Latest news with #forcedadoption
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
A South Korean mother sues the government and an agency over the adoption of her missing son
Choi Young-ja holds a photo of her son, who went missing in 1975, in her motel room in Seoul, South Korea, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) SEOUL, South Korea — A 72-year-old mother has filed a lawsuit against South Korea's government and its largest adoption agency, alleging systematic failures in her forced separation from her toddler son who was sent to Norway without her consent. Choi Young-ja searched desperately for her son for nearly five decades before their emotional reunion in 2023. The damage claim by Choi, whose story was part of an Associated Press investigation also documented by Frontline (PBS), comes as South Korea faces growing pressure to address the extensive fraud and abuse that tainted what's seen as history's largest foreign adoption program. In a landmark report in March, South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the government bears responsibility for facilitating an aggressive and loosely regulated foreign adoption program that carelessly or unnecessarily separated thousands of children from their families for multiple generations. It found that the country's past military governments were driven by efforts to reduce welfare costs and empowered private agencies to speed up adoptions, while turning a blind eye to widespread practices that often manipulated children's backgrounds and origins, leading to an explosion in adoptions that peaked in the 1970s and 1980s. Children who had living parents, including those who were simply missing or kidnapped, were often falsely documented as abandoned orphans to increase their chances of being adopted in Western countries, which have taken in around 200,000 Korean children over the past seven decades. Choi's lawsuit follows a similar case filed in October by another woman in her 70s, Han Tae-soon, who also sued the government and Holt Children's Services over the adoption of her daughter who was sent to the United States in 1976, months after she was kidnapped at age 4. Suit claims illegal adoption and cites institutional failures Choi says her son, who was three years old at the time, ran out of their home in Seoul in July 1975 to chase a cloud of insecticide sprayed by a fumigation truck while playing with friends — and never came back. She and her late husband spent years searching for him, scouring police stations in and around Seoul, and regularly bringing posters with his name and photo to Holt, South Korea's largest adoption agency. They were repeatedly told there was no information. After decades of searching in vain, Choi made a final effort by submitting her DNA to a police unit that helps reunite adoptees with birth families. In 2023, she learned that her son had been adopted to Norway in December 1975 — just five months after he went missing — and that the adoption had been processed by Holt, the agency she had visited countless times, under a new name and photo. Enraged, Choi confronted Holt, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press. She has since worked with lawyers to prepare a lawsuit against the agency, the South Korean government, and an orphanage in the city of Suwon where her son stayed while Holt processed his adoption. Her now 52-year-old son, who traveled to South Korea in 2023 to meet her, has declined to comment on the story. The 550 million won (US$403,000) civil suit recently filed with the Seoul Central District Court alleges that the government failed in its legal duty to identify Choi's son after he arrived at an orphanage — despite her immediate police report — and to verify his guardianship as he was processed through a state-controlled foreign adoption system. The orphanage and Holt failed to verify the child's status or notify his parents, even though Choi's son was old enough to speak and showed obvious signs of having a family. In particular, Holt falsified records to describe him as an abandoned orphan — even though Choi had visited the agency looking for him while he was in its custody, before the flight to Norway, according to Jeon Min Kyeong, one of Choi's lawyers. South Korea's government and Holt did not immediately respond to AP's request to comment on Choi's case. Korea facing growing pressure to address adoption problems Choi and Han are the first known birth parents to sue the South Korean government and an adoption agency over the allegedly illegal adoptions of their children. In 2019, Adam Crapser became the first Korean adoptee to sue the Korean government and an adoption agency — Holt — accusing them of mishandling his adoption to the United States, where he endured an abusive childhood, faced legal troubles, and was eventually deported in 2016. But the Seoul High Court in January cleared both the government and Holt of all liability, overturning a lower court ruling that had ordered the agency to pay damages for failing to inform his adoptive parents of the need to take additional steps