Recently there have been many news articles in the Korean media such as TVs and the newspapers criticizing the Special Adoption Law that was passed in Korea last August 5, 2012. In fact there have been many adoptive parents and professionals and news media that have called for the elimination of the new law or revise it to save the lives of children and to allow adoption of homeless children. Our MPAK website in Korea (www.mpak.org in Korean Language), has been busy with the comments by many adoptive families that are calling for action to put a stop to this, and the nation is taking notice.
The irony is
that the Special Adoption Law that was passed to serve the interest of adoptees
and birthmothers has become a complete fiasco that has tremendously reduced the
number of adoptions taking place - both domestic and intercountry. It is the irony of the adoption law that
blocks adoption.
See the figure
to see the dramatic changes that this new law has brought. This figure will show a dramatic rise in
children being abandoned (abandoned not for adoption, but through Baby Box, police
stations, door steps, alleys, orphanages, etc).
The new law, which requires all birthmothers to register their babies in their family registries, was designed to help grown adoptees to find their birth families later in life. But there are so many children being abandoned in Baby Box, subways, door steps, trash bins, and in many cases these children are found dead.
While the
law was designed to help grown adoptees to locate their birth families by
forcing unwed birthmothers to register their babies in their family registry so
the record will be available for returning adoptees, the law was passed without
due regard to the reality of the Korean adoption culture.
Because the
new law forces birthmothers to register their babies, the great majority of the
unwed birthmothers are afraid that their past improprieties will go recorded
and remain with their records for life. A significant number of them are teenagers or
even in their 20s. These girls do not
want their young lives to be tied down by the responsibilities and obligations
they were not prepared to handle, and to face their parents or friends in such
situation would bring them tremendous humiliation not only to themselves, but
to their families as well.
For these
girls, the requirement to register their babies from unwanted pregnancies is
like a death sentence as they will be tied down for the rest of their
lives. They may have to give up schools,
their prospect of getting married is significantly reduced as most men do not
want girls with babies…the pressure to adhere to the new law at such young age
is tremendously stressful, thus causing many girls to opt for secret
abandonment. This is the reality of the
current adoption environment in Korea.
Here is a heart
wrenching note left by a birthmother when she left the baby in the Baby Box.
Here is
another note by a different birthmother giving up her baby.
“The baby was born August 22, 2012 at
12:25. I have no choice but to give up
this baby like this as I have left my husband due to the trouble with him and
the in-laws. But we are not divorced
yet, and there is the first child, and I am afraid to register this baby under
my name. And I cannot even give this
baby up for adoption due to the new adoption law.”
The new
adoption law requires the birthmothers to register their babies. Without registering their babies they cannot
legally give up their babies for adoption.
They have been turned away from the adoption agencies and other
facilities as these organizations have been instructed not to take any children
that have not been registered.
This has driven
many birthmothers to choose unsafe ways of abandoning their babies, and many
babies have lost their lives. Thankfully
there have been many babies that have been saved, especially by the effort of
the Pastor Lee and the Baby Box.
Another
aspect of the new law that goes against the adoption culture is that in the
past most of the domestic adoptions in Korea were done in secret. Adoptive parents adopted their children in
secret and the children grew up not being aware of their adoptions. Because the culture in Korea is heavily into
face-saving, many parents who can’t have children adopt children secretly and
pretend to others that the children were born from them. But the new law comes around and removes this
option of secrecy, and this has caused the significant reduction of domestic
adoption in Korea as people can no longer adopt secretly. As I have said before, the irony of the
adoption law that blocks adoption.
After the
passage of the law in August 5, 2012, the intake of children for adoption by
the agencies in Korea has dropped to less than half. The agencies are claiming that the other half
is being made up of illegal black market type adoptions and abandoned children.
If a
birthmother chooses to register her child, and if the child gets adopted soon,
the baby’s name will be removed from the mother’s registry. If this is the case the birthmother may avoid
the record of the birth registry. But
the problem occurs if the child’s adoption is delayed or no adoption takes
place. The child’s name will stay on the
birth registry. The record will follow with
her even when he is put into an orphanage.
This is the reason for the reluctance on the part of birthmothers not
wanting to register their babies.
Adoption
professionals in Korea emphasize that the Special Adoption Law needs to allow a
way for adoptees to be able to trace their birth families and at the same time
provide privacy rights for birthmothers.
