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Protesters took to the lawn of Holt International, a prominent international adoption agency that is headquartered in Eugene. Participants celebrated the decline of international adoptions and shared their experiences.
About 30 people dressed in black carried a paper coffin and “RIP Holt” cardboard headstones outside the headquarters of Holt International in Eugene on Friday, July 24.
“Stop selling babies,” they chanted. “Children are not for sale.”
“If it’s not abundantly clear, our demand is the total abolition of international adoption,” Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sánchez said through a bullhorn.
“We came here to have a funeral for Holt,” they continued. “Why? Because this industry is dying. Why? Because we believe that adoption and foster care are not inevitable nor necessary. Why is that? Because we know that what our families, communities and kin need is resources.”
The group of adult international adoptees gathered to celebrate the decline of the international adoption industry. They also took turns speaking into a microphone, sharing personal stories and criticizing the organization.
Whitney Handrich shared her experience of being adopted from Korea as an infant and meeting her family in Korea when she was 27.
“We’re here for a funeral for Holt, but also remembering the funerals we missed, the family members we don’t get to commemorate, the memories we don’t have, the memories we can’t share with them,” the 38-year-old said.
Holt International is a private nonprofit Christian agency that has been working in international adoption since the 1950s. The agency was started by a Creswell couple, Harry and Bertha Holt, who lobbied for a bill to allow the couple to adopt eight Korean children in 1955, pioneering international adoption.
Susan Soonkeum Cox, vice president of policy and external affairs at Holt International, wrote in an email to Lookout, “Since 1956 Holt International has been dedicated to serving children and families. In addition to the thousands of children who have been adopted through Holt, our programs are dedicated to broader child welfare on behalf of children, families and communities. Holt International affirms our unwavering commitment to this mission.”
The international adoption industry has faced allegations of fraud in recent years, particularly in how adoptions were handled in South Korea following the Korean War. Holt Children’s Services of Korea has been subject to lawsuits in recent years by birth parents.
Cox said Holt International in the United States and Holt Children’s Services in Korea are two separate organizations independent from each other. Holt Children’s Services of Korea became a separate entity from Holt International in 1977, according to the organization’s website.
According to the Pew Research Center, the annual number of international adoptions to the United States has dropped significantly after peaking in 2004. The State Department recorded 22,988 international adoptions to the U.S. in 2004, dropping to 1,275 by 2023.
South Korea announced last year that it would end all private international adoptions after a government investigation found violations. Other countries have also moved to limit international adoptions, per the Pew Research Center.
Annie Aguiar contributed to this report.
