The Politics of Adoption in Korea

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the politics of adoption in Korea. A theoretical framework was adopted that address gender, culture, and power inequalities in a domestic and international context in order to understand why so many children have been given up to orphanages, and why international adoption has been and continues to be common in Korea. The thesis is based on secondary data in form of academic work and eight interviews conducted with Koreans in Seoul. The collected data indicates that Confucian beliefs make it difficult for unwed and single mothers to raise their children, and therefore feel forced to give up their children to adoption. Many children have in this way ended up in orphanages. The study also found little indication that the Korean state has tried to mitigate the underlying structural gender inequalities and legal and economic obstacles for single mothers to raise their child. The data also shows that there is a notion that it is better to grow up in West than in Korea. International adoption has therefore been seen as a good option and grown bigger at the same time that domestic adoption in Korea is rare due to concerns of bloodlines.