Mrs. Han Youn Hee of MPAK-Korea president stated, “I question why there
is a need to force birthmothers to register babies just to provide the rights
to adoptees. The court can keep the adoption records secret, and only open for
reviews when both the adoptees and birthmothers agree.”
I was so
happy to see the responses by so many people in Korea and especially by the
media against the fallacies of the new law.
This new law, so flawed and so ill conceived, is being scrutinized and
the pressure is mounting to relook at the law.
Having the media on our side is very important as this is such a
powerful way to convince the mass of people and sway opinions.
Unfortunately
there was no criticism on all the heartaches associated with the intercountry
adoption. This is understandable as all
the protests being made by the Koreans nationals are directed to domestic
adoption issues.
I am praying
for God’s guidance on how I can impact to help with the intercountry adoption process
as I feel so powerless. Lastly, I want to share with you a powerful
Bible verse that my nephew Matthew shared.
"Through the praise of children and infants you have established a
stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger."
(Psalm 8:2 NIV).
I am praying
for a quick revision in the adoption law so that children’s lives will be
saved, and that children will find homes through adoption.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is heartbreaking
DeleteThis is heart breaking - for the mothers and the children. I hope and pray they will make changes to the law that will be beneficial for both parties.
ReplyDeleteAfter the news articles went out, apparently there were many voices about how wrong the new law is for children and their birth mothers, and the Ministry had to publish an article to defend their policy. Now they are saying the if the babies are not registered under their birth mothers, then, they are "recommended" to be safely guarded any possible ways they can, whether in an adoption agency's care, other institutions, foster homes or orphanages. It's a mass. Absolutely chaotic. One orphanage in Seould is caring for two new born infants who are abandoned since December, and they said they have not had new born babies in their facility since 1965. That's a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteI am praying with you.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you thought with the new President being female might have influence in changing the law?
I am hoping that she will be. We will see.
DeleteAre the abandoned babies being taken to orphanages? When abandoned are they not able to be placed for adoption?
ReplyDeleteLike I mentioned in the blog, most Koreans prefer to adopt secretly and now the new law does not allow that. Yes, the babies are taken to city run orphanages, and once they turn 3 they are placed in orphanges for older kids.
DeleteSteve,
Deletedoes the new prohibit these kids from ever being adopted now? Is there a way kids in orphanages can be adopted internationally?
Thanks for being an advocate for these kids and families. I hope there will be more like you soon!
No, they do not prohibit adoption. Adopting a child from an orphanage works the same way as infants. The child has to be legally relinquished by birth parent, then ransferred over to an adoption agency which will have custody of the child for adoption.
Deleteso then if they are abandoned they are not relinquished so they are not available to be adopted? That would be so sad? Thank you for all you do.
DeleteSo the agencies are granted EP based on the number of domestic adoptions which are down because of the mothers having to register with the government. Where does this leave waiting families who have referrals?
ReplyDeleteNo worry as the quota number is fixed and won't change. It's just that the three agencies get rewarded for placing more children domestically, and the agency with the highest number of domestic placements gets the highest percentage of the quota compared to the other two agencies, but the number of the quota is set.
DeleteThis is all so very sad. No one seems to have an audible voice. Not the mothers, certainly not the babies, nor the adoptive parents. Thank you Steve for being a voice for all of us who would love to speak and cannot. Thank you for relaying to us information, even when it is not what we want to hear. And thank you for caring about the mothers, the babies and the adopting parents. You are making a difference. Oh, that we could, too!
ReplyDeletethank you for being a dedicated advocate for these children and keeping us all informed. This is such a tragedy for these little sweet innocent souls. This really seems to be a trend lately, with Russia cutting off adoptions for the U.S. Governments seem to be thinking about everything but the fact that what the children need most is a loving family. Growing up not being able to find out about your birth family is tough, but not as tough as growing up an orphan your whole life with no real family.
ReplyDeleteProspective adoptive parent (still learning and reflecting) here with two comments:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have a different understanding of Special Adoption Law (SAL). In this post, you write about baby boxes and also that the SAL is "designed to help grown adoptees to find their birth families later in life." However, this discourse about SAL, adult adoptees and the baby boxes overlooks laws on children's human rights... the Special Adoption Law is a bit closer to conformity to international human rights law. For starters, we can take a look at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by Korea roughly 20 years ago, here are a couple of the articles from that convention that I think need review:
Article 7
1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name,
the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or
her parents.”
Article 8
1. States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including
nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference.
2. Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties
shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her
identity.
