Let’s face it, the world of birth family search is on fire for Korean Adoptees — and not in a good way.
The recent media spotlight recently placed on the subject of Korean Adoption since 2022 has forced many Korean Adoptees around the world to confront their adoption history for the first time — an experience commonly known as “coming out of the fog”. This often painful experience is now part of what we call the “Imperfect Storm”, in which the intense media spotlight on Korean Adoption has resulted in an unprecedented elevation of Korean Adoptee consciousness around the world — at just the moment when birth family search is becoming harder, due to the fact that ALL Korean Adoption Agency files will be transferred to the Korean Government Agency NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) starting on July 19th, 2025.
In this context, we want to explain our approach to birth family search: TRIAGE.
Merriam-Webster’s definition of “triage”:
“noun
tri· age trē-ˈäzh ˈtrē-ˌäzh
1 a — the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors
b — the sorting of patients (as in an emergency room) according to the urgency of their need for care
2 — the assigning of priority order to projects on the basis of where funds and other resources can be best used, are most needed, or are most likely to achieve success”
We have never considered or called ourselves “activists”. The world of Korean Adoptees certainly needs good activists, but it also needs good “triage-ists” (a word we frankly just made up) — those who try to make the best of a birth family search system which always has been, and always will be, fundamentally broken.
It is for this reason that we spent 15 solid months — from March 11th, 2024 through June 15th, 2025 WARNING the KSS Adoptee community (and broader Korean Adoptee community) about the coming transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to the Korean Government Agency NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child). We knew that the file transfer would be riddled with issues, and we knew that we couldn’t prevent them from happening. Therefore we tried our utmost to warn as many KSS Adoptees as possible to request both a birth family search and their formerly secret “Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary” directly from KSS BEFORE the file transfer to NCRC.
We have written about that here:
Paperslip Concludes A 15 Month Campaign To Warn KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees About The Transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency Files To NCRC
It is also for this reason that we strongly encourage Korean Adoptees to BACK UP any existing adoption documents which they already have in their possession, ESPECIALLY if such documents contain birth parent information — and to submit COPIES (never originals) of these documents in PDF format when they submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure (birth family search request) to NCRC via the KAS website (starting September 16th, 2025). This way, NCRC will at least be able to properly identify the Adoptee — and IF the Adoptee already has birth parent information in their adoption documents, be able to conduct a birth family search based on that information.
Please see:
Now More Than Ever, Safely Back Up Any Documents You Have Which Contain Birth Parent Information!
It is also for this reason that we so strongly encourage Korean Adoptees who have an interest in birth family search to take ALL possible DNA tests. We have written about that here:
DNA Testing
It is also for this reason that we have so strongly encouraged US Korean Adoptees who have an interest in birth family search to file a FOIA request. *However please note that currently (starting around March 2025), FOIA requests are unfortunately being REDACTED by up to 80% or more:
FOIA Request For US Adoptees
It is also for this reason that we so strongly encourage Korean Adoptees to join the vibrant online and in-person Korean Adoptee community. And to visit Korea — either as part of a Korean Adoptee group tour or on their own:
Korean Adoptee Resources - MAIN
Finally, it is also for this reason that we offer individually tailored one-on-one Zoom consultation sessions for KSS and non-KSS Adoptees alike — so that we can explain to Adoptees individually how to navigate the increasingly complex maze of birth family search:
NEW! Advisory Sessions - For Both KSS and Non-KSS Adoptees
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Unfortunately, we can’t fix what’s fundamentally broken. However, we can help support Korean Adoptees in navigating a path through the complicated maze that will always be birth family search.
