The Voice of Love: Calling All Korea-Born Adoptees

As many of you may know, there are more than a few cultural taboos about adopting children in Korea. While the local government has made some recent small attempts to remove these cultural stigmas and promote adoption, the general population remains hesitant to break away from their long-held beliefs about family, leaving an estimated 1.3 million parentless children sitting in orphanges waiting to find homes.

Luckily for these children, potential adoptive parents from the US, Europe, and other places around the world have never been short supply. The cost, availabilty, and ease of an overseas adoption have long made Korea an attractive option for prospective parents from other nations, regardless of ethnicity.

Recently, however, the government in Seoul has become determined to end this "shameful" act of "baby exportation." To reduce the number of parentless Korean children being sent overseas, the ROK began establishing limits on the number of yearly overseas adoptions. Since inception, these quotas have been lowered every year, with the intention of one day ending all foreign adoptions. Ideally this would lead to more domestic adoptions and keep Korean children in Korea, but all that it has accomplished is leaving more and more children in the orphanages and more and more potential parents on waiting lists.

While I recognize that the motives behind all of this are well-intentioned, it simply is not working. Despite heralded claims by the government that domestic adoptions now outnumber foreign ones, the recent change is more due to the limitations on the later than a significant increase in the former. Hopefully, in time, Korea can change it's collective mind about adoption, and the designed goal will become possible. Of course, that will be a great day. But, for now, it appears to be a long way off.

This is really two problems. One (the cultural stigma against adoption) can, and I believe will, be changed over time. The other, and more immediate concern, can be fixed now. While no one will ever listen to the 1.3 million babies that are currently in Korean orphanages, the government would have to listen to the collective voice of those people who have formerly been adopted overseas...and are doing quite well.

To battle this, Onnuri English Ministry in Seoul and the organization Hope for Orphans is currently working to petition the Korean government to remove quotas for foreign adoptions of Korean children. The campaign, known as 'Voice of Love,' asks adoptees or parents of adoptees to record your own short video story, and upload it to Youtube. Then share it. If you're not an adoptee or don't know anyone who is, you can still help. Simply watching the video testimonies as they come in, will be an indication to the government that people are taking notice.

If you are a Korean-born adoptee, have adopted from Korea, or know someone who has, please share this message and share your story. Below is a video link that tells you more about the campaign and how you can share your testimony. Together we can tell the Korean government that there is no shame in giving children homes.

Thank you

For more info:
www.voiceoflove.org