It's Time for Better Awareness of Adoption

It is more than a shock that a couple in their 20s sold their newborn baby for 2 million won ($1,600) through the Internet. The reason behind what should not have taken place was that the young, unmarried couple could not raise the baby due to financial difficulties. What a pity and a surprise! It is hard to imagine how people can buy and sell babies.

Poverty may be to blame. The incident took place in Daegu in May when a 28-year-old identified as Ryu gave birth to a baby girl. She and her husband decided to give up the infant because they could not afford to take care of it. First they searched for information about how to send the baby to an adoption agency. But, they soon found out that a woman, who is now being seen as a broker, was looking for a baby. Then, the jobless couple handed over the three-day-old infant to her in return for the money.

Only an hour later, the suspected broker sold the baby to a 34-year-old identified as Baek whom she also came to know through the Internet. This time, the price more than doubled to 4.6 million won. It seems that Baek, who is sterile, bought the baby in a bid to avoid a complex adoption procedure. She also apparently tried to deceive others into believing that the baby was really born to her. She went to a postpartum care center with the baby as if the girl were her own. Then she succeeded in registering the girl as her child.

Police are in a dilemma over how to handle this case as the poor couple does not want to have the baby back. The incident proves that the baby trade on the Internet has been clandestinely carried out. In Daejeon in February, a 21-year-old mother was caught trying to sell her 29-day-old baby, also for 2 million won, because of her financial difficulties.

The problem certainly stems from the destitute life of young couples or unwed mothers as well as the desire of families with no child to bypass adoption agencies and register a baby from purchases as their own ``birth child." Ignorance and distorted awareness about adoption also tend to promote the baby trade. It is no secret that many Internet cafes serve as a conduit for the trade.

Everyone knows that the trade and other forms of human trafficking are a grave crime against humanity. It goes without saying that humans can never be treated as commodities. The government should do more to prevent selling and buying of babies. It is urgent to provide support to poor couples or unwed mothers so that they can bring up their children, instead of abandoning them. In case they inevitably give up their babies, they must be guided to the right place to have their infants adopted through authorized channels.

It is also important for families wanting babies to take due process for adoption. South Korea had been notorious for ``exporting children" abroad following the Korean War. It should not be stigmatized again by the Internet baby trade. All people need to keep in mind that children are the future of the nation.