Adoption Procedures Undergoing Major Changes... State Takes Responsibility for Management and Supervision

Adoption-Related Law Amendment Passed in Plenary Session on the 30th

The adoption system, which has so far been led by private adoption agencies, will be changed to a system where the state takes responsibility for management and supervision.

The amendment to the "Special Act on Domestic Adoption," the enactment of the "Act on International Adoption," and the amendment to the "Child Welfare Act" for a complete overhaul of the adoption system passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 30th.

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These bills include provisions to strengthen the responsibilities, management, and supervision of the state and local governments over all adoption-related tasks currently performed by adoption agencies.

In the case of domestic adoption, the decision and protection of the child subject to adoption are handled by local governments, while the eligibility screening of prospective adoptive parents and matching are decided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Adoption Policy Committee.

A temporary foster care decision system has also been newly introduced. If deemed necessary during the adoption permission trial process for prospective adoptive parents to facilitate early attachment formation and mutual adaptation between the child and the prospective adoptive parents, the family court may decide on temporary foster care. Through this, a final judgment on the prospective adoptive parents' parenting ability, etc., will be made.

The government will also systematically provide post-adoption services to support mutual adaptation for at least one year after adoption.

All adoption records management and adoption-related information disclosure tasks will be centralized under the Child Rights Protection Agency. Approximately 250,000 records previously held by private adoption agencies and child welfare facilities will be transferred to the Protection Agency. In the future, adoptees can request information from the Protection Agency.

The amendment to the Domestic Adoption Act also includes provisions for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to conduct adoption status surveys and establish a basic plan to promote domestic adoption every five years based on the survey results.

In the case of international adoption, it will only be permitted when it is in the best interest of the child who could not find adoptive parents domestically. The Ministry of Health and Welfare will also serve as the central authority for international adoption.

The country sending the child for adoption and the country receiving the child will each screen and guarantee the eligibility of adoptive parents, and finally, the family court of the child’s country of origin will grant adoption permission.

The Act on International Adoption also specifies that no institution may obtain undue financial benefits during the international adoption process.

After international adoption, the state will cooperate with the child’s adoptive country to prepare a child adaptation report and conduct post-management such as checking and confirming the child’s adaptation status, including nationality acquisition.

These bills will be enforced two years after promulgation, and the Hague Convention is scheduled to be ratified in 2025 in line with the enforcement date. The Hague Convention is a multilateral treaty adopted at the 1993 Hague Conference on Private International Law and effective since 1995, which regulates the procedures and requirements for international adoption to protect the human rights of children moving between countries and to prevent abduction and trafficking.

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