Tens of thousands of babies from South Korea were adopted in the 1980s. Now, some of these adopted children are campaigning to stop international adoptions.

 

32-year-old Amy Ginther is sitting with her biological family, but she can only talk to them in English. That's because Ginther was adopted by another family in the U.S., along with tens of thousands of babies from South Korea in the 1980s. Her biological mother says the adoption agency told her that her daughter could have a better life abroad. Ginther doesn't entirely agree. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 32-YEAR-OLD AMY GINTHER, WHO WAS ADOPTED BY U.S. FAMILY IN 1983, SAYING: "Despite all of those wonderful things that those parents do, children and adopted sons and daughters can still feel sense of loss, a sense of trauma, a sense of grief from that separation from their family, and that loss of connection between the culture that they were born into and the culture they grew up in." Laura Klunder was also adopted by an American family. She has her case number tattooed on her forearm. She and Ginther are part of a group called Adoptee Solidarity of Korea, which campaigns for an end to international adoption. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 30-YEAR-OLD LAURA KLUNDER, WHO WAS ADOPTED BY U.S. FAMILY IN 1985, SAYING: "I do envision a world one day, where there is no need for inter-country adoption, and where every child has a home, and at no point in time do they get assigned a number." The government says it's encouraging adoption at home by making the process stricter. Though some experts say they should be providing more support for families who can't afford to raise children.

The number of children born in South Korea, who were put up for international adoption reached its peak in the 1980s. Now, this generation of Korean adoptees is returning back to their country of origin as adults.

Hana and Ryan are two such individuals, who are building a community of transnational Korean adoptees, and tackling the ‘adoptee narrative’ with nuance in their podcast ‘Adopted Feels’.

This community wants to go beyond the common narrative of reconnecting with birth families, and wants to talk about race, belonging and the social stigmas that made South Korea the booming centre of transnational adoption in the first place.

 

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Article: iHavenet.com

Adopted South Koreans Want End to International Adoptions