Was he given up for adoption? Or was he taken?

from Post Reports · host The Washington Post

Over the weekend, South Korea announced it would end private adoptions in the country. This comes after an investigation found human rights abuses by international adoption agencies. Some babies had been taken without their birth parents’ knowledge or consent. Records were falsified. Identities were swapped. Babies were stolen.Host Elahe Izadi speaks with Seoul-based reporter Kelly Kasulis Cho about how adoption fraud occurred for decades in South Korea. We also hear from a man who is now on a quest to find his biological family. Today’s show was produced by Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval. It was edited by Maggie Penman and mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Sam Bair. Thanks to Bart Schaneman.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 21, 2025

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What this episode covers

In South Korea, the findings of a government inquiry confirmed what many adoptees had suspected for decades: Babies were sent abroad for profit, often with falsified backstories. In Michigan, a man is questioning his origin story.