How To Use NCRC For Birth Family Search.
Important Note: Please be sure to read this entire page, and especially be sure to watch the video linked at the bottom of this page.
*While this website is mostly geared toward Adoptees who were adopted through the Korean Adoption Agency Korea Social Service (KSS), there is also information here which is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees, regardless of their Korean Adoption Agency. Please read carefully to note what info. is purely relevant to KSS Adoptees and what is generally relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees.
*UPDATE - September 6th, 2024: For KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees: Please note that your starting point for Birth Family Search should be KSS itself, NOT NCRC. Please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” about halfway down this page to learn how to formally initiate a birth family search AND request your (formerly secret) “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary”:
Step By Step KSS Birth Family Search
*Please NOTE! ALL KSS adoption files will move to the Korean Government Agency NCRC (The National Center for the Rights of the Child) starting in JULY 2025! We cannot more strongly recommend that KSS Adoptees formally initiate a birth family search AND request their (formerly secret) “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - BY EARLY 2025 at the latest! Please CONTACT US at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com for FREE birth family search assistance if you are a KSS Adoptee. Contacting us BEFORE you submit your birth family search request forms to KSS could save you YEARS of wasted time!!!
*Please NOTE! While KSS adoption files are supposed to move from KSS to NCRC starting in July 2025, we DO NOT KNOW when this process will be completed. KSS is NOT going to notify any Adoptees about anything to do with this process. Therefore please check in with our IMPORTANT NEWS section and if you are a KSS Adoptee, we strongly recommend that you join our PRIVATE Facebook Group for KSS Adoptees: KSS Cribmates. You MUST be a KSS Adoptee to join - please be sure to answer the membership questions. If you do not know the answer to the questions, please contact us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com. You must have a REAL Facebook profile to join. We DO NOT have an email list, it is up to YOU to stay informed about happenings with KSS. The best way to do that is to join KSS Cribmates if you are a KSS Adoptee!
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The National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC) in Korea assists Korean Adoptees only after a Korean Adoptee has exhausted all possible options for Birth Family Search through her or his Korean Adoption Agency (in this case, KSS).
Please Note: NCRC assists Korean Adoptees regardless of her or his Korean Adoption Agency. Even if you are not from KSS, NCRC can assist in your Birth Family Search by corresponding with your Korean Adoption Agency.
KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY should initiate a Birth Family Search through KSS FIRST, BEFORE contacting NCRC. In fact, UNTIL KSS files are moved to NCRC, *possibly starting around July 2025, KSS Adoptees should initiate a birth family search through KSS and not through NCRC. Please note that KSS Adoptees can request a NEW birth family search ONCE PER YEAR. Please do not be discouraged if after one birth family search attempt, KSS tells you “case closed”. They only mean that they cannot conduct a NEW birth family search until ONE YEAR has passed.
Before contacting NCRC, KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY must FIRST initiate a birth family search through KSS. Not only is this the required procedure of KSS and NCRC, but also, by officially requesting and receiving your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary from KSS, you will be triggering an official process which leads to a birth family search through NCRC. Once KSS provides you with your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary, you should ask them to initiate a birth family search through NCRC. (KSS should offer to help you to begin this process with NCRC, but does not always do so. You can simply email KSS to ask them to help you begin the birth family search process with NCRC. KSS should send you some forms to fill out). Learn how to request your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary through KSS here.
Important Note: Please do NOT initiate a Birth Family Search through KSS if you are NOT a KSS Adoptee.
You should initiate a Birth Family Search through your own Korean Adoption Agency - the major ones were Holt Korea, ESWS, SWS (now KWS) and KSS.
If you are not sure of your Korean or US Adoption Agencies, and you are a US Adoptee, you can file a FOIA request. If you are a European Adoptee, your K-Number style may indicate which Korean Agency you were through. Please contact us for more info.
Please do not contact NCRC until after you have tried everything that you can in terms of Birth Family Search with KSS (or your Korean Adoption Agency) first. If you initiate a Birth Family Search through NCRC prior to initiating a Birth Family Search with KSS (or your Korean Adoption Agency), KSS (or your Korean Adoption Agency) may decline to help you.
