NCRC NOTICE:
DNA Testing for Adoptees Without Identifiable Birth Family Information.

Posted to Paperslip on July 31st, 2025.
NCRC’s Notice is dated July 30th, 2025.

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UPDATE — August 4th, 2025:

For the most up-to-date information about ADOPTION CERTIFICATES, please refer to the Paperslip page:

ADOPTION CERTIFICATES - NCRC Will Accept Applications From July 19th, 2025 — *Via Email!

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IMPORTANT NOTE:
PLEASE READ FIRST THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE FIRST, BEFORE VIEWING THE NCRC LINK BELOW:

NCRC NOTICE:
DNA Testing for Adoptees Without Identifiable Birth Family Information

*Please note that NCRC updated the link above with additional important information on August 1st, 2025.

Please note that we always recommend typing (if possible) or printing VERY NEATLY for forms like these, which will be sent to native Korean speakers who are going to be VERY BUSY. Help NCRC help you — TYPE, or WRITE NEATLY!

Please note that you will need an “Adoption Certificate” in order to take the Korean Police Missing Persons DNA (KNPA) Test, at either a Korean Police Station, or at a Korean consulate in your home country of adoption (or current residence). An Adoption Certificate is not an historical document — it only certifies that you are an Adoptee who is eligible for this test.

NCRC has included the APPLICATION for this Adoption Certificate — please see NCRC’s link above.

Adoption Certificates are also required for various forms of birth family search in Korea — however NCRC has not yet specified how to apply for these other types of Adoption Certificates (as of July 31st, 2025).

For more information about Adoption Certificates, please see:

ADOPTION CERTIFICATES - NCRC Will Accept Applications From July 19th, 2025 — Via Email!

Please click the link at the top of the page (ENGLISH) or click here for important information from NCRC about DNA testing at a Korean Police Station (the KNPA DNA test) or at a Korean consulate (diplomatic office) in your Western country of adoption (or current residence). Please be sure to download the documents at the bottom of the NCRC page linked above. (If they are still in HWP format, see our converted PDF documents at the top of this page).

*Please note that we strongly recommend taking the KNPA DNA test at a Korean police station in Korea, if at all possible. Doing so eliminates intermediaries and ensures that your DNA is entered directly into the Korean Police DNA database.

However if you are not able to visit Korea, then taking the DNA test at a Korean consulate in your Western country of adoption (or current residence) is fine. Just try to verify via a translator if your DNA makes it into the Korean Police DNA database in Korea. Pro-tip: Koreans always respond to phone calls more than emails.

Please note that the Korean Police Missing Persons DNA (KNPA) Test is not a one-to-many test like commercial tests such as 23 and Me, Ancestry, FTDNA, and MyHeritage. The KNPA test is just a one-to-one test where you will only be notified by Korean Police IF your birth parent/s happen to take the test in Korea and if you happen to match. You will not be able to check your DNA test results online. You may / are likely to experience issues in taking this test IF you have known biological parent information in your adoption file. This is because the Korean Government considers this test to only be for “Missing Persons”.

Please note that we STRONGLY recommend taking ALL possible DNA tests, of which the KNPA test is just one.

Please also see:

DNA Testing