to secure his U.S. citizenship. The truth commission's findings, released in March, could possibly inspire more adoptees or birth parents to seek damages against the government and adoption agencies. However, some adoptees criticized the cautiously worded report, arguing that it should have more forcefully acknowledged the government's complicity and offered more concrete recommendations for reparations for victims of illegal adoption. During the March news conference, the commission's chairperson, Park Sun Young, responded to a plea by Yooree Kim, who was sent to a couple in France at age 11 by Holt without her biological parents' consent, by vowing to strengthen the recommendations. However, the commission didn't follow up before the final version of the report was delivered to adoptees last week. The commission's investigation deadline expired Monday, after it confirmed human rights violations in just 56 of the 367 complaints filed by adoptees since 2022. It had suspended its adoption investigation in April following internal disputes among progressive- and conservative-leaning commissioners over which cases warranted recognition as problematic. The fate of the remaining 311 cases, either deferred or incompletely reviewed, now hinges on whether lawmakers will establish a new truth commission through legislation during Seoul's next government, which takes office after the presidential election on June 3. The government, which has never acknowledged direct responsibility for past adoption problems, has so far ignored the commission's recommendation to issue an official apology to adoptees. Kim Tong-hyung, The Associated Press
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
A South Korean mother sues the government and an agency over the adoption of her missing son
A 72-year-old mother has filed a lawsuit against South Korea's government and its largest adoption agency, alleging systematic failures in her forced separation from her toddler son who was sent to Norway without her consent. Choi Young-ja searched desperately for her son for nearly five decades before their emotional reunion in 2023. The damage claim by Choi, whose story was part of an Associated Press investigation also documented by Frontline (PBS), comes as South Korea faces growing pressure to address the extensive fraud and abuse that tainted what's seen as history's largest foreign adoption program. In a landmark report in March, South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the government bears responsibility for facilitating an aggressive and loosely regulated foreign adoption program that carelessly or unnecessarily separated thousands of children from their families for multiple generations. It found that the country's past military governments were driven by efforts to reduce welfare costs and empowered private agencies to speed up adoptions, while turning a blind eye to widespread practices that often manipulated children's backgrounds and origins, leading to an explosion in adoptions that peaked in the 1970s and 1980s. Children who had living parents, including those who were simply missing or kidnapped, were often falsely documented as abandoned orphans to increase their chances of being adopted in Western countries, which have taken in around 200,000 Korean children over the past seven decades. Choi's lawsuit follows a similar case filed in October by another woman in her 70s, Han Tae-soon, who also sued the government and Holt Children's Services over the adoption of her daughter who was sent to the United States in 1976, months after she was kidnapped at age 4. Suit claims illegal adoption and cites institutional failures Choi says her son, who was three years old at the time, ran out of their home in Seoul in July 1975 to chase a cloud of insecticide sprayed by a fumigation truck while playing with friends — and never came back. She and her late husband spent years searching for him, scouring police stations in and around Seoul, and regularly bringing posters with his name and photo to Holt, South Korea's largest adoption agency. They were repeatedly told there was no information. After decades of searching in vain, Choi made a final effort by submitting her DNA to a police unit that helps reunite adoptees with birth families. In 2023, she learned that her son had been adopted to Norway in December 1975 — just five months after he went missing — and that the adoption had been processed by Holt, the agency she had visited countless times, under a new name and photo. Enraged, Choi confronted Holt, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press. She has since worked with lawyers to prepare a lawsuit against the agency, the South Korean government, and an orphanage in the city of Suwon where her son stayed while Holt processed his adoption. Her now 52-year-old son, who traveled to South Korea in 2023 to meet her, has declined to comment on the story. The 550 million won ($403,000) civil suit recently filed with the Seoul Central District Court alleges that the government failed in its legal duty to identify Choi's son