KSS Adoption Paperwork: Possible Locations of Birth Parent Information.
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Not every KSS Adoptee’s English Adoptive Child Study Summary says that they were “abandoned” with “unknown parents” and found with a “paper-slip” or “memo”.
While this common “orphanization” language appears in countless KSS Adoptees’ English Adoptive Child Study Summary documents, it does NOT appear in ALL KSS Adoptees’ documents.
Many (though certainly not all) KSS Adoptees DO have birth parent information in the adoption paperwork already in their or their adoptive parents’ possession, without knowing it — or without realizing that this is more rare, and that this information can be used for a birth family search.
Birth parent(s) name(s), birthdate(s), and even sometimes address(es) and much more rarely 13 digit Korean ID number(s) — DO sometimes appear in some KSS Adoptees’ paperwork already in their possession.
This is especially true for KSS Adoptees from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s — however we have also seen this be the case for KSS Adoptees from the 1960s and 1970s.
Everyone’s case is different, and we cannot predict who will have birth parent information and who will not.
It is also SO important to understand that the formerly secret KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary was not regularly obtainable from KSS until 2021 when we accidentally figured out how to request and obtain this document from KSS.
You are NOT likely to have the Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary UNLESS:
You received your formerly secret Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary from KSS between 2021 and 2025 with our assistance (or with someone else’s assistance, based on our original research), or
You obtained it by visiting KSS in person, or
You received it from NCRC after KSS records were transferred there on July 19th, 2025.
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The document below VERY FEW KSS Adoptees are likely to have in their possession:
The 국내소속서류작성의뢰서
“Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents” was NEVER obtainable from KSS prior to the transfer of all former KSS files to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility on July 19th, 2025.
You can now obtain the documents above through a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC via the KAS website.
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The documents mentioned above — which you can now obtain from NCRC through a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request — MAY contain birth parent information, EVEN IF your English Adoptive Child Study Summary (or other KSS documents) say that you were “abandoned” with “unknown parents”.
This is why we say:
Your History Is More Than A Paperslip.
*We want to note that even if NONE of your adoption paperwork contains birth parent information, that you still have a past which is well worth exploring. We highly recommend taking ALL possible DNA tests, and visiting Korea as part of your search for identity. We recommend that you consider going as part of a group Adoptee tour if you have never been to Korea before.
If you are interested in searching for your birth family, please make every effort to obtain, organize, carefully review, and translate all available adoption documents — both English and Korean. These records may contain important information that can help guide your search.
In order to OBTAIN information NOT already in your possession:
If you have never submitting a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC, then we strongly recommend doing so now. Please see:
ALL ADOPTEES START HERE!
FAQ + SITE NAVIGATION.
*IMPORTANT — AFTER the July 19th, 2025 transfer of KSS files to NCRC, you are able to obtain MORE adoption paperwork from NCRC than you were previously able to get from KSS:
*Even if you previously submitted a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC PRIOR to the July 19th, 2025 transfer of all former Korean Adoption Agency records — including those of KSS — to NCRC, we strongly recommend submitting a NEW Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure through the KAS site. Following the transfer, NCRC can now provide access to a broader range of documents than was previously available through KSS.
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It’s important for KSS Adoptees who have an interest in birth family search to obtain, organize, translate, and READ all possible adoption paperwork.
This can require a significant amount of time, energy, and effort, but there are several ways to approach it, and it is absolutely achievable.
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We strongly encourage KSS Adoptees to try to obtain as much adoption paperwork as they can — from their adoptive parents; if possible, from the relevant Partner Western Adoption Agencies with whom KSS partnered in your adoption; from NCRC; and for U.S. Adoptees, possibly through FOIA (in the future). Please read our WARNINGS about FOIA requests below.
*For some KSS Adoptees, the English Adoptive Child Study Summary may contain UNREDACTED birth parent information which NCRC will redact in the copy of the English Adoptive Child Study Summary OR Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary they provide for you. It is therefore important for KSS Adoptees to try to obtain the original copy of the English Adoptive Child Study Summary from their adoptive parents — or from their relevant Partner Western Adoption Agency of KSS.
For U.S. KSS Adoptees — while we do NOT currently advise filing a FOIA request in the current times without FIRST consulting a trusted U.S. immigr. attorney, hopefully in the future FOIA will rebound. Please be sure to read our WARNINGS about the current FOIA process (for U.S. individuals only).
