Birth Mothers and Transnational Adoption Practice in South Korea: Virtual Mothering

251 Pages·2016·2.43 MB·English

by  Hosu Kim (auth.)

Critical Studies in Gender, Sexuality, and Culture
Birth Mothers and
Transnational Adoption
Practice in South Korea
Virtual Mothering
Hosu Kim
Critical Studies in Gender, Sexuality, and Culture
Series Editors
Danielle   Egan
St. Lawrence University
Canton ,  New York, USA
Patricia   Clough
Queens College and The Graduate Center
City University of New York
New York ,   New York, USA
Highlighting the work taking place at the crossroads of sociology, sexual-
ity studies, gender studies, cultural studies, and performance studies, this
series offers a platform for scholars pushing the boundaries of gender and
sexuality studies substantively, theoretically, and stylistically. The authors
draw on insights from diverse scholarship and research in popular culture,
ethnography, history, cinema, religion, performance, new media studies,
and technoscience studies to render visible the complex manner in which
gender and sexuality intersect and can, at times, create tensions and fi s-
sures between one another. Encouraging breadth in terms of both scope
and theme, the series editors seek works that explore the multifaceted
domain of gender and sexuality in a manner that challenges the taken-for-
granted. On one hand, the series foregrounds the pleasure, pain, politics,
and aesthetics at the nexus of sexual practice and gendered expression. On
the other, it explores new sites for the expression of gender and sexuality,
the new geographies of intimacy being constituted at both the local and
global scales.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14939
Hosu   Kim
Birth Mothers and
Transnational Adoption
Practice in South Korea
Virtual Mothering
Hosu   Kim
City University of New York
College of Staten Island,
Staten Island, NY, USA
Critical Studies in Gender, Sexuality, and Culture
ISBN 978-1-137-53851-2 ISBN 978-1-137-53852-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53852-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949416
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A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing this book has made me realize how my life has been so nourished
and enriched by the attentive and generous supports of friends and family.
During this book’s long gestation period, my feelings of fear, self-doubt,
and despair sometimes arrested my passions and paralyzed my conviction
about this project. At those moments, the care, support, and belief in me
that I received from friends and family, and from various communities of
which I have been a part, were vital sources of energy that sustained my
journey. It is my great pleasure to fi nally write an acknowledgment recog-
nizing the immense care that I have received from others over the past 15
years, from the conception to the delivery of this book.
Foremost, this book would not have been possible without the birth
mothers’ willingness to re-visit painful memories of separations from their
children, and their trust in the project. When I was collecting their oral
histories, birth mothers shared not only their life stories, but always made
sure to feed me. Shin Young Eun and “Jaewon” showed me the personal
journals they kept at the time of adoption. After depositing their adoption
stories in me, they often suggested that we go to a z zimjil bang (public
sauna) together. Though I wasn’t able to follow up on their invitations, I
really appreciated their openness and warmth. Looking back, what drove
me not to give up on this book was the promise I made with, Jang Yeon
Ja, a birth mother, in 2005. At the end of the interview, she asked what I
would do with her stories. I told her, “Your life stories will become part
of my doctoral dissertation research, it will probably be in a book on birth
mothers.” She responded, “Please fi nish your degree—then, you will be
the fi rst person I know with a PhD.” Until this time, my promise with her
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
was only half fulfi lled. So, this book is the other half of my promise. I hope
my book will help to bring some justice to the 60-year-long silent history
of Korean birth mothers.
There is a long list of people I wish to acknowledge. To start, I wish
to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee: Patricia Ticineto
Clough, Hester Eisenstein, and Barbara Katz Rothman. As my former dis-
sertation advisor and mentor, Patricia guides and inspires me with her own
unconventional path as a sociologist; learning from Patricia has been an
amazing joy and ecstasy. Her provocatively transdisciplinary endeavors—
encompassing psychoanalysis, science/technology studies, and perfor-
mance studies—have shaped my intellectual foundation and trajectories,
and her embrace and encouragement of experimental writing has freed
me, to a certain extent, from a canonical mastery of the American aca-
demic language, and helped me to engage in more fundamental questions
of language and power. Finally, her sharp critique of sociological methods
and her enthusiasm for new frames of analysis have allowed me to explore
performance-based hermeneutics and praxis-oriented knowledge produc-
tion. Early in my graduate studies, I experienced a diffi cult adjustment
and took a one-year leave of absence, moving back to Korea. During that
period, when I doubted my capacity to continue graduate school, Barbara
Katz Rothman (later to serve on my dissertation committee) mailed me
postcards of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and of the Brooklyn Bridge
that helped me to hold onto my aspirations, and I fi nally moved back
and continued the program. And, fi nally, thanks to Hester Eisenstein, a
bona fi de feminist scholar, who generously helped me to secure multiple
research assistantships and provided me with much-needed opportunities
to work as a graduate student; she also guided me with her keen power
analysis of how mainstream feminism had appropriated women’s lives in
the Global South.
