Slide descriptions

• Slide one
  On September 19, the Associated Press published an investigation detailing adoption fraud committed by the South Korean government and its long-term effects on Korean adoptees and birth families. According to the AP, Western adoption agencies and the Korean government worked together to supply approximately 200,000 Korean children to adoptive families internationally.
  
  As a result of this investigation, many adoptees are learning that their adoption backstories were altered or falsified. Hundreds of adoptees have now submitted their cases to the Korean government for review.
• Slide two
  Details
  In interviews published by the AP, some birth parents say they were told their child had died, been stolen, or needed medical treatment. Meanwhile, adoptive parents were told they were adopting children who had been abandoned, surrendered, or orphaned — narratives that heavily reinforce the adoption savior complex.
  
  The AP identifies Holt International, a major adoption agency, as a key supplier of Korean children. Anonymous sources allege that agency workers submitted children with multiple fabricated backstories until one was approved, and in some cases substituted babies’ identities entirely.
• Slide three
  More details
  Some adoptees who have uncovered their true histories are now pressuring Western governments to take accountability, stating that these governments were aware of adoption fraud in Korea and continued to pressure the country to send children abroad.
  
  Adoptees’ stories have drawn attention to the adoption industry as a revenue-generating system. In response, some European countries have launched investigations and halted international adoptions, and the South Korean government has opened a fact-finding commission under pressure from adoptees.
• Slide four
  Context
  Korean international adoption developed during the Korean War in the 1950s, when Western families adopted biracial children born to Korean women and Western soldiers — children who were often stigmatized and unwanted in Korea.
  
  After the war, Korea continued relying on the adoption industry and private agencies as a source of revenue, never fully establishing a national child welfare system. At the same time, Western countries experienced declining numbers of adoptable infants due to increased access to birth control and abortion.
• Slide five
  A note from Girls Adoption Connect
  This news may bring up a wide range of emotions about our adoptions and the validity of our own stories. When I first read the Associated Press investigation, I felt many emotions — even as a Chinese adoptee.
  
  As adoptees, we grow up being told specific facts about our identities, then spend years unpacking what they mean to us. As this investigation continues and more adoptees learn their truths, I encourage us to take time to process, connect with one another in solidarity, and remember that our feelings and experiences are valid and deserve to be heard if we choose to share them.
  
  — Téa Tamburo, Founder of Girls Adoption Connect