Interview with Same-Sex Couple Kim Gyu-jin and Kim Se-yeon Gains Attention
Pregnant and Gave Birth to Daughter After Receiving Random Sperm Donation Last Year
Struggles with Malicious Comments... "You Can't Say Those Things When You See Us in Person"
Last year, a lesbian couple who gave birth to a baby for the first time in Korea shared their recent updates in a magazine interview. Cosmopolitan introduced various forms of families under the title "Modern Families of Our Time" on the 30th of last month. Among them, the interview with the same-sex couple Kim Gyu-jin (32) and Kim Se-yeon (35) has been gaining attention online.
Same-sex couple Kim Gyu-jin (right) and Kim Se-yeon are holding their daughter 'Rani' (nickname). [Image source=Captured from Cosmopolitan website]
They officially became a married couple in New York in 2019 and became widely known in Korea through Gyu-jin's essay, "Sister, Will You Marry Me?" Notably, Gyu-jin made headlines last year by successfully becoming pregnant after receiving anonymous and random sperm donation at an infertility clinic in Belgium. Initially, the two had no plans to have a child, but when Gyu-jin was dispatched to France, which is open to sexual minorities, they decided to pursue pregnancy. Their daughter, nicknamed "Rani," was born in August last year.
Gyu-jin said, "Originally, neither my wife (Kim Se-yeon) nor I wanted to have a child. My wife was afraid of childbirth, and I lacked confidence in becoming a good parent," but added, "It just so happened that I was dispatched to France. Since access to sperm donation centers was easier there, it was convenient to start." He continued, "On my first day at the French headquarters, my heterosexual female boss asked, 'Where is your family?' When I said, 'My wife is in Korea,' she asked, 'You're going to have a child, right?' which was a refreshing shock to me."
The appearance of Kim Gyu-jin when he was expecting his daughter. [Image source=Captured from Kim Gyu-jin's Instagram]
They also considered undergoing procedures in Korea for pregnancy, but gave up because sperm donation is only provided to legally married or de facto heterosexual couples in the country. Since they are not legally married, they cannot enjoy legal protections or benefits as a couple or parents.
Gyu-jin stated, "It will be a big problem if I get sick or cannot earn money as I get older because we are not a legal family, but I believe society will change by then," and added, "Looking at surveys on the perception of same-sex marriage, more than half of people in their 20s and 30s already support it." He also said, "Following Taiwan, Thailand has legalized same-sex marriage in Asia, so I expect changes soon."
Se-yeon said, "Legalizing same-sex marriage doesn't suddenly create same-sex couples who didn't exist before; it just makes those who are already cohabiting or living as families legally recognized," and added, "We are showing our faces and doing interviews like this to bring that time forward even by a day."
Mr. Kim Gyu-jin, who reported an incident that occurred in a mom cafe last July. [Image source=Kim Gyu-jin X (Twitter) capture]
They faced difficulties such as malicious comments even after childbirth. Gyu-jin said, "Not only on mom cafes but also on my alma mater's community, and even after revealing that my wife is a doctor, there are posts on doctor communities," adding, "They are people from the same communities as us, whose faces and real names are known, yet they insult us." He said, "Once, I replied to a malicious post on a mom cafe saying, 'I am also a mom, so I am here,' and then the person apologized and deleted the post," and added, "I believe if they met us in person, they would never say such things."
When asked "What is family?" they answered that "blood relations are not important." Se-yeon said, "If you love each other and consider each other family, then you are family," adding, "It's nothing grand." Gyu-jin also said, "The scope of family under civil law includes spouses, direct blood relatives, siblings, as well as spouses of direct blood relatives and spouses' direct blood relatives and siblings," but added, "However, in the latter case, there is a proviso that it applies only 'when living together for livelihood.' So, 'living together is family.'" He emphasized, "We don't think family is only about blood relations; as my wife said, the important thing is the feeling of considering each other family."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
