class mothers, poor mothers, and mixed-race children excess population. [9] The nation's patrilineal family registration system, hojuje, only legally recognized women as a child's parent through the child's biological father. [10] Because of this, it was difficult for women to separate themselves from abusive or unhealthy relationships for fear of losing custody of their child. In addition, kijich'on women, whose American partners had returned to the US after the war, were not recognized as the legal guardian of their child. If they were to raise them in South Korea, the child would legally be seen as illegitimate. [10]

Beginnings of international adoption

In 1960, Holt International Children's Services (then known as Holt Adoption Placement) was established by Harry and Bertha Holt, an American Protestant couple that played a large role in the development of the transnational adoption process. [11] In 1954, Holt watched Lost Sheep, a documentary about South Korea's post-war devastation. The film showed footage of the war-torn environment, including imagery of millions of orphans wandering lost and abandoned in a desolate Korean landscape. [8] After seeing Lost Sheep, Holt felt that he had found his life's God-given mission: to adopt South Korean orphans. [8] He adopted 8 mixed-race children in 1955, believing that they should be returned to the land of their fathers. [8] These children became Korea's first transnational adoptees. [8]

The South Korean government benefitted from the adoption of mixed-race children because it helped rid the country of what were largely considered "undesirable" children. At the suggestion of the government, South Korean newspapers began to publish advertisements to recruit mixed-race children for adoption. [11] Both the South Korean government and foreign aid organizations, such as Holt Adoption Placement, encouraged the prioritization of mixed-race adoption first. In 1978, the South Korean government took control of the Korean branch of Holt. Subsequently, the number of adoptions increased, with 8,837 children being sent abroad in 1985. [8]

Many American couples followed suit, either sponsoring a child from the US by sending letters and money, or by adopting. After the adoption papers were signed, birth mothers who gave up their children became legally nonexistent, allowing adoptive parents to take full custody of the child. [12] The South Korean government benefitted from the legal erasure of birth mothers, as it upheld the patriarchal family unit and rid the population of socially deviant women. The international adoption practice was also a means of population control through the regulation of women's reproductive agency. [12]

Maternity homes

Many birth mothers turned to maternity homes for support and services. Maternity homes are social service facilities for pregnant women that operated in conjunction with foreign aid agencies, the church, and adoption agencies. All maternity homes in South Korea were run by private Christian organizations, which declared adoption as an "act of God's love" and a path to salvation. [13] Kusekun Yŏchakwan, or the Salvation Army's Women's Center, was the first maternity home, established in 1926 during Japanese occupation. Initially, Kusekun Yŏchakwan offered shelter to prostitutes and homeless women, and later opened their doors to unmarried pregnant women in 1966. In 1960, an American Presbyterian missionary, Eleanor Creswell Van Lierop, established Ae Ran Won, or House of Grace, as a maternity home for kijich'on women. In 1979, Maliaŭi Chip, or the House of Mary, was founded by a Catholic organization. By the mid-2000s, there were 18 maternity homes that offered services for unwed pregnant women. [13]

Ae Ran Won

Ae Ran Won is located in Seoul, South Korea, and remains one of the more prominent maternity homes. It was founded with the goal of helping young, vulnerable women who moved to Seoul in search of work. Each year, around 200 birth mothers stay at Ae Ran Won. 85% of them choose to give up their children for adoption. [14] [ non-primary source needed ]

At maternity homes, women could receive shelter and resources. Ae Ran Won offered services such as sex education, vocational training, medical care, and counseling. Because the maternity homes were so closely tied with adoption agencies, adoption was presented as the best option for birth mothers. Maternity homes regularly received compensation from adoption agencies for encouraging women to choose adoption. Pregnant women were strongly dissuaded from turning to abortion. Adoption agency staffers would often come to maternity homes and lead workshops with pregnant women, encouraging them to choose to put their child up for adoption. [14] [ non-primary source needed ] In their educational programming, maternity homes used religious instruction and many references to their Christian faith. Church representatives asked women in maternity homes to pray, attend weekly Bible study classes, and pledge to refrain from marital sex. [12] Anti-abortion sermons were delivered, and women were forbidden from returning to maternity homes with their newborn children. Under these circumstances, it was very difficult for birth mothers to choose any option other than adoption. [12]

