Latest Adoption News

Widespread adoption fraud separated generations of Korean children from their families, AP finds

Sep. 19, 2024 14:58 PM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As the plane descended into Seoul, Robert Calabretta swaddled himself in a blanket, his knees tucked into his chest like a baby in the womb. A single tear ran down his cheek. The 34-year-old felt like a newborn — he was about to meet his parents for the...

Adoption fraud separated generations of South Korean children from their families, AP finds

Sep. 19, 2024 00:35 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government, Western countries and adoption agencies worked in tandem to supply some 200,000 Korean children to parents overseas, despite years of evidence they were being procured through questionable or downright unscrupulous means, an investigation led...

South Korean truth commission says it found more evidence of forced adoptions in the 1980s

Sep. 09, 2024 04:28 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean commission found evidence that women were pressured into giving away their infants for foreign adoptions after giving birth at government-funded facilities where thousands of people were confined and enslaved from the 1960s to the 1980s. The...

China's halt of foreign adoptions leaves questions about pending cases

Sep. 05, 2024 14:36 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government is ending its intercountry adoption program, and the U.S. is seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications. In a phone call with U.S. diplomats in China, Beijing said it “will...

Costa Rica arrests 5 child welfare agency officials on charges they trafficked children for adoption

Aug. 19, 2024 17:18 PM EDT

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Five officials from Costa Rica's child welfare agency were arrested on charges they were involved in trafficking children for the purpose of adoption, authorities said Wednesday. Randall Zúñiga, head of the country’s main investigative agency, the...

After the end of Roe, a new beginning for maternity homes

Aug. 02, 2024 08:14 AM EDT

ORANGE, Va. (AP) — On the wall of the maternity home, painted in large letters, is the motto: “Saving Babies, One Mom at a Time.” For founders Randy and Evelyn James, the home started with one baby — their own. Paul Stefan was the last of their six children,...

What are maternity homes? Their legacy is checkered

Aug. 02, 2024 08:10 AM EDT

Maternity homes have seen a resurgence in the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Across the country, homes are sprouting up or expanding. Christian anti-abortion advocates want to open more of these transitional housing facilities, believing they are the next step in helping...

After the end of Roe v. Wade, a new beginning for maternity homes

Aug. 02, 2024 08:07 AM EDT

ORANGE, Va. (AP) — On the wall of the maternity home is the motto: “Saving Babies, One Mom at a Time.” For founders Randy and Evelyn James, the home started with one baby — their own. Paul Stefan was the last of their six children, born with a fatal condition....

Appeals court voids Marine's adoption of Afghan orphan; child's fate remains in limbo

Jul. 16, 2024 20:55 PM EDT

A Virginia appellate court ruled Tuesday that a U.S. Marine should never have been granted an adoption of an Afghan war orphan and voided the custody order he’s relied on to raise the girl for nearly three years. The decision marked a major turning point in a bitter custody battle that has...

Stolen at birth, an adoptee sues Chile over thousands of similar dictatorship-era crimes

Jul. 01, 2024 19:59 PM EDT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean-American raised in the United States filed a criminal complaint against the Chilean government on Monday, alleging that it engaged in a systematic plan to steal thousands of babies from perceived enemies of the state in the 1970s and 1980s. The case...