False Records: Mother Branded “Runaway Who Abandoned Sick Child”. Told “Baby Died” — But Secretly Adopted to USA with Alleged Forged Consent. Only the Dead Daughter Can Access Her Records (Not Mother).

Published: 2026.05.31 09:00 AM Updated: 2026.05.31 09:14 AM

• 30+ Years Ago, Child Reportedly Dead — Now in America…
• Records Label Mother as “Runaway Unwed Mom”
• Only the adoptee can access records…
• Biological parents still in the dark about adoption details

[Seoul=Newsis] Lee Ae-ri-rana speaking with reporters at a cafe in Seocho-gu, Seoul on May 18, 2026. 2026.05.29. photo@newsis.com

[Seoul=Newsis] Cho Seong-ha, Reporter | Intern Reporter Yoo Ji-dam

“I’ve kept the same phone number for over 20 years, just in case my child tried to contact me. I hoped that even if she hated me to death, at least she was alive…”

Lee Ae-ri-rana (52), whom I met at a cafe in Seocho-gu, Seoul on May 18, paused for a long time, wiping her eyes. In 1993, she gave birth to her first daughter at a hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, but never got to hold her before they were separated.

At the time, the hospital and the adoption agency Dongbang Social Welfare Association (ESWS) told her, “The child has a serious congenital deformity and needs further testing,” then took the baby away. A few days later, they informed her, “The child has passed away.” Twenty-year-old Lee believed them and lived with that truth for years.

But 14 years later, in 2007, she learned a completely different story. When she called Dongbang to ask about the burial site, she was told her daughter had not died — she had been adopted to the United States. In the adoption documents, Lee was recorded as “an unwed mother who abandoned her sick child and ran away.”

“How could any mother abandon her sick child and run away?” she said through tears. “If I were the kind of person who would abandon a child, would I have married the same man and had two more children?”

[Seoul=Newsis] Childhood photo of Park Mi-ae, the daughter adopted overseas. (Provided by Lee Ae-ri-rana) 2026.05.29. photo@newsis.com

“I Just Wanted to Know Where She Was Buried”… Learned of Overseas Adoption 14 Years Later

Even after losing her child, guilt and emptiness followed Lee for a long time. Every June, around her daughter’s birthday, she suffered unexplained depression and lethargy.”

I lived suppressing the self-blame that I couldn’t give birth to a healthy child, and that she died because of me,” she said. “I couldn’t even show my husband how hard it was.” She once called Dongbang and begged, “Just tell me where she was buried.”

But what Dongbang told her was completely different from what she had believed. The child had not died — she had been adopted to Minnesota, USA, and was alive.

[Seoul=Newsis] Part of the diary Lee Ae-ri-rana wrote after learning her daughter was alive. It contains her wishes for daily life together with her daughter. (Provided by Lee Ae-ri-rana) 2026.05.29. photo@newsis.com

Daughter Reclaimed Father’s Surname ‘Park’… “I Want to Go to Korea” — Then Passed Away

After learning her daughter was alive, Lee began keeping records, waiting for the day they might meet again. She desperately wanted to tell her, “I didn’t abandon you.”

The files in her bag were filled with her long journey to reach her daughter. It took nearly two years to exchange letters with the adoptive mother through Dongbang and the U.S. adoption agency. In the process, she learned that her daughter had struggled with her non-binary gender identity and religious issues with her adoptive parents, and as an adult had left home to travel across America.

Park applied to the California Superior Court to change her surname to search for her roots and was granted permission in April 2023 to take her biological father’s surname “Park.”

But just two days later, she left a note saying, “It seems I won’t be able to fulfill my dream of going to Korea,” and took her own life. In her notebook left behind were the words: “I think I’ve found my true self” and “I’ll save up for a plane ticket to Korea.”

[Seoul=Newsis] On Parents’ Day (May 8), Lee Ae-ri-rana and other mothers of overseas adoptees hold photos of their children in front of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, demanding a national investigation. 2026.05.08. create@newsis.com

“Records Only Released if the Dead Daughter Comes?” … Biological Parents Still Excluded

Lee still does not know exactly how her daughter was sent overseas for adoption. Under the current Special Adoption Act, it is very difficult for biological parents to access adoption records.

She said she sought help from the National Child Rights Center (NCRC), the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), and even the Prime Minister’s Office, but was repeatedly denied.”

I’ve been told over and over that only if the dead child comes in person can the records be viewed,” she said. “These documents were created with my name and resident registration number. How can it make sense that I, the biological mother, can’t confirm anything?”

The current Special Adoption Act is designed primarily around the adoptee’s right to know, so biological parents’ access to records is heavily restricted. Critics point out that even when adoptees have died overseas, biological parents still face major barriers to accessing related records.

An official from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) said, “Even if biological parents request information disclosure from NCRC, it is highly likely they will be denied due to personal information protection. When the adoptee has passed away, there is virtually no proper way for biological parents to confirm the information.”

On May 8, five women, including Lee, who claim their children were forcibly taken during past overseas adoptions, filed a request for a truth investigation with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They allege that adoption agencies used forged documents with the mothers’ forged signatures to send the children abroad. They are demanding guaranteed access to records and a nationwide investigation.

Bae Jin-si, head of the Monteneu Overseas Adoption Alliance, said, “There was a time when illegal adoptions involving collusion between maternity clinics, adoption agencies, and brokers were rampant. Since the parties involved have now passed away, it may be necessary to secure records from the adoptive parents’ side.”

Although the ‘Act on International Adoption’ implemented in July last year shifted overseas adoption procedures to a state-responsibility system, critics note that standards for record disclosure and information provision have not fundamentally changed from the previous Special Adoption Act.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission official said, “There have been some minor expansions compared to the previous law, but the fundamental issue of record access has not changed.”

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