Illegal Adoption Active on Portals and Anonymous Chat Rooms
Some Even Give Birth Outside Hospitals to 'Trade Children'
Amid a series of cases involving the murder and abandonment of infants without birth registration nationwide, the issue of 'illegal adoption online' has also reached a serious level.
Above all, there are concerns that related authorities are neglecting the problem, making urgent countermeasures necessary.
Amid a series of cases involving the murder and abandonment of infants and young children without birth registration nationwide, the issue of 'illegal adoption online' has also emerged as a serious problem. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Yonhap News]
According to the police on the 23rd, the Women and Youth Division of the Southern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency has booked and is investigating a woman in her 20s, identified as A, on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act (abandonment). A testified to the police that "after giving birth to a baby at a hospital in Seoul in December 2021, I found someone online who wanted to take the baby and handed the child over."
Not only A but also illegal adoption through online channels has been occurring steadily. In March, a woman in her 30s, B, was arrested by the police in Daegu for illegally adopting four newborns over three years through platforms like Naver Knowledge iN. It was found that B paid hospital bills to the mothers or completed hospital admission and discharge procedures using her own personal information.
This is a measure to send the newborns for adoption without leaving records of the newborns in the mothers' family relationship registers.
Newborns Becoming 'Ghost Humans' in Reality Left Unattended
As public concern grows not only over illegal adoptions but also unreported births, the government has decided to conduct a full survey of 2,236 unreported births. The key focus is expected to be locating the whereabouts of about 800 'unreported birth children,' excluding approximately 1,400 who were handed over to the abandoned child shelter 'Baby Box.' [Photo by Asia Economy]
Illegal adoptions conducted online pose the problem that newborns effectively become 'ghost humans' after birth. This is because the likelihood of proper birth registration being completed is very low. There is practically no way to track where the newborns adopted online have gone or whether they are safe.
Another loophole appears in the process of the person who illegally adopted the child registering the birth at the local community service center. When giving birth in a hospital, a 'birth certificate' issued by the hospital is required, but for births outside hospitals, birth registration is possible by submitting a written statement from someone involved in the delivery process confirming the birth.
Despite these recurring issues, signs of illegal adoption online remain everywhere. On platforms like Naver Knowledge iN and anonymous KakaoTalk chat rooms, there are posts and chat rooms with messages such as "I want to secretly give birth and send the baby for adoption, please help," and "I will give up a baby girl born in August for adoption, please contact me."
A mother who created an anonymous chat room told Yonhap News, "I plan to send the child for adoption through a civil lawsuit after birth registration," implying that as long as there is no monetary transaction, it is not illegal.
However, proceeding with adoption procedures online without going through a formal adoption agency is clearly illegal under the Special Adoption Act. If there is a monetary transaction between both parties, it can also be punished as 'child trafficking.'
The Special Adoption Act stipulates that anyone who mediates adoption without going through an adoption agency shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 20 million won. In particular, private adoptions involving economic compensation can be detected as child trafficking under the Child Welfare Act, punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years. According to the National Police Agency, six people were arrested last year for violating Article 17 of the Child Welfare Act (child trafficking).
Lee Gi-il, the 1st Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, is announcing measures to respond to child abuse, including a temporary newborn number management and a survey plan on the status of children, on the afternoon of the 22nd at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Meanwhile, as public concern grows not only about illegal adoption but also about unregistered births, the government has decided to conduct a full survey of 2,236 unregistered newborns. The core focus is expected to be finding the whereabouts of about 800 'unregistered children' excluding approximately 1,400 who were handed over to the abandoned child shelter 'Baby Box.'
In a 1% sample survey of unregistered newborns by the Board of Audit and Inspection, three of the four deaths identified so far were due to abuse, and one case of abandonment with unknown survival status was also found. There are growing concerns that additional illegal cases such as death, abandonment, and illegal internet adoption transactions may be revealed during the full survey process.
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