In I Wish for You a Beautiful Life, a collection of letters from birth mothers at Ae Ran Won to their children, most birth mothers expressed their own guilt, grief, and sorrow. Many expressed that they had chosen to give up their child for adoption with the hopes that they would have access to better opportunities, education, and mobility. Some acknowledged the stigma that would accompany their life as a single, unwed mother and the life of their child, who would be rendered legally illegitimate, writing that they wanted to prevent their children from facing this social exclusion. Most, if not all, sought forgiveness and strength through faith. [14] [ non-primary source needed ]

Birth mother activism

Online forums

The Internet represented a new opportunity for birth mothers to find community through shared experiences. In 2001, an Internet café, called A Sad Love Story of Mothers Who Sent Their Children Away for Adoption, became a popular place among birth mothers to share their stories, foster community, and process emotions. It was established by user "Jaewon", a 25-year old birth mother who had researched adoption in the years after she had given up her child. After meeting another birth mother in 2001, she felt compelled to create a space for other birth mothers to find each other, learn about adoption, and have a safe space to share their experiences. From 2001 until 2005, A Sad Love Story of Mothers operated regularly, hosting online chat rooms, postings, and motivating some mothers to meet in person. After 2005, the site's membership slowly decreased, and eventually it became inactive. [15]

TV reunions

Television search and reunion shows, which seek to reunite birth mothers and their biological children, saw an increase in popularity among South Koreans beginning in the 1990s. Transnational adoptees who were coming of age began searching for their biological families, using the mass media to help in their searches. One popular show, Ach’im Madang, or I Want to Find This Person, was created in 1997, and hosts adoptees who wish to find their birth families, aiding in the search and eventually culminating in a reunion between the mother and child. [8] The reunions themselves were highly publicized, and both the mother and child's reactions were filmed. There are debates about whether or not this emotional reunion should be so public, so as not to invade the privacy of the families. [8]

Activist groups

Many birth mothers have recently been speaking out against the negative stigma toward unwed single mothers. One birth mother, Choi Hyong-sook, chose to raise her son alone. As a result, she was cut off from her family, and had severe difficulties finding a job. Choi has since been a leader in creating unwed mothers' associations, where birth mothers can join to protest the South Korean government's policies regarding adoption. [16] The government established National Adoption Day on 11 May 2005 in an attempt to encourage domestic adoption. Choi and other birth mothers protested National Adoption Day by marching in a parade with other unwed mothers' organizations, defending the right of single mothers to raise their own children. [17]

Civil groups have come together to establish Single Mother's Day on 11 May, the same day as National Adoption Day. The goal is to celebrate single mothers and unwed birth mothers in a push to end social stigma and pressure the government to provide more financial support to unwed mothers, instead of focusing on funding orphanages and adoption agencies. [18] Every year on Single Mother's Day, groups of activists, volunteers, birth mothers, and adoptees come together to show solidarity for the single mothers and the adoption community. [18]

In addition, the Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network, started by American adoptive father Richard Boas, advocates for better-funded welfare services from the South Korean government. [19] Another organization, Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community in Korea (TRACK), was established by Korean-born adoptees who wish to return to Korea and reduce the stigma around single mothers. TRACK aims to protect the human rights of adoptees and their families, especially children's rights to know and live with their family of origin. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption</span> Parenting a child in place of the original parents

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from the biological parents to the adoptive parents.

The international adoption of South Korean children started around 1953 as a measure to take care of the large number of mixed children that became orphaned during and after the Korean War. It quickly evolved to include orphaned Korean children. Religious organizations in the United States, Australia, and many Western European nations slowly developed the apparatus that sustained international adoption as a socially integrated system.

Holt International Children's Services (HICS) is a faith-based humanitarian organization and adoption agency based in Eugene, Oregon, United States, known for international adoption and child welfare. The nonprofit works in thirteen countries, including: Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Mongolia, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, and the United States. This work includes a range of services for children and families including efforts in nutrition, education, family strengthening, orphan care, foster care, family reunification, and child sponsorship. The organization's stated mission is to seek a world where every child has a loving and secure home.

