Clarifying Paperslip’s Position Regarding Adoption Criticism

We want to clarify our position on adoption criticism for non–Korean Adoptee readers, including the adoptive parents, spouses, and children of Adoptees. We also want to acknowledge that ours is just one amongst millions of opinions about the sprawling topic of adoption, all of which we try our best to respect. We certainly would never pretend to hold the only valid opinion, as that would be absurd.

We are not opposed to the concept of adoption. There will always be children in need of loving homes who cannot be cared for by their biological parents or extended families. For children with legitimate needs, we believe it is far better to be adopted by a well-screened, loving family than to grow up in an orphanage or within the foster care system.

We were fortunate to have been raised by good adoptive parents. On a personal level, our concern is not with our own adoptive families, but with the profit-driven system that, over decades, moved Korean Adoptees across borders in massive numbers. This ruthless system effectively erased the histories and identities of thousands of us. Many Korean Adoptees have carried this erasure for decades, often with tragic outcomes for those who could not withstand the resulting emotional damage.

We acknowledge that our own lives unfolded, in many ways, by luck. Many Korean Adoptees have endured years of trauma and abuse at the hands of their adopters, and for these fellow Adoptees, we deeply grieve.

What we do oppose and criticize, and what we seek to bring to light through Paperslip, is the ruthless system of adoption in and from S. Korea, specifically but not exclusively through the Korean Adoption Agency KSS (Korea Social Service). KSS cannot be seen outside of the broader context of the massive adoption system from Korea, which evolved from a post-war rescue effort in the 1950s to a ruthless, booming business in child trafficking in the 1970s and 1980s. Thousands of Korean Adoptees forever lost their histories to the great gaping maw of S. Korea’s dark history under colonially supported dictators who brutally shaped the lives of S. Koreans in the wake of the disastrous Korean War. We have enormous sympathy for the plight of thousands of S. Korean birth parents, many of whom had no choice but to relinquish their children for adoption under adverse circumstances, shaped by decades of war, poverty, colonialism, and stigmatism against women and unwed mothers.

The story of South Korea’s massive adoption industry continues to unfold through the lives of adult Korean Adoptees. We believe the truth must be explored and exposed, no matter how dark. By entering this difficult territory, we seek to bring light and understanding to our own lives within the broader context of South Korea’s troubled colonial history.