Friday, April 19, 2013

The Ruling Party Gets Involved - in the Special Adoption Law

The ruling party (The Saenuri Party) has finally got its hands on the issues concerning the Special Adoption Law.  They have stepped in after the front page news article on January 3, 2013 by the Kukminilbo that featured the sharp increase in the abandoned babies at places like the Baby Box right after the enactment of the Special Adoption Law in August 2012.
 

Mr. Hwang Woo-yea, Chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party
On April 15th Mr. Hwang Woo-yea (pictured above), the chairman of the Saenuri Party stated “From what I gather from the news media there has been a 20-fold increase in the number of babies being abandoned since three years ago, and this has caused me to sound the alarm.  The safety and happiness of families need to come first as we tackle this problem and the party must embrace this as a core value and look at the problems brought by the law.  In so doing we can expect to contribute to the development of the adoption culture in keeping abreast with that of the other developed nations.”
Chairman Hwang emphasized in the interview with the Kukminilbo that “Even if there is one child that is hurt by the shortcomings of the law, then you can conclude that the law has problems.  We will examine the issues not only on the abandonments, but also look at aiding birthmothers and other issues as well.”
Mr. Kim Hong Joon (50, an MPAK member) of the Task Force to Revise the Law stated that “While it is a little late in the ruling party’s involvement, but nevertheless it is a welcome sign.  The Special Adoption Law forces the birthmothers to raise their children despite the fact they are not able to do so.  But the support for birthmothers must not be ignored.” 
Child abandonment is not the only issue with the law.  The other big issue is with the drastic reduction in the number of domestic adoption as the figure below shows.

 
Since the enactment of the Special Adoption Law on August 5, 2012, the number of children placed for adoption from August – December 2012 was only 25 children.  For the first four months of 2013, the number of children adopted domestically is only 22.  The Family Court just recently approved the first case of intercountry adoption, and the family is waiting on the 14-day period. 
The data clearly shows that even the domestic adoption is greatly impacted by the Special Adoption Law.  I believe the problems can be isolated into two areas.  One is with the implementation of the law, and the other is with the requirement by the law that children can be placed for adoption only after registering into birthmothers’ family registry.   
The implementation problem always exists in a nation that is getting ready to ratify the Hague Adoption Convention, and due to the unfamiliarity of the convention it will take some time to mature the process.  This is one reason for the drastic decline in the adoption results.  The Family Court is not able to process the new practices as if it is routine. But the other reason is that because of the birth registry requirements, and that the children can only begin the adoption process after the registry is complete, this has caused birthmothers choosing other means such as abandonment, black market adoption, in some cases killing the babies.  The seven days holding is required by the law before relinquishing the babies for adoption, and some birthmothers have opted to keep their babies, but not significant enough. 
The limitation on birthmothers’ freedom to relinquish their babies at birth has resulted in drastic drop in intakes by the adoption agencies all over Korea.  The agencies have experienced only 30% level of the usual intake volume.  This is even bigger reason why the number of adoptions plummeted due to the law.
It is very obvious, despite the oppositions’ arguments that refuse to acknowledge there are problems with the Special Adoption Law, the law has produced two very unwelcome outcomes:  A sharp INCREASE in the number of children being abandoned, and a sharp DECREASE in the number of adoptions taking place.  Something’s really really wrong at both ends, and it’s got to be revised.

43 comments:

  1. Really glad to hear that they are going to look at ways to revise the law to protect children since, clearly, abandonment and illegal black market adoptions are not the intended outcome.

    I hope to hear that more financial and legal provisions are put in place to help birth mothers and birth families so that keeping their children is a more realistic option for those who wish to do so.

    And for those birth mothers who are unable to raise their children, I hope that revisions to the law will allow them to safely relinquish their children in a manner that allows for possible reunion in the future but also protects the privacy of the birth mother in the present time.

    ~ H

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    1. Amen. Very well said

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    2. Yes, very nicely said and reflects what many of us are thinking and feeling.

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  2. So just curious, exactly what is the ruling party going to do differently?

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  3. Thanks for the post, Steve. I'm glad they realize the the law is flawed; however I worry that a revamp of the law will only delay international adoption further. I wish they would also realize that there are hundreds of families waiting for their childern to come home while they figure out what they should do. It's sad that we can't have a voice with the Korean government. We are told to sit tight and don't say anything.

