[In-Depth Review] Solutions for Non-Marital Childbirth and Low Birthrate

Ham Hyeri / Journalist · Cultural Critic

Sayuri Fujita, a Japanese national active in Korea, has sparked social reactions with her 'single motherhood by choice.' Watching her on television acting quirky and lively, I had simply thought of her as a somewhat eccentric 'four-dimensional' entertainer.

However, after hearing her story on YouTube's Sayuri TV about receiving sperm donation in Japan and becoming 'Mom, Sayuri,' it was clear that was not the case. Sayuri explained, "I was told that my ovarian age was high, so natural pregnancy would soon be difficult. I did not want to rush into marriage with someone I did not love just to have a child. After much consideration, I thought single motherhood by choice would be a good way of life. In Korea, only married people can undergo IVF, and everything else is illegal, so I went to my home country Japan to receive sperm donation and became pregnant through artificial insemination." Her reasons deeply resonate. Her will and courage to become a 'voluntary single mother' without being bound by systems and customs are truly remarkable.

Many people are reacting passionately to Sayuri's choice of single motherhood. Although traditional family views based on the institution of marriage still dominate, the diversity of life forms and changing perceptions of family structures are evident. In many Western countries, partners are called partners rather than husband or wife. Whether legally married or not, they have children and form families. Will our society soon be like that? I believe there is still a long way to go because changes in consciousness have not yet been reflected in laws and systems.

There are numerous practical difficulties in becoming a 'single mother' with just the will to have a child. As mentioned earlier, in Korea, to receive sperm donation and undergo IVF, the consent of a legal spouse and the sperm donor is required. Although the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology recently expanded the eligibility for assisted reproductive technology from 'legally married couples' to 'couples' including common-law marriages in internal guidelines, single women and those not in marital relationships still cannot access these procedures. Furthermore, under the current Healthy Families Support Act, only families formed by marriage, blood relations, or adoption are recognized as families, so cohabiting, single, or divorced families cannot receive property protection or state benefits.

Amid the serious low birthrate issue, the statistic that Korea's out-of-wedlock birth rate was 2.2% in 2018, far below the OECD average of 40.7%, carries significant meaning. Korea's total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime) was 0.92 in 2019, one of the lowest among OECD countries. It is widely predicted to drop to the 0.8 range in 2020.

According to quarterly total fertility rates announced by Statistics Korea this year, the first quarter recorded 0.84, the second quarter 0.84, and the third quarter 0.84, with no signs of improvement in the fourth quarter. It is said that 2020 will be the first year Korea experiences natural population decline. Since the number of marriages has been steadily decreasing since 2012, the decline in birthrate is a natural outcome. In a culture that looks down on single motherhood, few are willing to take the great risk of burdening a child.

Family policy experts agree that rather than solving the low birthrate problem by encouraging marriage or wedlock, policies should recognize diverse family forms such as singlehood or cohabitation and ensure that children born within these families receive equal treatment without discrimination. Europe recognizes unmarried couples as legal spouses through cohabitation protection systems. The European Convention on Human Rights, in Article 8, includes families outside marriage within institutional family life and extends protection to them.

France, a European country with a total fertility rate of 1.88, allocates 5% of its GDP to family allowances, providing full support for childbirth and childcare. In France, many couples live together without marriage, and having children and forming families without marriage is naturally accepted. Since 1999, France has introduced the Pacte Civil de Solidarit? (PACS) system, recognizing cohabitation and granting benefits for childbirth and childcare equal to those of married couples.

Legal and regulatory improvements are solutions to the low birthrate problem and necessary to reflect the changed reality. If single motherhood by choice is recognized as a legitimate right and proper systems are established, prejudice will disappear at some point. To those who oppose citing religious objections or public sentiment, I would like to share the harsh words of 16th-century French philosopher Montaigne: "Why do we not think that our own views are always full of contradictions? How often does what was a creed yesterday become a lie today?"