Exposé reveals systemic fraud in South Korea’s adoption industry, haunting adoptive parents and adoptees

A chilling realization struck Peg Reif, an adoptive mother in Wisconsin, after watching a documentary exposing decades of systemic fraud in South Korea’s adoption program. Her greatest fear whether her adopted children were taken from their birth families without consent came rushing back.

Reif’s daughter, adopted in the 1980s, shared the documentary with her, revealing falsified documents, coerced adoptions, and children snatched from their families. “I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know how to make it right,” Reif confessed.

An investigation by The Associated Press and Frontline revealed how South Korea’s adoption program, which sent over 200,000 children abroad, was riddled with dubious practices. Adoption agencies pressured birth mothers, bribed hospitals, and fabricated paperwork, often listing children as abandoned when they had known families.

The revelations have left many adoptees and adoptive parents grappling with betrayal and doubt. Cameron Lee Small, a therapist specializing in adoptees, described the emotional toll: “It’s like, what do I believe now? Who can I believe?”

Reif’s daughter, Jenn Hamilton, grew up believing she had been abandoned as a baby. However, recent discoveries of systemic abuses in South Korea’s adoption system have cast doubt on her origin story. “It feels like this huge tree of deception,” she said, describing the emotional turmoil of searching for her birth family.

Hamilton’s attempts to reconnect with her roots were met with inconsistencies—names, dates, and locations that didn’t align with her adoption records. Her journey mirrors the struggles of countless adoptees worldwide who have uncovered falsehoods in their paperwork.

While South Korea has begun investigating its adoption history and transferring records to government oversight, the United States home to the largest number of adoptees has yet to conduct a comprehensive review. Adoptee advocates are calling for greater transparency and accountability.

Lynelle Long, founder of InterCountry Adoptee Voices, emphasized the need for legal reforms to ensure adoptees receive their unredacted records without barriers. She also urged adoptive parents to demand accountability and advocate for changes to prevent future abuses.

For Reif, the revelations have brought profound sadness. While she loves her children deeply, the possibility that their adoptions were tainted weighs heavily on her. “I’d rather be childless than think I have somebody else’s child that didn’t want to give them up,” she said.

Hamilton, meanwhile, remains determined to uncover the truth about her origins. “It’s like a puzzle,” she said. “You have to find the missing pieces.”

As the investigation continues, it underscores the need for systemic change to protect adoptees, honor birth families, and ensure ethical practices in international adoptions.