This is one of the most powerful, touching things I have seen. It's not just the story of South Korea's adoption "industry," but also tells the story of the development of Korean democracy. The story starts at the time of the Korean War. One of the adoptees is a woman who grew up in Sweden, LenaKim Arctaedius. Her story starts about 20:45. I love that she starts out speaking Swedish (with subtitles!). But the really powerful part of her story starts about 45:20, where the film talks about how Korea had been an exporter of babies to other parts of the world. Part of that had been caused by the destruction of the Korean War, but part of it had been a result of military dictatorship, which had subordinated everything to economic development (especially industrialization). Many women had babies they could not take care of, and single motherhood was totally unacceptable in the culture, so even after the war ended, the number of babies adopted to other parts of the world increased tremendously until the 90's.
If you watch some minutes after 45:20, you will see her tell the story of how Kim Dae Jung, the first real democratic leader of South Korea, came to Sweden, and when she got up and asked if he would face this scandal of foreign adoption, he started to cry! He was speechless. She was invited to Korea, and Kim gave a public apology for the export of babies, but the country was still unable to end the practice for awhile.
Another really touching part of the documentary is the story of Dr. Estelle Cooke-Sampson, an adoptee who was half African American. I believe she grew up in Washington, D. C. At 1:01:15, she tells the story of how she thought she had found her Korean family. She advertised on a site for finding relatives, and there was a wonderful, affectionate connection with some other Korean adoptees, but it turned out, based on a DNA test, that the connection wasn't real. Starting at 1:07:45 is the story of how she actually finds her roots. Her original name was Kang-Hyun Suk.
In 2008, a law was passed that ended the stigma on single mothers.
If you watch some minutes after 45:20, you will see her tell the story of how Kim Dae Jung, the first real democratic leader of South Korea, came to Sweden, and when she got up and asked if he would face this scandal of foreign adoption, he started to cry! He was speechless. She was invited to Korea, and Kim gave a public apology for the export of babies, but the country was still unable to end the practice for awhile.
Another really touching part of the documentary is the story of Dr. Estelle Cooke-Sampson, an adoptee who was half African American. I believe she grew up in Washington, D. C. At 1:01:15, she tells the story of how she thought she had found her Korean family. She advertised on a site for finding relatives, and there was a wonderful, affectionate connection with some other Korean adoptees, but it turned out, based on a DNA test, that the connection wasn't real. Starting at 1:07:45 is the story of how she actually finds her roots. Her original name was Kang-Hyun Suk.
In 2008, a law was passed that ended the stigma on single mothers.
