Some Basic Tips For How To Approach and Treat Volunteers - For Those New To Birth Family Search:

Dear fellow Korean Adoptees, 

Based on our years of experience with helping primarily KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees in the early stages of birth family search, we have a few tips for how to approach and treat volunteers those who are new to birth family search. This advice applies for how to approach and treat ANY volunteers who provide assistance for Adoptees - BOTH those at Paperslip and any other volunteers who assist Adoptees:

  1. BE NICE. When you are reaching out to a volunteer who is a stranger for advice or help through email (or other means), it is in YOUR best interest to be polite, respectful, and to communicate in full and coherent sentences. Always write an email expressing thanks if someone has taken the time to provide information for you. You would be surprised by how far you can go if you are simply a nice person.

    At Paperslip, we always give far MORE assistance     to those KSS Adoptees who are polite and thankful in their correspondence with us vs. those who simply demand free help without ever expressing thanks. 


  2. DO NOT ASSUME THAT ASSISTANCE IS FREE. Most Adoptees new to birth family search do not realize that search can be a years long - and sometimes a lifelong - endeavor. It is NOT a simple ask to ask someone to spend time reviewing your documents or explaining to you the entire history of adoption. These things can take YEARS for an Adoptee to come to understand. Unfortunately there are thousands of Adoptees with the exact SAME questions, and it can take HOURS of time to bring an Adoptee up to even a basic level of comprehension of the Korean Adoption system. When you email a volunteer for the first time, do NOT just send them tons of your adoption paperwork and expect them to spend hours with you on your search. You should not send documents to a stranger without getting to know them anyway, for your own privacy protection. In your first email to a volunteer you should politely ASK what services may be provided for you as an Adoptee - NOT DEMAND.

    While Paperslip offers FREE birth family search advice to KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees, we simply CANNOT spend hours of one-on-one time with those who were NOT adopted through KSS (Korea Social Service). We are volunteers, but we primarily serve the KSS Adoptee community.

    We do however make available plenty of information relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees in specific sections of Paperslip. Please READ CAREFULLY to note what information is ONLY relevant to KSS Adoptees, and what information is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees.

    Please see:
    The Same Questions That Korean Adoptees Ask All The Time
    https://www.paperslip.org/the-same-questions-that-adoptees-ask-all-the-time


  3. READ. Please learn how to actually READ when information is given to you. Seriously, there are so many Adoptees who NEVER READ information. We at Paperslip have expended a ton of effort to create what is effectively a MANUAL for how to conduct a birth family search for KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees.

    We have additionally put tons of time into putting together resources relating to common concerns for ALL Korean Adoptees:

    The Same Questions That Korean Adoptees Ask All The Time
    https://www.paperslip.org/the-same-questions-that-adoptees-ask-all-the-time

    Please actually make an attempt to     READ our information.

    Birth family search can be extremely complicated. We have tried our best to make information on Paperslip clear. Please do     YOUR part to actually READ the information provided to help you in your search.

    IF you are a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee, you can email us at     paperslipadoptee@gmail.com with any questions.


  4. WORK FAST AND SMART. We should note that in this period of time - the beginning of January 2025 - you are going to need to be VERY pro-active in your search if you want to be successful. Birth family search has turned into a version of “The Hunger Games” thanks to the movement of ALL Korean Adoption Files from ALL of the major Korean Adoption Agencies to the Korean Government Agency NCRC beginning in July 2025. There are currently a LOT of Korean Adoptees WORLDWIDE who are interested in birth family search. If you are not willing to put in the effort and work right now for birth family search, unfortunately you will simply be left behind.

    If you are not willing to take the time to READ INSTRUCTIONS or TRANSLATE them to your language, you are not going to get very far in your search. So     PLEASE READ the information we have provided on Paperslip - we WANT the information to help you!


  5. DON’T BE CHEAP. Do not be too cheap to pay for translation or help with birth family search. We know that not everyone can afford to pay for help with birth family search, but we also know that there are MANY Adoptees who have the financial means but who are never willing to pay for anything related to search - whether that is translation services, birth family search assistance, or DNA tests. Not being willing to pay for at least some birth family search related services can set you back YEARS OF TIME.

    *This being said, we know that many US or other Western Adoption Agencies may charge exorbitant FEES for an Adoptee to initiate a birth family search through them. Please note that until ALL Korean Adoption files move from the Korean Adoption Agencies to the Korean Government Agency NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) in July 2025, the best place to begin your birth family search is through your KOREAN Adoption Agency - which in some cases - for example for KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees - is FREE. Please see The Same Questions That Korean Adoptees Ask All The Time for more information on birth family search.

    To be blunt, in this game, you get what you pay for.     While we wish that birth family search were easy, free, and straightforward, the reality is that it is NOT. If you are unwilling to pay for ANY services related to birth family search, you are unfortunately NOT likely to get very far in your search.

    *Please note that we totally understand that not everyone has the financial means to pay for birth family search related services.     This message is for those who CAN afford it, but whom never wish to pay.

    If you have been helped by an Adoptee organization such as Paperslip, please consider a     donation. Donations help to keep Paperslip’s mission of providing FREE information for Korean Adoptees going.


  6. PAY IT FORWARD. Many volunteers derive “payment” from simply helping others. At Paperslip we like to see people “pay it forward” - by sharing Paperslip.org links with the Korean Adoptee community so that more people know how to conduct a birth family search, take DNA tests, and (if they are US Adoptees) file a FREE FOIA request.


Thank you and good luck out there!