- Headline: "Shifting from Lineage-Centered Adoption to Person-Centered Adoption"
- Source: Dong-A Ilbo
- Date of Publication: May 23, 1972
- Summary:
The Korean Christian Adoption Program (CAPOK), an organization helping place children of unwed mothers into family homes, held a symposium titled "Changing Pattern in Family Life" at the YWCA on the 16th to mark Family Month. Speaker Taeyoung Lee sharply criticized traditional family values, called for reforms to adoption laws, and suggested practical steps to address the rising number of orphans and children of unwed mothers: (1) expanding counseling services in social welfare agencies, (2) establishing shelters for unwed mothers, (3) legalizing abortion, (4) supporting institutions like CAPOK, and (5) introducing a registration system for temporary foster homes. CAPOK arranged 208 domestic adoptions last year, but the group faces ongoing difficulties due to customs deeply rooted in the belief that family ties must be based on blood. The adoption of children born to unwed mothers was regarded as a system that directly challenged Korea’s traditional family structures, which emphasized bloodline heritage, while simultaneously being endorsed as a modern family model prioritizing individual worth over lineage. Consequently, the practice of adopting children of unwed mothers encountered little resistance, even from women’s movements of the era. Dr. Taeyoung Lee, celebrated as Korea’s first female lawyer and a leading advocate for women’s rights and the abolition of hoju (patrilineal family registry), is widely recognized for her efforts to assist impoverished and marginalized women, particularly through the establishment of the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations to support those seeking divorces. Nonetheless, as the context demonstrates, she also regarded the adoption of children born to unwed mothers as a means to construct modern family units. Her proposals at the symposium, including the expansion of counseling centers for unwed mothers, the establishment of protective facilities, and the development of adoption agencies, were largely implemented, contributing to a dramatic surge in such adoptions of babies born to unwed mothers during the 1970s.
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