Please note that NOT ALL Partner Western Adoption Agencies still exist, but some DO still exist, and in some cases, documents can still be obtained from them.
For U.S. KSS Adoptees, both LSS (Lutheran Social Services) of Minnesota, and FAC (Family Adoption Consultants) of Michigan and Ohio remain open. Welcome House is closed, though the Pearl S. Buck Foundation still exists.
KSS Adoptees to the Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland will need to check with their relevant Western Adoption Agencies — typically Wereldkinderen in the Netherlands, Adoption Center (AC) in Denmark, and Terre des Hommes in Switzerland.
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AI generated image by Paperslip.org
The first step in unlocking your history is unlocking your files…
Below is our guide to:
KSS Adoption Paperwork: Possible Locations of Birth Parent Information.
Please note that this page does NOT discuss HOW to conduct an actual birth family search. It only discusses how to obtain adoption documents and what to look for in them.
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Examples of some types of KSS Adoption Paperwork which may contain birth parent information:
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Document 1:
English Adoptive Child Study Summary
(English ACSS)
The Danish equivalent of what is called in the US the “English Adoptive Child Study Summary” (a term which we coined in 2021) is often in DENMARK called “Information for ADOPTION in Denmark of a foreign child”.
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
The English Adoptive Child Study Summary was a document provided by KSS to the Partner Western Adoption Agency, which in turn provided this document along with a photo of the KSS child to a set of prospective adoptive parents in the Western country of adoption to which KSS had matched the child.
Therefore adoptive parents of KSS children were provided with this document prior to the adoption of the child from KSS through its Partner Western Adoption Agency.
If you are a KSS Adoptee, if possible, try to obtain your English Adoptive Child Study Summary from your adoptive parents. The document will be called “Adoptive Child Study Summary” or sometimes for Danish KSS Adoptees it is called “Information for ADOPTION in Denmark of a foreign child”.
You can also try contacting your relevant Partner Western Adoption Agency of KSS.
For many KSS Adoptees, their English Adoptive Child Study Summary may falsely state that the child was “abandoned” with “unknown parents” and that the child was found with a “paper-slip” or “memo” in her or his clothings (sic). However, the SAME KSS Adoptee’s KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary MAY contain birth parent information which was never provided to the Adoptee nor the adoptive parents.
However, many KSS Adoptees may actually have birth parent information in their English Adoptive Child Study Summary documents. It is important to try to obtain this document for that reason, since this information is often not redacted on this document, and can be used for birth family search.
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Document 2:
The formerly secret
Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary
(Korean ACSS)
*This document may contain birth parent information that the English ACSS does NOT.
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
*This document MAY contain birth parent information that the English Adoptive Child Study Summary does NOT.
Please note that NCRC will partly redact any birth parent information in ANY documents in your KSS file. However, theoretically NCRC can conduct a birth family search based on birth parent information in your documents. We say “theoretically” due to the massive bottlenecking of requests at NCRC.
Prior to 2021 when we accidentally figured out how to request and obtain this document from KSS, KSS Adoptees were NOT regularly able to obtain this document from KSS. From 2021-2025, we helped hundreds of KSS Adoptees to request and obtain this formerly secret document from KSS through email or in person.
This document is part of nearly every KSS Adoptee’s KSS file from 1964-2012 (the years of KSS’ overseas adoption business).
This document was transferred as part of KSS Adoptees’ individual files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025. KSS Adoptees can now obtain this formerly secret document from NCRC via a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request. This file does not need to be requested individually — it is part of the overall KSS Adoptee’s file, the entirety of which can be obtained from NCRC (as of this writing). Any birth parent information will be partly redacted by NCRC, though they can theoretically perform a birth family search based on birth parent information in the Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary (or other documents containing birth parent information). Please note that files may be transferred to another location at some unknown location in the future.
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Document 3:
The formerly secret
국내소속서류작성의뢰서
“Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents”
*This document may contain birth parent information that the English ACSS does NOT.
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
*This document MAY contain birth parent information that the English Adoptive Child Study Summary does NOT.
Please note that NCRC will partly redact any birth parent information in ANY documents in your KSS file. However, theoretically NCRC can conduct a birth family search based on birth parent information in your documents. We say “theoretically” due to the massive bottlenecking of requests at NCRC.
KSS Adoptees have NEVER been able to obtain this document from KSS. I photographed this document at KSS in my own file at KSS in 2018 — however, KSS refused all other KSS Adoptees’ requests to obtain a copy of this document.