Closed adoption is a process by which an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent(s) is kept sealed. Often, the biological father is not recorded—even on the original birth certificate. An adoption of an older child who already knows their biological parent(s) cannot be made closed or secret. This used to be the most traditional and popular type of adoption, peaking in the decades of the post-World War II Baby Scoop Era. It still exists today, but it exists alongside the practice of open adoption. The sealed records effectively prevent the adoptee and the biological parents from finding, or even knowing anything about each other. However, the emergence of non-profit organizations and private companies to assist individuals with their sealed records has been effective in helping people who want to connect with biological relatives to do so.

In the United States, adoption is the process of creating a legal parent–child relationship between a child and a parent who was not automatically recognized as the child's parent at birth.

Open adoption is a form of adoption in which the biological and adoptive families have access to varying degrees of each other's personal information and have an option of contact. While open adoption is a relatively new phenomenon in the west, it has been a traditional practice in many Asian societies, especially in South Asia, for many centuries. In Hindu society, for example, it is relatively common for a childless couple to adopt the second or later son of the husband's brother when the childless couple has limited hope of producing their own child.

Interracial adoption refers to the act of placing a child of one racial or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another racial or ethnic group.

Sealed birth records refers to the practice of sealing the original birth certificate upon adoption or legitimation, often making a copy of the record unavailable except by court order. Upon finalization of the adoption, the original birth certificate is sealed and replaced with an amended birth certificate declaring the adoptee to be the child of his or her adoptive parents, "as if" born to them. Many states, provinces and countries adopted this practice in the early to mid-20th century with the aim of protecting the adopted person from the shame of an illegitimate birth. Sealed or closed birth records are generally associated with closed adoption. Open records is generally referred to as the practice of opening original birth records to adult adoptees, and should not be confused with open adoption, which can occur with or without sealed records, depending on the laws of the state or province in which it is carried out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Tann</span> American child trafficker (1891–1950)

Beulah George "Georgia" Tann was an American social worker and child trafficker who operated the Tennessee Children's Home Society, an unlicensed adoption agency in Memphis, Tennessee. Tann used the home as a front for her black market baby adoption scheme from the 1920s to 1950. Young children were kidnapped and then sold to wealthy families, abused, or—in some instances—murdered. A state investigation into numerous cases of adoption fraud led to the institution's closure in 1950. Tann died of cancer before the investigation made its findings public.

The Baby Scoop Era was a period in anglosphere history starting after the end of World War II and ending in the early 1970s, characterized by an increasing rate of pre-marital pregnancies over the preceding period, along with a higher rate of newborn adoption.

Adoption disclosure refers to the official release of information relating to the legal adoption of a child. Throughout much of the 20th century, many Western countries had legislation intended to prevent adoptees and adoptive families from knowing the identities of birth parents and vice versa. After a decline in the social stigma surrounding adoption, many Western countries changed laws to allow for the release of formerly secret birth information, usually with limitations.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to adoption:

A maternity home, or maternity housing program, is a form of supportive housing provided to pregnant women. Maternity housing programs support a woman in need of a stable home environment to reach her goals in a variety of areas including education, employment, financial stability, prenatal care, and more. There are over 400 maternity homes in the United States ranging in size and criteria for admittance. Staffing model is a primary way that maternity homes differ. The three major staffing models are houseparents, live-in staff, and shift staff. Additionally, there are a limited number of maternity housing program who operate as a "shepherding" or "host" home. In the "host home" model, women are connected to screened households that offer to provide housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brothers Home</span> 1970s–1980s South Korean internment camp

The Brothers' Home was an internment camp located in Busan, South Korea during the 1970s and 1980s. During its operation, it held 20 factories and thousands of people who were rounded up off of the street, the homeless some of whom were children, in addition to college students who were protesting the regime. Only 10% of internees were actually homeless. The camp was home to some of the worst human rights abuses in South Korea during the period and has been nicknamed "Korea's Auschwitz" by various Korean media outlets.

