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Some 200,000 Korean children adopted -

Over the last seven decades, approximately 200,000 South Korean children were adopted to foreign countries, much of which was facilitated by religious organizations. The adoption of South Korean children consists of the longest international adoption program in history.

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Western demand for children to adopt -

What drove the adoption of so many children abroad? According to an investigation, Western demand for adoptees was high. Many individuals desiring to be parents wrote to their government representatives in the 1950s and '60s, requesting that there be opportunities for adopting children.

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Diverting social funds -

Meanwhile in South Korea, government records show a desire to up investments on economic development and military capacities. This spearheaded adoption as a key way to reduce social welfare spending, cultivate funds, and quietly deal with social issues.

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Mixed-race children -

Initially, the primary group of adoptees was mixed-race children. The Korean War led to the development of relationships between South Korean women and Western soldiers, and many of their children were placed for adoption.

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Poor families or unwed mothers -

Just between 1980-1989, over 65,000 children were adopted abroad. Following this boom, Korean adoption agencies focused particularly on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly those from poor families or children from unwed mothers.

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Ostracization -

Unwed mothers face harsh economic and social consequences, which can lead to ostracization in their families, as well as impoverishment.

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Lack of information -

One major issue surrounding Korean adoptees is lack of access to information regarding their birth parents and the conditions surrounding their adoptions. Korean adoption agencies have been under great scrutiny in recent years.

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Misinformation on paperwork -

Adoption papers often included false information pertaining to birth names, whether birth parents were alive, and other critical information that haunts many adoptees abroad years later. There aren’t specific statistics available on this type of information, but over the last couple of decades a number of investigative reports, documentaries, and writings have emerged on the issue.

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Adoptees find each other -

In 1996, an organization called Also-Known-As was created so that Korean adoptees could find each other, exchange experiences and stories, and attempt to find more information surrounding their adoptions. The emergence of groups of adoptees also unveiled a dark history of women forced to give their children up for adoption.

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Discovering their immigration status -

Simultaneously, many adoptees began uncovering another dark truth: many were not actually American citizens. Due to failures of both Korean adoption agencies and loopholes in the American immigration system, although these children were raised in American families, they were unaware of their legal status.

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Adam Crapser -

A 2015 case of a Korean adoptee pushed the issue into the mainstream. Adam Crapser, adopted from Korea by American parents when he was four years old, entered the US on a foreign-born adoption visa.

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Violence and abuse -

Crapser faced a great deal of violence and abuse by a series of adoptive parents. He lived in several foster homes before his final adoption by the Crapser family. His adoptive parents were arrested on counts of rape, sexual abuse, and physical assault.

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Deported -

Crapser applied for a green card in 2012, but his criminal record prevented him from obtaining it. Three years later, immigration services arrested him in his home, placed him in a detention center, and deported him to a country he had never visited, couldn’t speak the language of, and had no ties to.

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Phillip Clay -

Phillip Clay was eight years old when his American parents adopted him from an orphanage in South Korea. But his adoptive parents didn’t realize they had to apply for citizenship for their child. He was deported to South Korea in 2012.

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Deported -

Clay had a history of struggling with mental illness and drug dependency. Left in a country without any ties, unable to speak the language, and unable to reconcile what had happened to him, Clay committed suicide.

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Some 30,000 adoptees without citizenship -

The Adoptee Rights Campaign states that there are approximately 30,000 adoptees without citizenship in the US. Many are likely unaware of their immigration status, only discovering it when applying for passports, seeking public employment, or applying for government benefits.

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Facing deportation -

While some adoptees are legal residents who can seek paths to apply for citizenship, others face deportation to homelands that they have no connection to.

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More than a dozen countries -

These issues don’t just affect children adopted from Korea. A number of cases, particularly pertaining to children from places where the US has engaged in conflict, adopted by service people, face similar circumstances. Cases of children adopted from Iran, Vietnam, China, Russia, Guatemala, Haiti, and other countries have been documented.

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Mike Davis -

A 2024 article by The Independent noted how Mike Davis, who was adopted by an American serviceman in Ethiopia, was brought to the US when he was a child. His father never sought citizenship for him. In 2003, Davis was woken up in the middle of the night by immigration officers, arrested, placed in a detention center, and deported to Ethiopia.

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Replicated adoption model -

The adoption model that came of the Korean War was followed by poor countries all over the world. Shipping babies abroad without enforcing obligations from adoptive parents has produced an unregulated industry that has left adoptees feeling abandoned.

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What about the parents? -

Why did parents not seek citizenship for their children? Many parents conflated the adoption process with immigration. Either parents didn’t know or they didn’t care to know that their children had to be naturalized.

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Role of adoption agencies -

Adoption agencies didn’t take an active role in ensuring the children received citizenship; many failed to follow up at all. The US government allowed thousands of children to enter the country without following up on their immigration status or holding parents accountable.

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Challenges for parents who seek citizenship -

For parents who do seek citizenship for their adopted children, the process isn’t always straightforward. A California couple adopted two children with special needs from Romania, and have been seeking naturalization for their children since the 1990s. Due to inconsistencies between their birth certificates and their visas, they have been unable to secure citizenship for their children.

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Child Citizenship Act -

Regulations changed in 2000, when the Child Citizenship Act provided automatic citizenship for foreign-born adopted children. But adoptees that were already adults were not covered under the legislation.

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Adoptee Rights Campaign - The Adoptee Rights Campaign continues to advocate for this law to apply to all international adoptees, regardless of their age, as thousands remain illegally residing in the US and facing fear of deportation. But little movement has been made in Congress to secure these demands.

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Naturalization process -

Many adoptees attempt to make their case by going through the naturalization process, providing documents proving their unintended immigration status. They spend resources, time, and energy on a long process that also further exposes them to possible deportation.

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America stands alone -

It is worth noting that the United States is the only country where this has happened. No other country has denied adopted children citizenship.

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Inability to live normal lives -

The trauma that living in hiding has caused for foreign-born adoptees who were unaware of their lack thereof or unable to acquire citizenship has created a deep fear of deportation. Many of these undocumented adoptees live in the US without access to fundamental rights, and are unable to live normal lives.

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Adoptees are uncertain of their futures -

The flaws of the United States adoption system have left adoptees in a vulnerable situation. Without the resources to engage in a legal battle in American courts, and a lack of movement in the American political system, adoptees are uncertain of their futures.

Sources: (AP News) (The Independent) (PBS) (NPR) (The Guardian)

See also: US immigration history. What led us here?

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