after he arrived at an orphanage — despite her immediate police report — and to verify his guardianship as he was processed through a state-controlled foreign adoption system. The orphanage and Holt failed to verify the child's status or notify his parents, even though Choi's son was old enough to speak and showed obvious signs of having a family. In particular, Holt falsified records to describe him as an abandoned orphan — even though Choi had visited the agency looking for him while he was in its custody, before the flight to Norway, according to Jeon Min Kyeong, one of Choi's lawyers. South Korea's government and Holt did not immediately respond to AP's request to comment on Choi's case. Korea facing growing pressure to address adoption problems Choi and Han are the first known birth parents to sue the South Korean government and an adoption agency over the allegedly illegal adoptions of their children. In 2019, Adam Crapser became the first Korean adoptee to sue the Korean government and an adoption agency — Holt — accusing them of mishandling his adoption to the United States, where he endured an abusive childhood, faced legal troubles, and was eventually deported in 2016. But the Seoul High Court in January cleared both the government and Holt of all liability, overturning a lower court ruling that had ordered the agency to pay damages for failing to inform his adoptive parents of the need to take additional steps to secure his U.S. citizenship. The truth commission's findings, released in March, could possibly inspire more adoptees or birth parents to seek damages against the government and adoption agencies. However, some adoptees criticized the cautiously worded report, arguing that it should have more forcefully acknowledged the government's complicity and offered more concrete recommendations for reparations for victims of illegal adoption. During the March news conference, the commission's chairperson, Park Sun Young, responded to a plea by Yooree Kim, who was sent to a couple in France at age 11 by Holt without her biological parents' consent, by vowing to strengthen the recommendations. However, the commission didn't follow up before the final version of the report was delivered to adoptees last week. The commission's investigation deadline expired Monday, after it confirmed human rights violations in just 56 of the 367 complaints filed by adoptees since 2022. It had suspended its adoption investigation in April following internal disputes among progressive- and conservative-leaning commissioners over which cases warranted recognition as problematic. The fate of the remaining 311 cases, either deferred or incompletely reviewed, now hinges on whether lawmakers will establish a new truth commission through legislation during Seoul's next government, which takes office after the presidential election on June 3. The government, which has never acknowledged direct responsibility for past adoption problems, has so far ignored the commission's recommendation to issue an official apology to adoptees.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Mother finds solace in helping others through forced adoption trauma
In the 1970s, Louise Kirk became a mother at 16. But instead of relishing the joys of motherhood, her baby was adopted by another woman against her wishes. Ms Kirk is one of thousands of women whose babies were taken in Western Australia's forced adoption era, and 50 years later she is still coming to terms with the trauma. "No thought was given to my dignity, [I was] treated like a cow really," she said. After giving birth, Ms Kirk remembers waking up in a hospital bed without her baby. Ms Kirk said it was later agreed she could take her son home, where social services paid regular visits. Eventually, an appointment was set for her to speak to a woman about adoption. "The girls in the office said, 'We'll look after [your son] while you go in to see the lady,'" she said. Ms Kirk said the meeting that ensued was "scary". "She was knocking her knuckles on the table and telling me how many girls like me waste her time and everybody's time and the best thing for him is to go and be adopted out," she said. Ms Kirk said she was coerced to sign paperwork. "I walked out of that room and the bassinet was gone; I still had the nappy bag and my son was gone," she said. Ms Kirk's baby had been taken to a residential home for unmarried mothers and wards of the state. A recent inquiry into forced adoption in WA unearthed many similar stories to Ms Kirk's. It has been estimated that tens of thousands of babies were removed from their mothers across Australia from the late 1930s to the early 80s. Ms Kirk eventually reconnected with her son when he was in his 20s. While still dealing with the trauma of the forced adoption, she has found some solace in connecting with other women like herself. Her experience pushed her to form a support group in Bunbury, gathering with other women whose children were also taken from them. "They're all really, really, really amazing women … that come from all sorts of incredible backgrounds."
