Sandra Oh on North Korean Refugee Adoption Act

[eschlAir]

Please share and sign this petition!! 1 million signers needed.

Save North Korean Refugees #SaveMyFriend

[stelleysabel]

Dr.Yang!!! =) i hope this will help a lot of children in North Korea...

[kfosho]

how is this bill doing?? 

[brendan129]

No

[porcelain100]

Give me 5 minutes in a room with that fucktard kim jong il... i'll rip his little pecker off and stuff it down his throat... then how's he gonna talk his shit?

[sara261009]

@thirdsphere145 what difference does that make? If they return to NK they'll obviously be murdered. They're still orphans no matter where they live. I'm sure China is a little better but they're probably still living as 3rd word orphans in those provinces as well.

[thirdsphere145]

Quite conflicted about this issue. Adopting them would obviously cause a lot of racial identity issues and not all adoptions turn out successful. Some people are great on paper but may lack parenting skills or skills to help the child with the issues it will face. Parents opting for transracial adoption must be aware of this. Also, no parent should adopt with the idea of "saving" a life. They need to be humble and be purely motivated by the desire to have a child not be some kind of hero.

[mitchygirl11]

Sandra Oh is so sincere, I love you Yang!

[TheHtmarshall87]

Oh my gosh people. Some of you have no heart. North Korea is the most brutal and scary country imaginable. That little dictator brainwashes and starves his captive people. Adoption is a beautiful thing.

[ZephonTLucifer]

Because our system is just so flawless and smooth that every single child in the United States now has a stable and loving home. Fuck you lady. I am sick of all these AMERICAN celebrities adopting kids from abroad when we have kids right here at home who need homes. Now you got this woman talking about the difficulties of Adopting is KOREA? Yet not one single celebrity has made it a mission or cause to address just how IMPOSSIBLE it is to adopt a child RIGHT HERE AT HOME - fuck them.

[minjihasnolife]

@ZephonTLucifer you're so fucking ignorant it's disgusting. this bill is giving people the OPTION to adopt children from north korea. it's not talking about the difficulties of adopting kids. just because we're adding north korean children into the adoption agencies doen't mean there's going to be neglect towards other types of adoptions.

[ZephonTLucifer]

@minjihasnolife You talk about ignorance did you read the actual act? I did.

[moymoy123ish]

@chiirioz, I agree with you 100%. If there is not adoption, at least we can care about their basic needs such as a food or shelter. Those kids don't understand what they are getting or not getting, but they know they are cold and hungry. I know adoption is not the best osolution for entire NK. Nothing has been working of them at all? If so, we can try one another method. Please, they are human being.

[Shortydrankaforty]

How is this even an issue? I can't think of a single argument against letting people adopt these kids, none that involve neural implants or genetically-modified tiny spies anyway...

[Dslater417]

@Shortydrankaforty I don't think you understand. The Chinese government-the only real way out of NK gives locals upwards to I think 5000 yuan.

[graceeeyang]

Is it just me, or does the link not work? :(

[chiirioz]

I cannot believe some of these comments. These children need help regardless of adoption or not. It's okay, even heroic, to adopt starving African children but when it comes to starving NK kids, it's suddenly pulling them out of their natural habitat? I really don't get it guys.

[nicoleburton100]

Adoption is complicated and traumatic for children, on top of the trauma they already feel from being abandoned by their parents, separated from family members, and ostracized by society. IMHO as an adopted person, adoption should be the last resort.

[BadKid95US]

@nicoleburton100 Dude they are alone and adoption is not that complicated

[MaraParker1]

So, when they get to the United States they can suffer from identity erasure and discrimination! That's right, as soon as they are adopted, their Korean identities will be permanently erased. They will be issued brand new ones that list their adoptive parents as their biological parents and give them new American names!

All North Koreans are suffering. That doesn't mean we should take their children these children have been surrendered due to poverty...reunite and help these families.

[VictoriaPravdiuk]

I LOVE Sandra. She's genius

[aznerd999]

Why is it even a bill it should be approved right away

[ThexxAcnexxChick]

As a last comment, why worry about children's adaption to their new environment when they have seen horrible things in NK? Despite them being young and not capable of understanding what the political situation is, I am almost certain they do understand one thing: freedom was taken from them. So they escape in search of a different place, a different life. Even if they shall adapt to the unknown, I don't think they'd want their life taken from them again. I hope people do understand this.

[ThexxAcnexxChick]

My grand father adopted so many children during the Japanese occupation in Philippines, 9 to be exact. All of them grew to be my uncles and aunt, none of them felt owned by the man who brought them up, one who does not share the same blood. And yet they are thankful and have gone their ways since they knew that they were absolutely no this property. This is an example I give to tell you: what you see in stereotypical heartbreaking movies is not necessarily true. Adoption doesn't mean to own.

[ThexxAcnexxChick]

Adopting doesn't mean buying children, that is a very superficial way of seeing it. Many people adopt to either fulfill dreams that they never reached (having children for example) and hoping that they may bring happiness to the one they shall take in their homes. Sure, money is always involved. Since when was it not? But you can't generalize your way of seeing it as a type of commerce, people have various reasons to take children in.

[ThexxAcnexxChick]

My god, why are you all arguing? Each have their own opinion and have the right to support which ever they think is right. Trying to impose one's opinion to another will not lead to anything. All we do know us that these children NEED help, whether it shall be via adoption or not.