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    1. I couldn't disagree with your comment more. It isn't "sad" that waiting parents don't have a voice with the Korean government. We (waiting parents) are not citizens of Korea and have no right to participate in their government system. The wait for my child to home is incredibly difficult but I absolutely respect the right of Korea to make their own decisions about how the laws they put in place to manage their society. I may not agree with every decision make by the Korean government but I believe they are attempting to manage a difficult and complicated situation with the absolute best intentions. Furthermore, we all lack the full background and context to opine in an intelligent way on these issues. If changes to the law make life better for the children, better for the birth mothers, and make it easier for more children to grow up in their country of their birth and the cost of those changes is that we have to wait longer for our children to come home, I believe that is a fair trade. Whether my child comes home in 3 months or 3 years he/she is still my child and a loving home is waiting.

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    2. The adjustment/mourning the loss of foster parents DOES have a larger effect on a 3 year old vs 3 month old. Why make a child wait. This is about the childs wait for their family not the parents. They lose a parent being able to tell thrm about their childhood, photos of childhood. Not a fair trade to the child!

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    3. How can you respect Korea and their decisions about the new law, when it will hurt your baby? Our waiting babys is the lossers in this game, and it is not right. I can not understand that you can make a new law, but you dont know how it shall work??? It is SO wrong. And not becaurce we (waiting parents) are going to wait longer, but becaurce our children gets hurt a lot more. Let our children come home, and then make your new laws.

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    4. This must not be an adoptive parent. I suspect anti-adoption elements are posting like this (bad grammar too), to pretend parents are posting like this. Sickening really. They know the MOHW and Courts are reading this blog.

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    5. The post from April 21, 2013 at 12:02 AM doesn't sound like an adoptive parent.

      I believe this new law/process has been tough for everyone involved. I do believe the Korean lawmakers et al are really trying to do what's best for the birthmoms and children with their intentions. Each side has different perspective and responsibilities.

      For my wife and I (and I bet other adopting parents), the wait and uncertainty have been tough. We are hoping and praying the new process will start to flow better, and our child will be home with us soon. From our perspective, there's no way anybody can say that beautiful boy currently living with the amazing foster family is not our son, especially when the foster mom said my son looked like me when we initially met. He definitely has the same independent and stubborn nature as myself. :) And nobody can take away the fact that he kept calling my wife and I, eomma and appa, during that unforgettable and precious meeting. He is our son and we will not stop loving and thinking about him everyday.

      We really hope everyone reading this blogspot continue to have respect for others and comment in a professional (not hurtful) manner. We are very glad Steve and his organization are involved with this process and are sharing their perspective, which is absolutely welcomed. Please continue the wonderful work and thank you!

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    6. I agree with Anonymous, 4/20/13, 7:47am. Thank you. These are Korea's children, Korean mothers/parents/families, Korea's laws. First and foremost, it is up to Korean people and policies to decide how to protect the rights and welfare of their children, parents, and citizens. Prospective adoptive parents from other countries, politicians from other countries should not be deciding Korea's laws.

      A previous poster said that prospective adoptive parents should be advocating for adoptees' rights. I agree. For example, US PAP's can push their own government and politicians to *finally* grant retrospective citizenship to all international adoptees into the US. Many of you may have heard about international adoptees being deported (and some killed) after the US government deported them to their countries of birth. These people could have been your own children that you are promising to love and protect.

      US PAP's can also push your government to unseal original birth certificates of adult US adoptees to themselves. This is their own information, it is about them, it belongs to them. Every other person born in the US can freely access truthful information about themselves - non-adopted former foster children, criminals. The US government has NO place in denying ANYONE information about one's own identity and history. This goes counter to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention.

      So, to the PAP's who would like to help adoptees in other countries, there is plenty you can do to protect and help adoptees in your own country (if you're from the US).

      As one of many international adoptees from a country (Korea) that has "lost" many birth records, I'm rightfully irritated that my country's child welfare policies still encourage the erasing of so many children's origins, histories, and identities; that another country's citizens feel it is their duty to demand changes in another country's policies when there is amply-needed policy changes in their own country (background checks on prospective gun owners, retrospective citizenship for adoptees, OBC's for adoptees).

      http://signon.org/sign/citizenship-for-all-adoptees?source=s.fwd&r_by=7605721

      For those PAP's who truly want to help adoptees in the USA, please contact your government officials to grant retrospective citizenship and unseal OBC's. Thank you.

      For those PAP's who don't really want to help adoptees and ensure their civil rights, please don't adopt adoptees (and then expect your adoptees to be happy, grateful, and fulfilled).

