Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

The intercountry adoption program has widely been described from the perspective of the receiving countries. Literature authored by adoptive parents is abundant, and in recent years adult adoptees have made important contributions through activism, the arts, and scholarly work. However, many voices from the sending countries remain unheard in the receiving countries; one essential voice missing is that of the original family. More than 91% of the children adopted from South Korea between 2008 and 2015 were born to unwed mothers. While not all South Korean intercountry adoptees since the 1950s have been born to unwed mothers, the social stigma of unwed motherhood in South Korea, does suggest that all unwed mothers who choose to rear their children, at some point have experienced discrimination. Today, a growing number of unwed mothers are able to assert their right to their children, but the pressure to give them up remains. The unwed mothers’ parents, friends as well as health professionals commonly try to convince them to relinquish their children, or before that, not carry the pregnancy to term. The struggles of South Korean unwed mothers are more than a cultural characteristic, or the result thereof, as these women’s circumstances are closely tied to the intercountry adoption program. Thus, their voices are essential to understand not only the South Korean child welfare system but also the intercountry adoption program. Drawing on in-depth interviews with child rearing unwed mothers, this paper discusses how unwed motherhood in South Korea is changing.