[gardener]

I was born in Korea and immigrated to U.S. I still haven't figured out why there are more boys available for adoption in Korea. Just curious.

Thank you in advance to anyone who will take the time to answer my wondering. BTW, my dh and I adopting from China.

[Joyful1]

It's my understanding that there is still a social stigma attached to babies born out of wedlock. The babies cannot be entered into the family registery so it's like they don't even exist. More girls are being adopted domestically in Korea because the bloodline is not as important as the bloodline from a son.

I hope that makes sense.....it's hard to explain in a short version!

Good luck on your adoption from China!

[Max'smom]

Hi,

We were told this is because of the lineage system and the birth registry, which made it more likely that Koreans would be willing to adopt girls than boys. Since S. Korea has been trying to encourage domestic adoption, changes have been made to encourage domestic adoption, most recently, the birth registry rules were changed to enable adopted children to be treated the same as biological children. However, I believe lineage customs may still be strong enough that boys are still less likely to be adopted domestically.

MM

[gardener]

Yes, this makes sense. Thank you for your response!

[teachamy]

Also, in terms of international adoption, it seems more people with a preference seem to prefer girls to boys. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many women are the motivating force in a couple's decision to adopt. It has also been suggested that Westerners have long appreciated the beauty of Asian women, but associate a possible smaller stature among Asian men to be undesirable. Perhaps a rather unfair and racist generalization, but I guess it could be true among some prospective adoptive parents. Although there are more boys in need of forever families in Korea, girls are often prefered in other international programs as well.

The gender debate doesn't have much of an effect on my family. We are overjoyed to have our son, and the next time we adopt, we will once again choose "no preference" when it comes to gender. If you prefer a daughter, China is a great program to investigate. Best of luck! I hope your child comes home soon!
Amy

[teachamy]

I'm bumping this topic because I'm interested to learn if others' agencies allow choosing a gender. Our agency, which works with Holt, doesn't allow gender choice from Korea, and hasn't for about a year. (regardless of whether it's the first adoption, or the second) I'm wondering if the current changes in the domestic Korean program are instituting similar changes in other agencies?
It's always an interesting topic/debate.

[ajcastle]

Our agency does ONLY if it is not your first adoption OR if you have a majority of one gender already in your home. I asked again to be sure once the changes started to happen and our agency said yes, we can still request a girl in our situation.

[abcolo]

Originally Posted by ajcastle

Our agency does ONLY if it is not your first adoption OR if you have a majority of one gender already in your home. I asked again to be sure once the changes started to happen and our agency said yes, we can still request a girl in our situation.

Same here. We can still request gender.

[teachamy]

AJ and AB--
Do your agencies work with Holt in Korea, or do they work with another Korean agency? I am just curious...We were told this was a decision made on Holt's part.
Thanks,
Amy