- Headline: "'Korean Overseas Adoptions' Spark Controversy in Britain"
- Subheading: "Korean Children Should Be Adopted Domestically," Says BBC
- Source: Dong-A Ilbo
- Date of Publication: March 30, 1976
- Summary:
The overseas adoption of Korean children has become a subject of debate in Britain. A recent BBC broadcast reported that organizations such as Holt Children’s Services send an average of 5,000 Korean children abroad for adoption each year, raising concerns about the ethics of the practice.
On Panorama, its most widely viewed program today, the BBC aired a segment on the topic under a title "Exporting Babies East and West*." The program alleged that impoverished women in Seoul abandon their infants outside police stations and, within two months, these babies are placed with adoptive families living in fancy apartments in Brussels or Boston. The report highlighted how the growing difficulty of adopting white infants in Western countries has led to an increasing reliance on "inter-country" adoption. Thousands of children from developing nations are now being adopted into Europe and North America, a trend the program examined in detail. The broadcast also questioned why South Korea, despite its economic development, continues to send 5,000 children abroad annually. It called for immediate policy changes to reduce international adoption.
The report emphasized that, whenever possible, children should remain with their biological mothers. If this is not feasible, priority should be given to placement with relatives. If no immediate family can be found, efforts should be made to place children with adoptive parents within the regions where their relatives reside. Domestic adoption should be the next option, with international adoption considered only as a last resort. Patricia, Far East Regional Director of International Social Service**, underscored the importance of carefully considering domestic adoption before turning to overseas placements.
* This is a translated version of the episode title provided in the Korean newspaper article, as the original source could not be verified. ** This is a translation of “Kukchesahoebongsagigu"(International Social Volunteer Organization) provided in this article. The exact title of the organization could not be verified. However, the South Korean government and adoption agencies never ceased placing children from unwed mothers and impoverished families for adoption. The 1970s and 1980s marked the period with the highest number of domestic and international adoptions in South Korea's history. Due to the stigmatization of unwed mothers, the neglect of impoverished families, and the substantial fees generated through adoption, infants were systematically sent abroad and placed in domestic adoptive homes without hesitation. As noted in the article, by the mid-1970s, Western nations began to loosen the stigma surrounding unwed motherhood. As a result, more unwed mothers who might have previously relinquished their children chose to raise them instead, leading to a decline in the number of infants available for adoption. This shortage of adoptable infants in Western countries intensified demand for intercountry adoption, further fueling the continuation of international placements rather than bringing them to an end.
CLICK the article below to view the original scanned article as it appeared in print, complete with text and images, on the Naver News Library, which archives Korean newspapers from the 1920s to the 1990s. For easier reading, click “텍스트 보기” (View text) in the top right corner to open a text-only window.
Note: Articles are in Korean, and English translations are not provided in the library. The English summary and translation of this article is provided by UMI4AA.
|