This document MAY be part of nearly every KSS Adoptee’s KSS file from 1964-2012 (the years of KSS’ overseas adoption business). It was certainly present in many KSS Adoptees’ files from the mid 1970s. However, I do not know if it was ever phased out of use. I personally assume that it was always used from 1964-2012, though cannot be certain of this. This document is taped into the inside front cover of each KSS Adoptee’s file folder.
This document was transferred as part of KSS Adoptees’ individual files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025. KSS Adoptees can now obtain this formerly secret document from NCRC via a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request. This file does not need to be requested individually — it is part of the overall KSS Adoptee’s file, the entirety of which can be obtained from NCRC (as of this writing). Any birth parent information will be partly redacted by NCRC, though they can theoretically perform a birth family search based on birth parent information in this or other documents containing birth parent information. Please note that files may be transferred to another location at some unknown location in the future.
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Document 4:
해외입양이민승락서 / "Overseas Adoption Immigration Consent Form"
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
*This document MAY contain birth parent information that the English Adoptive Child Study Summary does NOT.
Please note that NCRC will partly redact any birth parent information in ANY documents in your KSS file. However, theoretically NCRC can conduct a birth family search based on birth parent information in your documents. We say “theoretically” due to the massive bottlenecking of requests at NCRC.
Please search the page linked above for this document. (Use CTRL+F or CMMD + F to find the text). I personally do not have this document in my KSS file, but rarely, other KSS Adoptees I have known of have had this document in their KSS file.
IF present in an individual KSS Adoptee’s file (which it will NOT always be), this document was transferred as part of KSS Adoptees’ individual files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025. KSS Adoptees can now obtain this document from NCRC via a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request. This file does not need to be requested individually — it is part of the overall KSS Adoptee’s file, the entirety of which can be obtained from NCRC (as of this writing). Any birth parent information will be partly redacted by NCRC, though they can theoretically perform a birth family search based on birth parent information in this or other documents containing birth parent information. Please note that files may be transferred to another location at some unknown location in the future.
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Document 5:
주민등록표 등본 / "Resident Registration Certificate"
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
*This document MAY contain birth parent information that the English Adoptive Child Study Summary does NOT.
Please note that NCRC will partly redact any birth parent information in ANY documents in your KSS file. However, theoretically NCRC can conduct a birth family search based on birth parent information in your documents. We say “theoretically” due to the massive bottlenecking of requests at NCRC.
Please search the page linked above for this document. (Use CTRL+F or CMMD + F to find the text). I personally do not have this document in my KSS file, but rarely, other KSS Adoptees I have known of have had this document in their KSS file.
IF present in an individual KSS Adoptee’s file (which it will NOT always be), this document was transferred as part of KSS Adoptees’ individual files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025. KSS Adoptees can now obtain this document from NCRC via a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request. This file does not need to be requested individually — it is part of the overall KSS Adoptee’s file, the entirety of which can be obtained from NCRC (as of this writing). Any birth parent information will be partly redacted by NCRC, though they can theoretically perform a birth family search based on birth parent information in this or other documents containing birth parent information. Please note that files may be transferred to another location at some unknown location in the future.
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Document 6:
Birth parent letters left in KSS Adoptees’ files by birth parents, but were not always shared with Adoptees.
*This document MAY contain birth parent information that the English Adoptive Child Study Summary does NOT.
Please note that NCRC will partly redact any birth parent information in ANY documents in your KSS file. However, theoretically NCRC can conduct a birth family search based on birth parent information in your documents. We say “theoretically” due to the massive bottlenecking of requests at NCRC.
Birth parents sometimes wrote notes to the children they had relinquished for adoption. Such notes were either written at the time of relinquishment or in the years following the child’s adoption to the West.
Tragically, in many cases that we have heard of, KSS never shared these birth parent letters with Adoptees. We know of several KSS Adoptees who have returned to visit KSS as adults, only to learn that their birth parent/s had left them a letter in their file which KSS had never informed them of. Subsequently, the birth parent/s had died.
Typically, these letters were kept in the back of KSS Adoptees’ file folders, in a small square paper envelope for photos, at KSS in Seoul. I have personally seen a few such letters in KSS Adoptee files from the 1970s — though the presences of such letters seemed to be rare.
