YOU WERE BORN TO BE LOVED: The Right of Every Child to a Family Amidst Stigmatization of Adoption and Backfiring Domestic Adoption Policies in South Korea

Abstract

South Korea is a nation widely known for having sent hundreds of thousands of children abroad for adoption after the Korean War. Far less studied is its current state of domestic adoption, which is on the decline despite several policies to decrease international adoption in favor of increasing its domestic counterpart. This thesis analyzes qualitative interviews with 12 adoptive parents in Korea to explore their motivations for adopting despite widespread stigma and difficulties during the process. I call for cultural change and policy reform by addressing four levels of society: individual, group, government, and the general public. South Korea must acknowledge the ramifications of its murky past of adoption today and work towards redefining the family to destigmatize adoption as a socially normative method of forming a family.