Teenage pregnancy in Korea carries a lot of stigma resulting in many abortions and adoptions. Very few pregnant teens keep the child because, along with stigma, it is very difficult for them to get help. The stigma can result in isolation from friends and family, expulsion from school, homelessness, and more. Teenagers are not legally allowed to make the decision of what to do with the pregnancy because the majority are underage and need their parents consent. Nineteen is the legal age of adulthood where they could decide for themselves. Parents often choose abortion or adoption rather than keeping the child even if the teenager wanted. Some who want to keep the child often end up hiding it or planning to run away to avoid the stigma and opinions of those around them.

There have been several high-profile cases of deportation of Korean adoptees from the United States. Prior to the passage of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, the adoptive parents of adoptees had to file for their child to naturalize before the age of 16. Many parents were unaware of this requirement, assuming that their adopted children automatically derived citizenship from them, and therefore did not apply. The Child Citizenship Act sought to remedy this issue by extending citizenship to all international adoptees who were under 18 at the time that the bill was passed, but did not apply retroactively. This left those adopted by American families prior to 1983 vulnerable to deportations.

Adoption in South Korea, specifically the low rates of domestic adoption in their history, has been a point of discussion for the country, causing new policies to be passed over the years. South Korea, at the conclusion of the Korean War in 1953, began to partake in transnational adoption. As these overseas adoptions increased over the next couple of decades, South Korea pushed to encourage fewer transnational adoptions and more domestic adoptions. The high number of children put up for adoption each year in South Korea can be attributed to a variety of factors: the lack of support for unwed mothers, as well as social stigma, contributed greatly to these numbers. Several organizations have been created to support unwed mothers and combat stigma. There has been changes to adoption policies throughout the decades as well. The Special Adoption Act was passed in 2011 with the intention of boosting domestic adoptions. However, the unexpected outcome of more abandoned children ensued following the amendment taking effect.

In 2022 there were approximately 1.49 million households in South Korea which were headed by a single parent.

The Milford Industrial Home, formerly called Nebraska Maternity Home, was an institution in Milford, Nebraska, which housed unmarried pregnant women. For a while it was the only such institution in the country. It was founded by an act of the Nebraska Legislature in 1887, and the first woman was admitted in 1889. The women were under strict rules, and were encouraged to place their babies for adoption. They stayed there, usually under court order, for a period of a year. The home closed in 1954; it is estimated that over 4,000 babies were born there.

References

  1. ↑ Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 2. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ↑ "Birth mothers living in silence". The Korea Herald . 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  3. 1 2 "Korean War". HISTORY. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  4. ↑ Cho, Grace M. (2008). Haunting the Korean diaspora : shame, secrecy, and the forgotten war. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN   9780816666461. OCLC   311053574.
  5. ↑ Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 49. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 46. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. 1 2 International Korean adoption : a fifty-year history of policy and practice. Bergquist, Kathleen Ja Sook. New York: Haworth Press. 2007. p. 136. ISBN   9780789030641. OCLC   76481485.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Prébin, Elise. (2012). Meeting once more : the Korean side of transnational adoption. New York: New York University Press. ISBN   9780814764961. OCLC   836870464.
  9. 1 2 Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 37. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. 1 2 Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 57. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. 1 2 Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 45. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. 1 2 3 4 Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 97. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. 1 2 Kim, Hosu. (2016-10-26). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. p. 84. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. 1 2 3 I wish for you a beautiful life : letters from the Korean birth mothers of Ae Ran Won to their children. Dorow, Sara. (1st ed.). St. Paul, Minn.: Yeong & Yeong Book Co. 1999. ISBN   0963847236. OCLC   41571367.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ↑ Kim, Hosu. (26 October 2016). Birth mothers and transnational adoption practice in South Korea : virtual mothering. New York. pp. 145–148. ISBN   9781137538529. OCLC   961456586.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ↑ Sang-Hun, Choe (2009-10-07). "In South Korea, an Effort to Defend Unwed Mothers". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  17. ↑ "Single parents fight against prejudice". The Korea Times . 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  18. 1 2 "South Koreans dedicate a day to single moms | DW | 09.10.2012". DW.COM. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  19. ↑ motek, yhchung generator by. "(사)한국미혼모지원네트워크". www.kumsn.org (in Korean). Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  20. ↑ "About TRACK". TRACK. 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
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