I think a progressive timeline of my life will help me get a good start on things...so here we go with Part I - Birth
1972 - I was born approximately August 12, 1972. I was found on a street in Hannam-Dong II, Yongsan Gu, Seoul Korea. I was left near a police station and according to my social history reports it seems I was left in plain sight to be found. I have done my own research and Yongsan Gu is where the US Garrison is located in Seoul and Hannam-Dong is where the Embassy's are and is described as a nice area in Seoul. I am not sure what the area was like in the early 70's, but have often thought that perhaps I was left in that area because it was where the US Army was. Many Korean orphans have been adopted by US Military Families since the late 50's...and there were a great many of us adopted during the 70's and early 80's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongsan_Garrison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannam-dong
My birth date was estimated based on the condition of my umbilical cord, which hadn't fallen off yet, when I was found. They say I was born within a week of August 12. I was taken from the police station to the City Baby Home in Seoul. The City Baby Home was an orphanage run by Holt International in Seoul. Holt International is an adoption agency started by the Holt's after the Korean War.
http://holtkorea.blogspot.ch/2010/06/visit-to-city-baby-home.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holt_International_Children%27s_Services
I have met many other Holt Adoptees in my life...some in person and thanks to Social Media, many online. Our end stories all are different (and very similar all at the same time) but the beginning of many Korean Adoptees (KADs) started out the same with a birth story and at some point ending up in an orphanage. I was what I call a "basket baby". A baby left to be found. You remember the episode of MASH where they find the baby and take it and leave it with the nuns. They put the baby basket in the little lazy susan door and turn it and ring the bell...that is where I came up with "basket baby". I was a little kid when I saw that episode and it affected me deeply. I thought I was like that baby. When you are young and you know you are adopted but have zero reference and no understanding of what, when, why or how regarding your birth parents, life in Korea or adoption you try to create your own story and mine started when watching MASH. The difference was that baby was AmeriAsian...I was not. I was Korean - no caucasion and I've since had a DNA test to verify that...which is a whole different topic.
http://mash.wikia.com/wiki/Yessir,_That%E2%80%99s_Our_Baby_(TV_series_episode)
I was given a name and a number. My profile picture for Blogger is that picture. I call it my baby mug shot. If a baby is left with no family information they are given a name and traditionally each baby's surname is the same as the director of the Orphanage. I was given the name Kim Shin-Hee. In Korea, as it is in many Asian countries the Sur Name is pronounced first. And I have since learned that the director of the City Baby Home in Seoul in 1972 was named Kim. I was fortunate to be abandoned in the 70's.
South Korean policy on Domestic & International Adoption has changed drastically over the years. Before I jump into the politics of Korean Adoption let me give a little background on Korean Culture. Like many Asian Cultures, family is the main focus. While the country may be growing and modernizing, much of the traditional way of thinking persists. When I researched why South Korean's orphan children here are some of the reasons that I learned about:
Traditionally it is bad luck to have twins. For many years the younger twin was given away or sometimes both. Many families lived in multi generational homes and the older generation of family members would insist that the family follow tradition.
South Korea still condemns single mothers. It is an absolute social taboo to be a single mother and the country does not offer any type of work around for it. It is even worse now with new regulations. This is a country where every birth is Nationally Registered and being registered as a single mother leaves women with less employment opportunities, marriage opportunities, etc...
South Korea has poverty just like other socialized countries. Many families consider if they can actually afford to keep another child or if something happens to the male of the household the mother's realize they cannot afford to take care of all their children economically and give them up. Sometimes they would just give up one. Usually the youngest. I have read so many adoption stories that are about children whose mother's dressed them up and took them on a trip, just to leave them at a train station or like me, near a police station.
I have my own theories about abandonment as well. People often forget how racist Asian Countries are and having a mixed baby is also taboo. (On a side note - I have been chastised by people before for calling Asian's racist, however, I am using the word in the true definition of showing discrimination or prejudice to others based on race.) Just as in the MASH episode, children that are Korean American in South Korea are subject to ridicule and outcast. Also - traditionally Japan and Korea are enemies. The lasting effects of how Imperial Japan treated Koreans is still very raw. When I got my DNA results back I found out that I was actually a full quarter Japanese and only 50% Korean. I am also 13% Chinese. I was not surprised...as Asians have been warring and conquering each other for ages. What this told me though was that one of my parents was 1/2 Japanese and that one of my grandparents or great-grandparents was 100% Japanese. The timeline for that to have been during WWII and when Imperial Japan had enslaved Korea and taken Korean Women as "Comfort Women" was right on the mark. In my mind I can see how a traditional family would not want to have children that were a reminder of the enslavement and rape of so many women.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/for-adopted-koreans-a-dna-test-can-be-a-shortcut-to-birth-families/
I don't believe that I was at the City Baby Home for a long time. I was immediately placed for adoption and I was put in a Foster Home. I don't know a great deal about the South Korean Foster Care, but I do know that Foster Mother's are generally associated with a specific Adoption Agency. In many of the adoptee stories that I have read, many people who go on a birth trip may not always reunite with their birth families, but often are reunited with their Foster Mother's. I have seen some of these meetings on blog posts and they are amazing. The Foster Mother's in South Korea take a great pride in the children that they have helped and cared for along the way. Many of them still have all the pictures of the babies that passed through their homes. Even my own journey was touched by a Foster Mother. My parents started coming to Seoul to visit me when I was 4 months old. My parents were stationed in Okinawa, Japan at the time. Beside my baby mug shot one of the only other pictures I have from Korea is of me and my birth mother. My adoption was finalized when I was 7 months old and my dad picked me up and took me to Japan.