Second, I can’t tell if the part about the “past improprieties” of unwed mothers was sarcastic or not, but here are a few resources cited on unwed mothers in Korea wherein you can find out that 1) most unwed mothers are not teens or early 20s and 2) why a stigmatizing attitude fuels the family separation: http://koreangendercafe.blogspot.kr/2012/08/single-moms-korean-fertility-policy.html
Thank you for your comments. It is clear from your perspective that you support the current adoption law in Korea.
DeleteIn the same Convention you mentioned, it states,
Article 6
1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.
2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.
I agree with you (and the Convention) that child should be registered. But if the culture of the country does not make this a favorable environment for birthmothers, and in the process endangers the lives of many children, the law needs to change to preserve the lives of children.
It is also written in the Convention,
Article 3
1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
If the forceful registration of babies causes danger to the newborn babies, despite the fact that this was an action under the “courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies”, then this action by the authority needs to be questioned, as it is clearly evident that their law has resulted in the loss of many children, and significantly hindered many children from finding homes. This is clearly not a case of “the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”
What good is the registration and what good is having a good record, or identifying a child if such law causes many birthmothers choose to abandon or kill their babies?
Also, the very fact that both Article 3 & 6 preceded the Articles 7 & 8, it shows the greater importance placed on preserving the lives of children, and that registration and identification issues are important, it does not and must not supersede the right to life of the children.
Also, I don’t know what background you are coming from, I consider having children outside of marriage is improper. That's the way I was taught and I was not being sarcastic. I am from an old school, and that’s what I believe.
As for your refutation on the number of birthmothers in their teens or early 20’s (actually I said in their 20s), please look at The Korean Unwed Mother Support Network (KUMSN) website, and it shows a graph where even if you add up to their early 20s, they occupy 62.4% of all unwed mothers, and 82.7% if you include the remaining 20s. http://www.kumsn.org/kr/index.php?mid=archives_document&document_srl=12398
Thanks for your responses. I'm going to make a list to organize replies and counter-proposal for birth registration:
Delete#1. No, I don't support the current law, I think the system is inadequate. I just disagree with your analysis that this law is for the interests of a few adoptees, it seems weird to promote adoption but not promote the human rights of the adopted or institutionalized child - including right to their identity, nationality, etc.
#2. Do you include the Baby Box in the "unsafe ways of abandoning their babies, and many babies have lost their lives"? The statistic you shared includes Baby Boxes in the abandonment statistics, and there is no data explaining unsafe abandonment and the loss of life. Could you provide the relevant data?
#3. I absolutely agree that changing the legal and social culture that creates an unfavorable environment for birthmothers is a priority (to preserve the lives and the rights of children and mothers alike) - but then you conclude that single motherhood is wrong... so, aren't you contributing to that unfavorable environment?
#4. Closer examination of KUMFA data will show that the trend is toward lower teen and early 20s births, and increasing rates of women in their late 20s and 30s choosing to keep their children. There is a shifting attitude among unwed mothers amidst adovacy efforts. ALSO, after the law required moms keep their children at least a week before relinquishing, the vast majority keep their children... huge contrast with situations in which aso-called adoption counsellor at an agency wouldn't even let a mother hold her child after birth before taking a child away. Or when children could be relinquished even before being born.
#5: New argument:
Under the current law/system birth registration doesn't happen at the hospital right after birth. If it happened at the hospital and a 3rd party that doesn't have a financial or other stake in relinquishment registers birth and the state (rather than private organizations) made the determinations about the "best interests of the child" as per the convention... wouldn't that critically address some of your reservations about the safety of infants?
As a prospective adoptive parent, I think it would be unethical for me to adopt from Korea under these conditions, so I want to see changes in the law and enforcement of the rights of children and women in society that make a better system. The past and current systems are inadequate, but dismissing opportunities for progress and chalking this up to a dismissive complaint about adopted children's rights to family/community of origin, identity, nationality, etc. simply isn't a step in the right direction. It can be better than in the past, and it can be better than what you propose here.
Looks like a scammer. above.. There are only 3 agencies in Korea for adoption.
ReplyDeleteAdopting an orphaned child is a noble cause and can make a significant difference in the lives of orphan children. However, it’s a lengthy and complicated process. There are a million things that potential parents need to consider and know about.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re looking to adopt an orphaned child, get in touch with the Orphan Life Foundation.
They're an international non-profit organization committed to improving and enriching the lives of homeless and parentless child numbers in Africa. Help to secure their future in whatever way you can.