Reports from South Korea suggest that since a change in their adoption laws, there has been a sharp increase in abandoned babies. This is certainly true where one pastor is concerned, as he runs a ‘baby box’ where mothers can leave their unwanted offspring.

The new law came into being because of the reputation South Korea was getting for being an easy place to adopt a baby, with little control or research into the prospective parents. The new law is aimed at protecting the rights of the orphans, as well as promoting more domestic adoptions.

Unfortunately, desperate parents see the new tightening of the law as a huge obstacle if they need to get their child adopted quickly and see the ‘baby box’ as an easy way out, according to Pastor Lee Jong-Rak.

“The letters that mothers leave with the babies say they have nowhere to go, this is because of the new law.” he concluded.

The kind-hearted pastor introduced his ‘baby box’ three years ago and has seen the numbers of babies left increase alarmingly from an average of five per month to the current rate of 14. He takes his work very seriously and has even adopted ten of the children himself, with another four soon to become his adopted children.

The government has criticised the ‘box’ saying that it just encourages mothers to give up their babies, just because it’s easy. They also say that the increase in children abandoned could be due to many factors, not just the new law.

Lee himself says he will not close the ‘box’ until the government can come up with a solution that adequately protects the many abandoned babies in his area.

(News: World)