International Adoption Trends From South Korea to America from the 1990s to 2000s

Abstract

Leading up to 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, Western media revealed just how many Korean children were sent overseas, along with the price point of these children. There has been intensive research that has been done covering these initial adoptees, specifically those adopted from the 1960s-1980s. And, they show that this initial wave of adoption was fueled by the concept of “Christian Americanism.” Although the more recent studies show remnants of these reasons for adoption from Korea, there is many more factors at work. Korean adoption never fully dissolved. International adoption from Korea is still ongoing, but the adoptees, themselves, are often left out of this narrative. They are pushed to the background of this adoption narrative leaving out a vital source of information. With the help of scholars works, adoptee interviews, and academic journals, the purpose of this study was to find a reason for the Korean adoptions heading into the 21st century.