ABSTRACT
A number of scholarly studies and mainstream news reports have acknowledged the historical significance of U.S. and Korean relations in the phenomenon of international adoption. According to Los Angeles Times staff writer Bettijane Levine, the orphans of the Korean War who were primarily adopted by white American families became “the first mass wave of international, interracial adoptions ever on the planet, the forerunner of all those that have since become commonplace” (Levine, 2000, p. E1). Between 1958 and 1990, families in Western nations adopted approximately 130,000 Korean children. While France and Sweden were among the major receiving countries of Korean adoptees, the United States has been the top receiving country of Korean children, adopting over 50 percent (approximately 80,000) of the world total (A/K/A World, 1999). The numerical dominance of Korean adoptees in the United States and other Western nations explains why Korean case studies of international adoption are important for illuminating our understanding of the past and present state of international adoption.
