- Headline: "Black Market for Babies Booms as U.S. Senate Holds Hearings on Legal Issues"
- Subheading: Shortages Lead to Importing Pregnant Women from West Germany, "Baby Farms" Operate Openly in Miami
- Source: Kyunghyang Shinmun
- Date of Publication: May 17, 1975
- Summary:
Five years ago, 80% of unwed mothers in the U.S. gave up their babies due to social stigma. Today, social attitudes have shifted, and 80% of unwed mothers now wish to keep their children. This shift has led to a shortage of healthy Caucasian infants, fueling the rise of an international black market for babies. Some attorneys have reportedly transported pregnant women from West Germany to give birth in the United States, with plans to expand operations into France and South America. In Miami, multiple attorneys have been exposed for running so-called ‘baby farms,’ where expectant mothers, including teenagers, are housed together, sometimes six or seven at a time, until they give birth. From the aftermath of World War II through the 1970s, Western societies maintained severe social stigma and discrimination against unwed pregnancy and childbirth. As a result, hundreds of thousands of infants born to white (“Caucasian”) unwed mothers were placed for adoption into married households. This period is often referred to as the "Baby Scoop Era." However, with the rise of second-wave feminism in the 1970s, increasing numbers of unwed mothers chose to raise their children rather than relinquish them. This shift contributed to the emergence of a black market for child trafficking while simultaneously driving a rise in intercountry adoption.
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