Woman sentenced to six months for illegal adoption and then giving up baby to third party

A woman was sentenced to prison for illegally adopting a newborn from a single mother and handing the baby over to another person just three days later, allegedly because her husband opposed the adoption.

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A woman was sentenced to prison for illegally adopting a newborn from a single mother and handing the baby over to another person just three days later, allegedly because her husband opposed the adoption.

The Cheongju District Court sentenced the woman to six months in prison for child abandonment and neglect under the Child Welfare Act, according to the court on Wednesday.

She was also ordered to complete 40 hours of child abuse prevention therapy and barred from employment at child-related institutions for one year.

The woman was found guilty of illegally adopting a baby born on Feb. 14, 2021, from an unmarried mother she met online and then giving the child to another stranger three days later. Investigators said she posted about adoption on the internet after her husband objected, and later handed the baby over to a woman she had never met in person.

In a separate case last year, she was sentenced to four years in prison for violating the Child Welfare Act.

“The nature of the crime is extremely serious considering the impact on the child,” said the court. “However, the defendant has acknowledged her wrongdoing, and since this offense overlaps with the previously adjudicated case, the court took fairness into account in determining the sentence.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY KIM EUN-BIN [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]