South Korean Women Fight Stigma Against Single Mothers

A small group of South Korean women is working to establish the country's first association to defend the rights of unmarried pregnant women to give birth and raise their own children. Social pressures against single motherhood in South Korea lead thousands of unmarried pregnant women to either seek an abortion or place their children for adoption each year. Although abortion is illegal in South Korea, nearly 96% of unwed pregnant women obtain abortions. Of those who give birth, 70% place the infants for adoption. The country's health ministry estimates that nearly 90% of the 1,250 South Korean children adopted abroad in 2008 were born to single women. Unmarried women who choose to keep their children are often socially ostracized, facing poverty, eviction, job discrimination and condemnation from their partner's family. Medical News Today, NY Times