This book would not have been possible without two friends, Grace
M.  Cho and Rose M.  Kim, whom I met at the Graduate Center,
CUNY. Grace, you taught me the ropes of academia, an institution for
which I had a diffi cult time developing a sense of affi nity and of belong-
ingness. You have been a rock for me, particularly in times of diffi cul-
ties. Our 15-year-long friendship has produced two co-authored articles.
Collaborating with you always extends my purview of research and bol-
sters my development as a rigorous scholar. Grace, I really thank you for
your loyal friendship and the care that you have given me, as I was writing
this book. Now, it is my turn.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
My dear friend, Rose, whom I secretly regard as a mentor, has pro-
vided me an exceptional quality of support and care. Her perky, eccentric,
artistic temperament, which I attribute to her writerly craze, allowed me
to have a sense of freedom and pure joy in her companionship. She read
multiple drafts of this book at various stages; during the fi nal stage of writ-
ing this book, she visited my home twice to offer much-needed support
and to help edit this book. She took on tensions and nervousness I was
feeling, so that I could work calmly; with her presence, the fi nal stage of
writing and preparing the manuscript moved along swiftly. Her incredible
ability to share and to give will remain with me for a long time.
This book refl ects the cherished lessons and visions that I have gleaned
from my encounters with Nodutdol, a progressive community organiza-
tion, based in New York City. During my 15-year-long involvement with
this multi-generational, Korean diasporic community for peace and jus-
tice, I have been inspired by its incisive political analysis, and empowered
by its bold vision for social justice. Though my writing has encroached
on and taken over my time at Nodutdol over the past few years, the sense
of camaraderie I received from Nodutdol is vital to my life, and helped
to carry this book forward. I would like to thank Seung Hye Suh for her
visionary leadership of the organization in its initial stages; Hyun Lee, Yul-
san Liem, Juyeon Rhee, and J.T. Takagi, for their unwavering commit-
ment to racial and economic justice and their selfl essness; Sukjong Hong,
for her extraordinary creativity at turning artful the spaces and culture of
the organization; Kisuk Yom, for her love and generosity, shown through
almost a hundred free meals and drinks during my graduate school years.
Furthermore, my gratitude goes to Young Choe, Injoo Hwang, Sharon
Chung, and Betsy Yoon. The inspiration and support I received from
friends only prove my words too brief; please know your fi erce and fi rm
dedication to peace and social justice work always impress me as a sound
understanding of life’s priorities, and humble me.
Through my involvement in community activism, I gained experience
as a performance artist, by participating in S till Present Pasts (2005–2010),
a multi-media exhibit on memories and legacies of the Korean War.
Ramsay Liem, in collaboration with activists, artists, and scholars, opened
up and realized the radical possibilities of oral history as a crucial site for
re-engaging memory and re-staging history. Through my participation, I
was given the opportunity to ruminate on the Korean War and its living
legacy. His innovative endeavors of bridging oral history with art, and his
conviction in the peace movement set an exemplary example for me, as
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I developed an oral history collection with birth mothers, and sought to
analyze the performative narratives within the context of the unending,
ongoing Korean War.
I am greatly indebted to scholars, activists, and social workers in the
South Korean transnational adoption community. From the early stages
of this project, Tobias Hübinette and Eleana Kim, both of whose analy-
ses have been crucial to this book’s formation, were invaluable. I thank
Tobias for his prompt responses and helpful information in response to
my numerous email questions; and, Eleana for her generous reading of
my work at various stages, and her supportive critiques of the manuscript.