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  4. Once again, we wait because must.

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  5. Have domestic adoptions gone down because of lack of interest, or because the courts cannot process more than a few cases at a time?

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    1. In addition to the court process, the law forbids birthmothers to relinquish their babies for adoption without registering the babies first. But most choose not to register.

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  6. Is this going to effect international adoptions? I know some people are already in court

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  7. Great news that more people/groups want to be a part of advocating on the behalf of children and birth mothers. I hope that changes will bring about renewed interest in domestic adoption in Korea and movement for children waiting to be adopted internationally. I think it's important to remember that parents adopting internationally can want their children to come home sooner for the best interest of their CHILD and also hope that all avenues for that child to stay with their birth parents or be adopted domestically have been per sued.

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  8. I have to say.....I wish the families commenting here could be more respectful of each other and honestly, of Steve too. If you continue to argue (which gets us nowhere) it may cause him to reconsider posting anything. I'm waiting for my child to come home from Korea and all this back and forth about who's right and who's wrong does nothing but cause more anxiety for me and I'm sure many others who are reading this thread. We all want the same thing! We want our children to come home. Please look for the common ground here and fine a way to unify and lift each other up. Please.

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    1. I think it's important people voice their opinions (arguing points). We are a family who has been waiting over a year to bring our child home. I can understand the frustation as well as the importance of being respectful of opinions.

      I also think it's important we DO address these argumentative issues rather and JUST thanking MPAK for their updates (which I am VERY thankful for). If we are just thankging MPAK for the updates, how will Steve know what issues are the issues?

      I say, keep "aruging" as long as it's respectful of each other's opinions and the Korean courts/goverment/etc.

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  9. I agree that it is important to stay respectful and kind. In the end our goals are the same. We all want what is best for the children. These innocent children have no voice and we need to protect them. The negative comments clearly are being posted to spur up controversy. We must stay united and strong the children deserve it.

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  10. Thanks Steve for your post, we appreciate the update. The wait is so very hard but we will continue to pray for the lawmakers, judges, birth mothers, foster mothers and most of all the children.

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  11. I am glad there is some willingness to revise the parts of the law that currently seem to not be in the best interest of the children or the birth mothers. Hopefully such revisions can be made soon in order to protect more babies.

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  12. Steve, could you please explain why there have only been 22 domestic adoption cases since the new law implemented? Do Korean families only want newborn babies? Have agencies stopped taking in new children because the mother's have to put them on a registry or because the agencies can't take anymore children in? What is actually going on in domestic adoption in Korea right now? If there is indeed increased awareness and desire in country to adopt, are you seeing this happen?

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  13. The reduction in the adoption can be attributed to three things: 1) The law forbids birthmothers from relinquishing the babies to the adoption agencies without first registering them (this cuts the adoptable children available), 2) Majority of adoptions happened in secret before, and the fact that the parents have to stand before the court means that the parents cannot hide their adoption facts (this cuts adoptive parents in Korea that want secret adoptio), 3) the court is still adjusting to the new adoption process and they haven't got it all figured out yet.

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    1. I don't understand. There are privacy laws in Korea right? Why is the registry such a bad thing? I am not clear on how it works? Isn't that private information and why can that be looked at by potential employers, etc? Is this the same thing as the family registry? These documents are open to anyone in the public for viewing?

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    2. It appears that perhaps you have recently started to read this blog. Please visit my previous blog at: http://mpakusa.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-irony-of-adoption-law-that-blocks.html for explanations.

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  14. Just clarifying, under #1- the children go directly to orphanages?? under #2- decrease in Korean PAPs, then under #3, the process is just taking longer. What accounts for the 70% decrease of intakes at the agencies? #1? Or also the agencies are refusing children because the reception room is full?

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  15. Renee, you are asking questions like a reporter. Good questions. The children are being abandoned, put on black market for illegal adoption for those that wish to keep adoption secret or do not want to go through the complexities assoicated with home studies or criminal checks...etc that a lawful adoption proces requires. In some cases birthmothers decide to keep their babies, no data on this one. The abandoned babies all go to orphanages and they are not adoptable since there have been no relinquishment papers signed by birthmothers. There have been many birthmothers that have contacted the agencies and they have been turned away since the birthmothers did not want to register their babies in their family registry, and by law the agencies cannot take the children for adoption. This is the major reason for the significant reduction in the intakes by the agencies. The reception rooms of the agencies are now empty.