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Plaque to be 'reminder of the pain of forced adoption'
Victims of forced adoption have gathered in Cornwall for a public event condemning the treatment of unmarried mothers in post-war Britain. They unveiled a plaque at Rosemundy House in St Agnes - formerly a home for unmarried mothers - while calling for a formal "adoption apology" from the government. Dr Phil Frampton, who was born at the Rosemundy Mother and Baby Home in 1953, said: "We want an apology, not only for the mothers but also for their children who suffered." Lyn Rodden, from Camborne, who was one of those forced to give up her baby, said: "It means everything that we've been recognised at last." It is estimated up to 250,000 women in Britain were forced to give up their babies in the decades after World War Two. Campaigners also want "restorative actions" from the government, such as providing counselling and search support for mothers and those forcibly adopted. Dr Frampton, a member of the Rosemundy Commemoration Committee, said he spent years in foster care after he was separated from his mother as a baby. He said: "It's really pleasing to be here today, it's the start of a new chapter in the struggle for an apology for all those unmarried mothers who suffered in the post-war period." Mr Frampton said the day was "part of a day of healing, part of a day of recognising the grief of those mothers..." He added: "This is not something that's just in the past, for a lot of women they lived with this, you hear women today 80, 88 years old, who are still having to live with what happened, and the children live with it, and families live with it." Mr Frampton said it was "important" to be able to give the mothers, children, and families affected by forced adoptions "a sense of relief and release". Another plaque is due to be unveiled by the campaigners in Kendal, Cumbria, on 23 May. In September 1956, 19-year-old Lyn Rodden from Camborne, Cornwall, gave birth to her son at the Rosemundy home. She said she was forced to get on a train and take her son to Bath to be adopted. Ms Rodden said: "For everybody else the parents came here and took them away from here, but I had to get on a train and take my son up to Bath, and leave him in an office. "A woman just came out and said 'name' and 'I'll take the baby' and she took him into the back office, came out and said 'hurry up' she said, 'catch your train' she said, 'and back to St Agnes, you'll be there for another six weeks'. "That was it. I cried all the way home..." Ms Rodden said she was eventually reunited with her son 50 years later when he found her. "[It was] like the final piece of a jigsaw being fitted," she said. She added: "To think that although slavery was abolished in the 1800s, a Dickensian way of life was gone, but not at Rosemundy. "It was still in the past, and that was it really, and it means everything that we've been recognised at last..." The Department for Education has been contacted for comment. More news stories for Cornwall Listen to the latest news for Cornwall Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ Call for apology over forced adoptions Forced adoptions to be investigated by Parliament Mothers urged to talk to forced adoptions inquiry 'I'll never get over being forced to give up my baby'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Plaque to be 'reminder of the pain of forced adoption'
Victims of forced adoption have gathered in Cornwall for a public event condemning the treatment of unmarried mothers in post-war Britain. They unveiled a plaque at Rosemundy House in St Agnes - formerly a home for unmarried mothers - while calling for a formal "adoption apology" from the government. Dr Phil Frampton, who was born at the Rosemundy Mother and Baby Home in 1953, said: "We want an apology, not only for the mothers but also for their children who suffered." Lyn Rodden, from Camborne, who was one of those forced to give up her baby, said: "It means everything that we've been recognised at last." It is estimated up to 250,000 women in Britain were forced to give up their babies in the decades after World War Two. Campaigners also want "restorative actions" from the government, such as providing counselling and search support for mothers and those forcibly adopted. Dr Frampton, a member of the Rosemundy Commemoration Committee, said he spent years in foster care after he was separated from his mother as a baby. He said: "It's really pleasing to be here today, it's the start of a new chapter in the struggle for an apology for all those unmarried mothers who suffered in the post-war period." Mr Frampton said the day was "part of a day of healing, part of a day of recognising the grief of those mothers..." He added: "This is not something that's just in the past, for a lot of women they lived with this, you hear women today 80, 88 years old, who are still having to live with what happened, and the children live with it, and families live with it." Mr Frampton said it was "important" to be able to give the mothers, children, and families affected by forced adoptions "a sense of relief and release". Another plaque is due to be unveiled by the campaigners in Kendal, Cumbria, on 23 May. In September 1956, 19-year-old Lyn Rodden from Camborne, Cornwall, gave birth to her son at the Rosemundy home. She said she was forced to get on a train and take her son to Bath to be adopted. Ms Rodden said: "For everybody else the parents came here and took them away from here, but I had to get on a train and take my son up to Bath, and leave him in an office. "A woman just came out and said 'name' and 'I'll take the baby' and she took him into the back office, came out and said 'hurry up' she said, 'catch your train' she said, 'and back to St Agnes, you'll be there for another six weeks'. "That was it. I cried all the way home..." Ms Rodden said she was eventually reunited with her son 50 years later when he found her. "[It was] like the final piece of a jigsaw being fitted," she said. She added: "To think that although slavery was abolished in the 1800s, a Dickensian way of life was gone, but not at Rosemundy. "It was still in the past, and that was it really, and it means everything that we've been recognised at last..." The Department for Education has been contacted for comment. More news stories for Cornwall Listen to the latest news for Cornwall Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ Call for apology over forced adoptions Forced adoptions to be investigated by Parliament Mothers urged to talk to forced adoptions inquiry 'I'll never get over being forced to give up my baby'