For her help in developing the oral history collection of birth mothers, I
thank Jane Jeong Trenka, an adoptee activist, who helped to recruit birth
mother participants, and who traveled with me, several times, to intro-
duce them to me. And, to Reverend Kim Do Hyun, thank you for offer-
ing organizational support in producing transcriptions of the oral history
interviews. My gratitude goes to the anonymous volunteers, as well as to
Choi Hee Sun, for the transcriptions. During the data collection process
in Korea, I appreciated the help of Yu Yŏng Im, the director of Durebang ,
U Sun Tŏk from Haessal Sahoepokchihoe (Sunlit Sisters’ Center), and Jang
Bo Kyung and Shin Hee Suk from Esther’s Place.
In addition, many adoptees, young and old, whom I met over the course
of this project’s development, expressed great enthusiasm and apprecia-
tion for my research and generously shared their personal experiences as
adopted people. I appreciate Daniëlle Van Oostrom, Kim Park Nelson,
and Deann Borshay Liem for their friendship and for their support of my
work. Their enthusiastic responses and empathic curiosity about the send-
ers’ perspective became a rich soil for this project to grow.
At various stages of writing this book, my writing group offered me
timely and practical advice, helping me to move forward on the book,
despite my tendency to hold on to a project. I thank Rafael de la Dehesa
for his insightful mind, deftly capturing the underlying organization of my
writing and helping me to clarify my thesis. Jean Halley’s affectively cued
up advice and fi rm belief for my project has always enlivened my passion,
so that I could go another round. And, Francesca Degiuli helped me to
engage questions from audiences unfamiliar with transnational adoption
and/or Korea.
My thanks extend to my colleagues/friends at the Department of
Sociology and Anthropology at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. At
times when I was engaged in intense writing, many volunteered to cover
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
my service work duties and other responsibilities so that I was able to secure
time for writing. For their support, I thank Jay Arena, Leigh Binford, Roz
Bologh, Grace M. Cho, Ismale García Colón, Kate Crehan, Rafael de la
Dehesa, Ozlem Goner, Jean Halley, Saddia Toor, Don Selby, and Tom
Volscho. Particularly, I thank Jeff Bussolini for intellectually stimulating
conversations on the X 10 bus rides to Staten Island. And thanks to my
friend, Ananya Mukherjea, who taught me how compassion and empathy
are integral ingredients in our lives. I feel very fortunate to be part of an
academic department in which a mutual sense of respect, collegiality, and
trust is practiced, thus creating a supportive, nurturing learning and teach-
ing community.
There are a few more individual scholars and friends that I need to
mention for their support. I thank Laura Fantone and Ji Young Yoo for
their companionship and encouragement. Sung Hee Yook has been a spe-
cial friend that I have cherished throughout graduate school and even
after she moved back to Korea. During my 2008–2009 visiting professor-
ship at Drake University, Joseph Schneider provided mentorship, which
was indispensible to my existence. Jung Joon Lee, my friend and new-
est neighbor, has been refreshing company during my retreats from long
bouts of solitary writing. Throughout many different stages of writing this
book, I have received editorial support from Erin Heiser, David Hong,
and Betsy Yoon. I appreciate their deeply engaged editing services.
I appreciate the permission to reprint two previously published works:
an earlier version of Chapter 3 was published as “The Biopolitics of
Transnational Adoption in South Korea: Preemption and the Governance
of Single Birthmothers” in B ody and Society ; and, Chapter 4 was published
as “Television Mothers” in C ultural Studies ⇔ C ritical Methodologies .
Also, a preliminary analysis of Chapter 5 appeared as “A Flickering
Motherhood: Korean Birthmothers’ Internet Community” in S cholars
and Feminist Online . Furthermore, my participation in CUNY’s Faculty
Fellowship Publication Program and the PSC-CUNY grants I received
assisted the development of my oral history collection and secured more
time for writing. In addition, I would like to thank the audiences and orga-
nizers for my presentations at the University of California, Los Angeles,
the University of Toronto, Wagner College, and Scripps College.
Finally, to my family in South Korea: I am greatly indebted to my par-
ents, my mother, Jung Ok Im, and my father, Kim Jung Bok. My mother’s
prescience and unwavering support for my education enabled me to sur-
vive as an academic. The fi nal completion of this project is indebted to