- Author: Lee, Nam-Hee
- Title: The Double Face of the Adoption Industry in the Baby Scoop Era
- Language: Korean
- Journal: Women and History 39: 377-384
- Publication Year: 2023
- Publisher: Korean Association of Women's History
■ Excerpt from the Foreword (unofficial translation) For a long time, adoption has been widely regarded as a noble and altruistic act for children who cannot receive proper care. Stories of adoptive parents who lovingly raise “children born from the heart” and of adoptees who were "fortunate enough" to find capable adoptive parents have often served as symbols affirming the enduring warmth and compassion in society. However, Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh’s "The Baby Scoop Era: Unwed Mothers, Infant Adoption, and Forced Surrender" reveals that these heartwarming narratives of adoptive parents and adoptees are only part of the protagonists in the larger event of adoption. Wilson-Buterbaugh identifies unwed mothers and the growth of the adoption industry as the starting point and central focus of her investigation. Unwed mothers were often treated as individuals who should remain invisible, excluded from the forefront of history. By examining their experiences alongside the rise of the adoption industry, the book reveals the underlying realities of adoption, the ones that strip away the idealized narratives we once imagined. |
