Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alyallen]

An interesting look at the divisive issue of overseas adoptions of Korean children. Courtesy of NPR, click on the link to listen to the story....

Korean Adoptees Examine Origins, Upbringings
by Jason Strother

All Things Considered, August 25, 2007 � Some 600 adoptees from South Korea recently attended a convention in Seoul to share experiences and to learn more about their birth country. Since the Korean War in the 1950s, more than 200,000 orphaned South Korean babies have been sent to live with Western families � over half of them to American homes. While the number of overseas adoptions from South Korea has declined, it still sends about 2,000 children abroad each year.

http://tinyurl.com/2f6wla

Maybe I'm just being too simple minded but why would anyone prefer to live in an orphanage and live with the "stigma" of having no family or bloodline (at least a documented one) as oppose to living somewhere else where theoretically you are wanted and welcome?

[just another day]

i imagine some of it is because of identity problems.

since 1988, there has been huge efforts for koreans to adopt korean babies. especially as there was huge international criticism of korean adoptions, as korea became known as a baby exporter in the 70's and early 80's.

but the korean gov't has been encouraging adoptions in korea, so thats why international adoptions have been on the decline.

nowadays, China is #1 in adoption babies to america.

but i imagine that most of these adoptees protesting believe that their identity problems are not worth it.

btw, npr is a great program.

[Tony_Balony]

[thepeel]

I'd be a touch pissed off if I adopted some kind from some developing backwards country that didn't want her/him only for him to whine later in life about an "identity problem". I knew a few Africans in Edmonton (white parents) who were fine. Maybe this is another Uniquely Korea thing.

NPR is great. Excellent podcasts.

[On the other hand]

[Privateer]

I don't think it's as simple as that they're just concerned with the identity problem aspect. They're also angry with the Korean government for continuing to fail to protect the rights of single mothers and of babies even now that Korea is no longer poor; and they're appealing to Korean society at large to change its attitude to adoption.

It seems to me they're very unlikely to succeed in the latter case since the idea of adopting a child as a way of giving back some of the wealth you've been blessed with, and the idea that succeeding in supporting a child into adulthood is reward enough in itself and that bloodline does not matter, is not well understood here.

It's also not likely to catch on any time soon because the cost of raising a child here continues to rise so, for a Korean couple, the idea of putting all their money and hard work into raising a child that isn't even their own blood seems absurd. Even if a couple were rich enough and didn't attach importance to the idea of bloodlines - a very large assumption - they'd surely know an adopted child would suffer all kinds of discrimination.

Hopefully these protestors can at least raise awareness of these issues in Korea, and they're smart enough to leverage Korean national pride for their cause.

[Alyallen]

[thepeel]

Privateer, I think "Korean Pride" might be the problem here... These adoptees see "their" people beating their chests with pride and talking about the purity of their blood and how special they are. And the adopted kid knows, rationally, that he is exactly the same as them. And they exclude him. But America/Canada/Sweden doesn't treat him the way other Koreans told him he deserved to be treated.

OTOH, I just don't know if socio-economic status is the cause here. I think this can be tied into a whole range of Korean behaviors directly linked to the post-colonial mixture of feelings involving a defense mechanism manifested in feelings of racial supremacy and history of ethnic dishonor and failure. Odd. Singapore was colonized too, and they don't ever mention it or have the wacky complex of better/worse that does Korea. Maybe cause they are multiethnic.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[just another day]

you know, i've noticed a lot of adoptees lately that are very much into "civil rights" of asian americans in america.

maybe a "bad experience" with adoption is one of the few things that bond adoptees together. along with envy of korean natives in korea, who grew up "normally". i imagine there is some element of that as well. its probably a pretty complex issue. altho i believe there are some adoptees that have good experiences as well.