Norwegian mother writes book to answer son’s questions about his adoption from Korea

[2026/04/11] By The Korea Times

A couple uneasily entered a pediatrics ward in Bergen, Norway, holding their young son in December 1998. At the reception desk, they write down the boy’s name: Anders Hyun Molvik Botnmark.

The same child, now a young man, rummaged through an old blue travel bag when he was 22 and asked, “Is this really it, Mom?”

It was that moment when Kristine Molvik Botnmark, Anders’ stepmother and a sociologist, decided to write “Adopsjonsoppgjøret” (“To Your Korean Mother” in Korean).

She adopted her son knowing that one day he would grow curious about his roots, but all she would be able to give him was a photograph of himself as a baby and a handful of documents stating that no information was available about his biological parents. She trusted the words of the adoption agency.

However, there were records detailing how Anders was left with a foster family, meaning the Korean agency knew who his biological parents were.

To resolve that contradiction, the author delved deeply into international adoption as an industry. Family registries were altered with the stroke of a pen to speed up the process, and in some cases, when a child arranged for adoption died, that identity was passed on to another child.

The book shows how an act presented as goodwill left lasting scars. It weaves together the intimate story of a mother and son with the harsh reality of the transnational adoption industry. The author draws on interviews with adoptees, along with research based on written records and video materials, to show that this history is not a problem confined to just a few countries.

“I wanted to write about how the broader narrative of international adoption unfolded on a global scale,” Botnmark said at a press conference for the release of the Korean edition of her book, Tuesday.

The book also sheds light on birth mothers, who have often been forgotten in narratives surrounding adoption. Botnmark challenges the narrative of rescuing children from poor, single Korean mothers, while also criticizing the empty promises of international conventions that proclaim a child’s best interests should come first in the adoption process.

“While I do not oppose adoption itself, every effort should be made to place a child for adoption domestically, while allowing the birth parents to remain in contact and maintain a relationship with the adoptive parents,” she said

With that in mind, Botnmark said her book was also intended for policymakers, pointing to the recent establishment of a task force on overseas adoption under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

As for the government’s decision to fully ban international adoption by 2029, she said it was meaningful that the state had formally drawn a line from the past and signaled it would not return to those practices. She also criticized Korea’s protected birth system, introduced in 2024, arguing that a child’s right to know should take priority.

Botnmark does not shy away from the fact that she, too, was part of the vast international adoption industry. She also acknowledges that her book does not fully answer the questions of her son, who was once known as Park Hyun-ook.

Still, she said she intends to continue the search for peace. Their reunion with his birth mother in 2023 marked the first step in that journey.

“Tomorrow I’ll go to Daegu to see my birth mother,” he said. “And I’ll give her this book.”

News from：The Korea Times