Press releases
Dec. 1, 2011
CONTACT INFORMATION: Hee Jung Kwon: kumsn@kumsn.org
Tell: 82-2-734-5007
Fax: 82-2-720-5007
Cell: 82-10-5210-8637
KUMSN starts post card campaign, I am not an Orphan, to promote the rights of unwed pregnancy and unwed mothers from Dec. 1, 2011.
According to the Report on Children in Protection by the Ministry of Health and Ministry (2011), the total number of 8,590 children were being protected by the various social welfare programs due to family poverty, parents’ jobless, or child abuse and so on in 2010. Among them, 2,804 children, about 33%, were under protection due to the reason of being born to unwed mothers.
As has been quoted widely, about 90% of children who were sent for adoption are from unwed mothers in Korea (KWDI 2009). In other words, most children who were sent for adoption already have mothers who gave birth to them. These are mothers who say that if there had been no stigma on child birth out of wedlock and more support policies, they would chose raising their babies. Sadly 70% of them are giving up their babies for adoption as these basic conditions are missing. (Korean Women’s Social Welfare Association 2010)
Regardless of these facts, the phrases like “Baby Angels without Parent” or “Orphans abandoned” are frequently used in the phrases used in adoption promotion campaigns. It is not true and keeps hiding the existence of unwed mothers who have equal rights to enjoy their motherhood like any other mothers. These babies are forced to be given up due to the stigma on their mothers and no support for raising them. This is very cruel to erase alive mothers and call their children orphans. In this regards, KUMSN promotes the right of mothers who gave birth out of wedlock, hoping for the end of stigma and for more support for unwed pregnancy and unwed mothers and their children.
Please contact KUMSN if you join the campaign and send the postcard below.
<Images and contents of postcards>
ABOUT KUMSN:
The Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network advocates for the rights of unwed pregnant women, unwed mothers and their children in Korea. The Network’s goal is to enable Korean women to have sufficient resources and support to keep their babies, if they choose, and thrive in Korean society, rather than feel compelled to give up their children for adoption or risk a life of poverty.
Founded by Dr. Richard Boas, an American father who adopted a Korean daughter over twenty years ago, the Network’s primary focus is on raising awareness in Korea and amongst Korean groups in the US, to effect positive change. The Network works to educate, inform and promote discussion of the difficulties facing unwed mothers and their children in Korea in order to elevate their economic, political and social potential in society.
