Danish adoptees call for South Korea to investigate adoptions. Will the U.S. Korean adoptees follow? If you are a Korean adoptee who would also like to seek the truth, join Adoption Truth and Transparency.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Dozens of South Koreans adopted by Danish parents decades ago have formally demanded the South Korean government investigate their adoptions, which they say were marred by widespread practices that falsified or obscured children’s origins.
Most of the South Korean adoptees sent abroad were registered by agencies as legal orphans found abandoned on the streets, although they frequently had relatives who could be easily identified and found. This made the children more easily adoptable as agencies raced to send more kids to the West at faster speeds.
“None of us are orphans,” said Peter Møller, attorney and co-head of the Danish Korean Rights Group, as he described the group’s members who filed the application.
“(In) a lot of papers, the Korean state at the time have stamped papers that say people were found on the streets. If you do a little bit of math, that would mean that from the 1970s and 1980s Seoul would be flooded with baskets with children lying around in the streets. … Basements will be filled with lost child reports at police stations.”
Most of the South Korean adoptees sent abroad were registered by agencies as legal orphans found abandoned on the streets, although they frequently had relatives who could be easily identified and found. This made the children more easily adoptable as agencies raced to send more kids to the West at faster speeds.
“None of us are orphans,” said Peter Møller, attorney and co-head of the Danish Korean Rights Group, as he described the group’s members who filed the application.
“(In) a lot of papers, the Korean state at the time have stamped papers that say people were found on the streets. If you do a little bit of math, that would mean that from the 1970s and 1980s Seoul would be flooded with baskets with children lying around in the streets. … Basements will be filled with lost child reports at police stations.”
Møller, who was adopted to Denmark in 1974, said about 50 more of the group’s members are expected to join the application and that he plans to come back to South Korea with their files in September.
The complaints by adoptees who filed the application include inaccurate or falsified information in adoption papers that distort their biological origins, such as wrong birth names, dates or locations, or details about birth parents. The story continues here.
"This is a powerful and important read for all. The adoptee's voice is all too often silenced, and it can literally be life or death for some to be heard and seen."
About the Anthology:
This collection, compiled by Korean adoptees, serves as a tribute to transracially adopted people sent all over the world. It has been hailed to be the first book to give Korean adoptees the opportunity to speak freely since the pioneering of intercountry adoption after the Korean War. If you were adopted, you are not alone. These stories validate the experiences of all those who have been ridiculed or outright abused but have found the will to survive, thrive, and share their tale. This book is a living testament to why previous "orphans" do not endorse the profitable Evangelical Orphan Movement. Those who work in the human rights field, whistleblowers, or adopted, will see the value of this book. Let's Walk in Awareness.
Support these narratives and join the ever-expanding Adoption Truth and Transparency Worldwide Network.
After years of forced "positivity" led by the profiteers, it is time to be real.
"I got my copy of the book yesterday and I will be finished today. Even though I knew there were many of us, Korean adoptees, out there, this is the first time I have been able to read their stories. So many of the authors capture ever so poignantly the feelings I felt while I was growing up and the feelings that I still have today. I wish I had been able to connect with other Korean adopters when I was growing up. But I know that I would have avoided every opportunity to do so since I wanted to be able to keep my "white face" on and I didn't want to be Korean or an adoptee. I just wanted to be like my friends - white. I hope that I can connect with other Korean adoptee s. (Darn auto correct wants to change adoptee(s) to adopters). Reading this book makes me want to re-invigorate my search for my birth mother. What I tell myself though is that it's probably too late, she's probably dead. I always wondered why it cost so much to adopt a child from Korea (approx.. $30K in the US). A friend of mine was stationed in Korea - he and his wife were able to adopt a baby girl then and it only cost them about $6K. So where is the delta going to? Are Koreans in Korea profiting from the sale of "orphans?"
"Great works of literary art from the Korean Adopted Community that form a collage of life experiences and perceptions, in the form of stories, micro biographies and poetry. Very well written and upholstered entries from all participants. This is a great compendium to which the reader can dip in and out of. Good for long and short journeys by bus, car, train, plane. Take as little or as much ad you want. Highly recommended."