IF present in an individual KSS Adoptee’s file (which they will NOT always be), these letters were transferred as part of KSS Adoptees’ individual files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025. KSS Adoptees can now obtain these letters from NCRC via a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request. These letters do not need to be requested individually — they are part of the overall KSS Adoptee’s file, the entirety of which can be obtained from NCRC (as of this writing). Any birth parent information will be partly redacted by NCRC, though they can theoretically perform a birth family search based on birth parent information in this or other documents containing birth parent information. Please note that files may be transferred to another location at some unknown location in the future.
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Document 7:
Please note that KSS may have informally written birth parent information on handwritten notes or pages of notes, which may or may not be included in a KSS Adoptee’s file.
*This document MAY contain birth parent information that the English Adoptive Child Study Summary does NOT.
Please note that NCRC will partly redact any birth parent information in ANY documents in your KSS file. However, theoretically NCRC can conduct a birth family search based on birth parent information in your documents. We say “theoretically” due to the massive bottlenecking of requests at NCRC.
KSS sometimes wrote handwritten notes about the background story of a child who was relinquished for adoption. I have personally seen a variety of handwritten notes in KSS Adoptees’ files, presumably written by KSS social workers around the time of a child’s intake to KSS.
IF present in an individual KSS Adoptee’s file (which they will NOT always be), these notes were transferred as part of KSS Adoptees’ individual files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025. KSS Adoptees can now obtain these documents from NCRC via a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request. These documents do not need to be requested individually — they are part of the overall KSS Adoptee’s file, the entirety of which can be obtained from NCRC (as of this writing). Any birth parent information will be partly redacted by NCRC, though they can theoretically perform a birth family search based on birth parent information in this or other documents containing birth parent information. Please note that files may be transferred to another location at some unknown location in the future.
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We cannot predict ALL of the various types of documents which KSS may or may not have included in an individual KSS Adoptee’s file folder. This is why it is important to carefully read and have translated any Korean adoption documents in your possession.
We should note that almost ALL KSS Adoptees from 1964-2012 should have an English Adoptive Child Study Summary and a Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary in their former KSS adoption files.
We believe that most KSS Adoptees — especially those from the 1970s — should have a 국내소속서류작성의뢰서
“Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents” form in their former KSS adoption files.
Above: Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan on Google Maps. Nam Kwang is still a functioning child welfare facility. See the “Feeder Orphanages” link below for address and contact information.
KSS “Feeder Orphanages” may also have information about your background, prior to your transfer to KSS for overseas adoption processing.
In particular, Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan and Star of the Sea Orphanage in Incheon are still open today. You can email them to request information and / or visit in person with a translator.
Please see this page for an example of a Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan document which was recently obtained by a KSS Adoptee through email which contained birth parent information:
Adoptees seeking birth family should organize records; key search clues are often overlooked.
Please see this link for contact information for KSS “Feeder Orphanages”:
Sources of KSS Orphans + Orphanage List.
Most of these places can email you in English, but may not be able to speak well in English in person. If you contact them, you do not need to fill out any special form, but be sure to include as much identifying information about your orphan identity from KSS as possible — such as Korean name (example: Jin Hee LEE, where the surname LEE is capitalized), birthdate, K-Number (if known), etc. Typically Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan in particular will respond to you very quickly.
Please note that if you have trouble interpreting the information you receive from Nam Kwang, you should contact us for assistance (ONLY if you are a KSS / Korea Social Service Adoptee).
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Get your documents translated. AI can be used to give you the gist, but should NOT be relied upon for important information which could be used for a search.
Using badly translated information can lead you down a FALSE rabbithole and waste your time, money, and resources.
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Due to the fact that most Korean Adoptees do NOT speak Korean, Adoptees often overlook critical information which may be contained in their adoption paperwork which contains KOREAN language.
It is for this reason that we cannot more strongly recommend that you get any documents containing Korean text translated.
Using an AI platform such as Google Gemini or ChatGPT can give you the GIST of a document’s overall meaning, but you should NEVER rely on any AI translation for important birth family search information, such as birth parent names, birthdates, addresses, names of maternity clinics / hospitals etc. You should also be careful to redact (black out) any sensitive information you do not wish to upload to an AI platform.
For that kind of information you really must seek a proper translation by a REAL Korean translator.
If possible, try to get a line by line WRITTEN translation - not just a verbal translation, which you will forget.
Please see:
Try uploading screenshots of non-sensitive adoption documents in Korean and / or Hanja to Google Gemini for translation.
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Above: NCRC’s logo at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. Currently, ALL former KSS files are stored here. For information about the NCRC process, please see the FAQ link below.