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  16. Thanks Steve~ More questions.. We hear that court dates are scheduled for some families at the end of May. Have you heard about what this is for and/if all families will now be asked to go to court? Will this now go for a IR3 vs. IR4 visa?

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    1. The family court reserves the rights to summon any families to appear before them, and this has not changed even with the recent relaxation of the travel requirement by the court. I just don't have enough information to give additional comments on this but I'll try to find out.

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    2. Dear Steve: I appreciate what you do for the children and the families. Would be great if you could help to clarify regarding the court appearance? I also heard from an agency that the judges are changing their mind and requiring families to appear in court, what is not cleared is when the children come home the type of visa they'll use. This is getting really confusing.

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    3. If the families see the judges, then they will most likely be issued IR-3 visa with citizenship. This is preferrable, but even with older IR-4 visa method, the law that was passed in 2000 declares that adopted children will be automatically granted citizenship. So I see no reason why families need to travel to accomplish this. I am confused as well, and will examine it more.

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    4. http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegrams/telegrams_1408.html

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    5. The differences: http://myfamilylaw.com/library/children-parenting/adoption/faq-what-is-the-difference-between-an-ir-3-visa-and-an-ir-4-visa/

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    6. According to the articles above only IR3 is considered auto citizenship, not IR4.

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    7. Thanks for the links. They were helpful in clearly distinguishing the two forms of visas. I think what I'll do is to post the differnces in the blog as not all the readers are aware of the differences.

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  17. There were court dates for April and we haven't heard of anything. How can they know anything for may

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    1. Not sure what agency you are with, but some from Holt were told yesterday that there are court dates for some families scheduled at the end of May and that there might be 1 long trip or 2 shorter trips. I believe they will be going in the way of IR3 Visa process to comply with Hague as there has been many parents who never got COC for their children prior to the 2001 law that is auto citizenship.

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  18. Just curious Steve, If a family is willing or able to travel for court, will they be allowed to do that? Will that change the option of the visa they come home with?

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    1. I think not. It is really driven by the court as to who they would like to interview, not your availability to travel.

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  19. We've been waiting for our child to come home. We've been waiting and waiting for almost 6 months since the EP was given. We have not got a date to pick her up? How much longer do we have to wait to get our child? She's almost 3 years old and no one seems to know when. By the time our child gets here, she'll be under-developed socially, educationally and language. It's putting her life and our lives in peril. HOW MUCH LONGER?

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    1. She's not your child. She's not your daughter yet. Not legally, not medically, not genetically, not historically. Something's you can't have all the answers too. Sorry, but that's the facts of life. You always have the option to stop waiting.

      If you do continue to adopt a child, it is hoped that you will have lots of patience. This child will have major adjusting to do - to a new country, life, family, language, food, culture, trust, etc. and this should be at your new child's pace, not yours. Your child will require your complete patience in the beginning, and again at various times throughout life. If you don't have patience now for things beyond your control, before you even adopt, then perhaps adoption isn't the best thing for you and your potential child. Believe me, after you adopt, many things will be beyond your control and the child you adopted should NOT be blamed for your lack of patience and understanding. No one is forcing you to make this major change in your life and another child's.

      Again, my question to many of you, is why do you want to adopt from Korea and then return to your respective countries? Why not move to Korea and raise these Korean children in Korea, close to their roots and culture? Why do they have to move to where YOUR roots are?

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    2. I think K makes many assumptions. People adopt to love and take care of a child. To give them the best life that they personally are able to. No matter if a have a biological child or adopt from Korea or any other country I must provide for my child. I can provide for my child with the job my husband and I have, share our loving home and give our child grandparents who will love them and be a part of their lives. Roots and culture should be respected and shared with an adopted child but they do not define who a person is. I may be American but I also have family roots in another country. Just because I live in the US does not mean that I do not respect my roots..roots are the beginning of a life. Sometimed a living plant gets transplanted. Its just a new place to grow. I suggest K grow a heart. We adopt to love a child. Plain and simple.

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  20. Is this the order of things now? The birthmother is contacted for rerelinquishment. She again signs for the child to be adopted. 14 days follow her decision. Then, the case proceeds to court for review. The. Adopting parents are contacted to travel. They meet the child who has EP and the parents wait fourteen days for the court's decision that awards them custody. Is this correct?

    This would seem to indicate that Adopting parents will stay at least three weeks or travel twice???
    I am simply trying to get the order straight. Will the Visa Interview also occur during that time, or will they have to do that in the following week? (week 4)?

    Thanks for your help!

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