The Philippine Embassy in Seoul reminds Filipinos in Korea who are unable to take care of their child and intend to place the child for adoption, to strictly follow Philippine Regulations on local adoption procedures.

An abandoned Filipino child cannot be placed for adoption in South Korea because there is no bilateral agreement between the Philippines and Korea on adoption of each other’s nationals. The child has to be brought to the Philippines and placed in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) until the child has been officially declared abandoned and eligible for adoption.

Adoption of a child is a legal process and requires an order from the Philippine Court in order that NSO can register the child in the surname of the Korean adoptive parents. A mere agreement of adoption between the Korean adopters and the natural parents of the child is not a valid adoption. Further, the fact that the child has lived with the alleged Korean adopter who had treated him like his own child is not sufficient to establish a valid adoption in favour of the Korean national.

Following is the procedure for local adoption of a child in the Philippines:

• Written Consent from the biological parents or legal guardian, adoptee if 10 years of age or over, and spouse of the adopter, in appropriate cases

• If a child is abandoned, DSWD issues a Certificate that the child is abandoned and eligible for adoption

• DSWD issues a certificate to the prospective adoptive parents attesting that they have undergone pre-adoption services.

• A social worker conducts a child study report

• Supervised trial custody of the child for at least 6 months

• The prospective parents file a Petition for Adoption in the Philippine Court

• When a court order is issued, the adopter files for the amended birth certificate of child with the NSO Manila.

Adoption has the effect of ending all legal ties or relations between the biological parent(s) and the adoptee, except when the biological parent is the spouse of the adopter.