[apeleye]

I am mean sure my parents could have sent money to the orphanage but then i wouldnt grown up with the same sense of love and security. and yeah it was terrifying getting adjusted to a new culture but 16 years late and i am happy not to be in that orphanage.

[apeleye]

@amiekim i am not exactly sure what your point is but, i don't think that adoptive parent thinks they are buying children. i don't think they feel they own them anymore then other parents think they own their biological children. I also take offence to anyone who says that kids should only be adopted by parents of the same race. I was adopted from africa by a white couple when i was 6 and i fell incredibly blessed for this.

[Tracie0715]

Hope this passes. There are so many children in the world who need homes. I am going through a local adoption here in Canada right now!

[moonjp]

From Canada.. sending my prayers and support for this to pass!

[xsopralto]

Also, I agree with Sara that sending money wouldn't be the greatest solution; I'd be worried about whether the money would be used productively. It would be more ideal for a Korean-American couple to adopt the child to ease the cultural shock. When I think about adoption, I think about giving the child many opportunities. If I were to adopt a child, not only would I give food and shelter, but also I would give emotional and financial support for my child to pursue his/her passion!

[xsopralto]

While adoption isn't the perfect solution, it's better than having no solution. Hopefully, it won't be the only solution to this problem. From what I understand, these children are homeless orphans, who struggle to survive. If they return to N. Korea, they could face torture before death. For example, children in North Korea are being used as guinea pigs for weapons.

[xsopralto]

Amie, I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the adoption process. However, I don't agree that adoption equates to ownership. In an ideal situation, the U.S. would facilitate peace between both North and South Korea. However, that is harder to say than do, considering how it's a struggle to cooperate with North Korea; given the strained history, who knows how long it will take for this change to occur!

[Jaesango]

That took like 5 seconds.

Thumbs up for Chrome autofill!

[SoTodayAtSchool]

That was easy ! everyone do it!

[sara261009]

I am adopted from South Korea as well and I agree with koreabro. Adoption DOES NOT mean ownership. My parents love me just as much as their biological children and I do not feel like I am an object that they possess. Would you rather see these children die of starvation? Sending money is a good idea, but not an option. That money would never get to them because there is absolutely no way of knowing that it actually got to them...remember North Korea is extremely corrupt.

[thirdsphere145]

@sara261009 also the children are not IN North Korea. They have escaped and are scattered mostly in Chinese provinces as orphans.

[koreabro]

amiekim is right that I did not have a choice but to "adjust to" my "surroundings," but neither did I have a choice to be born; I view both my "adjustment" and by birth as blessings, for which I am incredibly thankful. As a proud Korean American and Korean adoptee, it makes me sad that amiekim and others who share her views, think the way that they do.

[koreabro]

Perhaps heej1009 does not have the "personal experience" to satisfy amiekim, but does amiekim herself? As a South Korean adoptee, in amiekim's eyes, more than likely I do not even possess the requisite "experience" to comment on this; but, as an adoptee, I have thought about the other options. Adoption is NOT buying children.

[koreabro]

Let me start out by saying that I am a Korean American, adopted from South Korea as an infant. I resent the idea that adoption = ownership. It does not; no more than the parent-child relationship in any family. Indeed, as with anything else, the adoption process is "fraught with complications," but I believe that to be a matter of reform (like this North Korean Refugee Adoption Act), not scrapping the entire institution altogether.

[amiekim]

heej1009: You do not have the personal experience to be able to say what is best for children in these situations. You have not thought out other options. Adoption is BUYING children. Prospective parents write out huge checks and what they get in return is a little human being that is helpless and has no choice but to adjust to their surroundings. I'm assuming by your screen name that you are Korean by blood. This makes me sad that you are so willing to sell out your Korean brothers and sisters.

[heej1009]

Integrating NK children into homes in SK would be ideal, but it's easier for Americans to directly affect US policy than to indirectly lobby a foreign govt to change its adoption policies, which would first require the two Koreas to improve relations. An American couple wants to help a child in ways they are capable--providing a home; saying they want to "own" poor children is unfair. I'm sorry for your trauma. I believe, though, that this Act provides the best option for attainable change.

[amiekim]

If an American couple really wants to help a child, they could take the $30-40k they would have spent on adoption fees and, instead, the money would be even more powerful. If you sweep them up and force them to integrate immediately into modern American culture with people of a different race, language, and culture... what are you doing, in effect, is adding *more* trauma on top of the traumas they've already experienced.

[hendrickx88]

@amiekim Amie, do you REALLY understand how dire these people's situation is? You claim you know everything about it, but do you really know WHAT KIND of trauma they've experienced? I have lived for a significant period of time on the China-NK border, and honestly, I think I can say that "owning" a North Korean child would be traumatic...and certainly not the best option, but nonetheless, it would be worlds better than allowing them to starve or being sent back to NK, which is a DEATH sentence

[amiekim]

Can't Americans think of any way to help poor children other than OWNING them? As an adult who was "saved" as a child and adopted to an American family, I do not consider adoption to be a valid way of helping children. It is fraught with complications. Sponsoring group homes in the ROK, where these children can live in kinship among themselves and be integrated more slowly into modern culture would probably be a much kinder and thoughtful approach.