My mom was never able to have children. My dad was in the Army and before Japan they were stationed at Ft. Ord, CA. They wanted to adopt but when they looked into it in CA they were told they would have to be residents for 5 years before being able to apply. Well my dad was in the Army and he knew he was going to be reassigned in two years. At that point my parents started looking into International Adoption. Once they knew they were going to be in Japan it was easy for them to apply. By the 70's Holt Adoption was well established and the process was pretty streamlined compared to the United States. I am grateful for my life and my family. My parents made me aware that I was adopted from the time I was little. I always joke that it was very apparent...my dad was a red headed Irish guy and my mom is 1/2 Sicilian...it wasn't like they could hide it. I was fortunate that it was topic that could be talked about in my home. It wasn't until I was older that I learned more about my social history...my parents didn't tell me I was actually abandoned until I was in my teens. I just grew up knowing that there was no way to ever find out who my birth parents where and I was resigned to that.
Again, I did have my own scenarios that I would go through. The biggest one was that I have a twin somewhere. The funny thing is that it wasn't until I was in my late 20's and had started actually researching South Korean and KAD's that I learned about the twin taboo. I thought all this time I was thinking it was a silly kid fantasy and it could actually be true. The truth is that I really don't have a shot in hell of finding anything out about my birth parents. I was abandoned in the 70's and back then you could still be adopted if you were abandoned. These days adoption in South Korea is very different and the effects are sad.
Any child that is born and not registered is not eligible for adoption or any other services offered by the South Korean government. I say that because if a single woman has a baby and doesn't want to register the birth because of the stigma it will cause, she also forfeits any of the socialized benefits that her child would receive. The downfall is that even if you want to give your baby up for adoption it has to be recorded. It is recorded that you had a child out of wed-lock and gave it away. The South Korean Government wanted to implement this to help people find their birth families, however, it has had a very negative effect. Women don't want to register this way. In South Korean society a single woman who has given up a baby is not marriage material and often not employment material. The flip side is a single woman who has kept her baby is not marriage material and often not employment material.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/05/11/405622494/south-koreas-single-moms-struggle-to-remove-a-social-stigma
This has led to many orphans being abandoned as I was...just on the street. They are taken in but because there are no birth or family records they are not eligible for adoption in South Korea now. The Institutions are filled with these children. Domestic Adoption has also always been a social stigma. Many people who adopt domestically hide it. South Korean families that adopt often do not tell anyone that they have adopted their child. They do not even tell their own child because they don't want them to outcast. More recently South Korea decided that the amount of children that had been adopted out Internationally was shameful for the country and have tried to push domestic adoption more and have limited the number of International Adoptions. I find this quite troubling as they push this agenda they are not actively changing the traditional thinking that has caused the issues of child abandonment in the first place.
I watched a documentary called "The Drop Box" about this South Korean pastor who has something similar to the drop box in MASH that women can leave their babies in. It is unfortunate that documentary was created and funded by Fundamental Right to Lifers and is used as wing nut propaganda. (I won't share the actual link to the movie because it takes you to a very propagandized site but you can watch the movie on Netflix with no propaganda) I take a completely different perspective away from the film. To me this shows how the South Korean Gov't policy change is affecting the orphans and mothers. Many women were abandoning their babies before the policy change, the difference is those babies (including me) were able to be adopted. Now they are not. The people who believe that birth records and registration is more vital to an infant than the chance to be raised by a loving family are wrong. It is sad that the because a minority group of people decided to speak out against the number of International Adoptions coming out of South Korea thousands of children are now destined to be institutionalized and outcast for their entire childhood. They will not progress in the South Korean society either when they are adults because they have no family record or registration.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/opinion-divided-on-the-merits-of-south-korean-pastor-s-baby-box
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/opinion-divided-on-the-merits-of-south-korean-pastor-s-baby-box
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30692127
My own experience as an adoptee from South Korea has left me with very strong feelings on this. It is this type of examination of my life and the how it has shaped how I see things that I would like to continue to write about. My next entry will be about the first 5 years of my life. I know you are excited...
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