If you have exhausted all possible options with KSS (or your Korean Adoption Agency), you can initiate a Birth Family Search through NCRC via the KAS (Korean Adoption Service) website here.
NCRC has just 3 Birth Family Search workers for adult Overseas Korean Adoptees, and Korean Adoptees have reported issues with the website functionality many times.
IMPORTANT! Please be sure to watch this video from KAS about how to start a Birth Family Search directly with NCRC. (KAS is the former NCRC).
Download this NCRC PDF form about Tracing Your Origin.
*Please note that NCRC may be much more responsive to your requests when you are physically in Korea. You may need to take a translator for your visit. You can email them to set up an appointment:
NCRC Address in Seoul:
https://www.ncrc.or.kr/ncrc_en/cm/cntnts/cntntsView.do?mi=1227&cntntsId=1215
KAS, NCRC
6th Floor, G Tower,
71, Sambong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03150
NCRC Email: familysearch@ncrc.or.kr
Here is what the NCRC building looks like on Google Maps
The building is identifiable as:
Shilla Stay Gwanghwamun 신라스테이 광화문
*Please do not frivolously email / contact NCRC as they only have a few Birth Family Search workers to handle all adult international adoption cases. You may only hear back from NCRC a few times, so make your emails to them matter. Organize what you are requesting from them in advance.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
You May Be Able To Get Your Birth Parents’ Names From NCRC If You Have A Proven Genetic Disease.
An Adoptee recently wrote (in 2022): “I discovered that if you have a genetic disease, you can get your adoption record with the full details of your parents via NCRC. You do need a medical statement of your doctor that says you have a genetic disease with the contact details and signature of your doctor. For some diseases it’s clear that it’s a genetic disease even though you don’t know your biological background. This is how I got my birth mom’s full name and birthdate.”
Contact NCRC for more info.
Don’t Give Up - Part 1.
This information is geared toward KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees but the broad message is the same for all Korean Adoptees regardless of their Korean adoption agency:
We want to highlight something that a KSS Adoptee who is in reunion with his Korean family shared as good advice for birth family search:
"Why does everyone think the adoption agencies close the (KSS Adoptee's birth family search) file when there’s no response (from birth family after the first attempts at contact by KSS / NCRC)? Like they have any right to do that. They should reword it and say that this year they won’t do anything else, but you can always try again later.
Also, do you guys realize how little information is in those “letters” they (KSS / NCRC) sent out (to your birth family)? It basically asks if anyone in your family is missing. They can’t say that child you gave up for adoption x number of years ago.
When I worked in BFS (Birth Family Search), I found it more effective to plan your own trip to Korea, and then tell the agency (KSS) to send a letter to your (birth) family and let them know the dates you’ll be in Korea."
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Just because KSS / NCRC conducts 1 birth family search attempt that is not successful (for each attempt, they will attempt to send the birth family 3 separate letters), does not mean that you cannot ask KSS / NCRC to conduct a new birth family search each year. You can ask KSS / NCRC to conduct a new birth family search each year.
We want to add that you will always have the best chance of finding birth family when you are physically in Korea. You must work all of the prior steps in this list FIRST, but making an in-person appointment at NCRC when you are in Korea will yield the best results in terms of birth family search.
Don’t Give Up - Part 2:
This information is geared toward KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees but the broad message is the same for all Korean Adoptees regardless of their Korean adoption agency:
Once you have requested and received your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary from KSS via the “Option D” method, you must ask KSS to send you forms to help you start a birth family search through NCRC.
You can then decide if you want to start a birth family search through NCRC. If you do decide to go forward with a birth family search through NCRC, then you should request that KSS help you start this process. Email KSS to request the forms to start the birth family search process through NCRC.
Very often, KSS / NCRC will say that they tried to contact you birth family 3 times, but got no response. This does not mean this is the end of the story! You can always request that KSS / NCRC do another search in around 1 year.
The only time that birth family search is over is when we stop trying.
The best way to get anything done is to go physically to Korea, and work with NCRC in person. You can call to set up an appointment. Information about how to work with NCRC for birth family search is here:
How To Use NCRC For Birth Family Search
NCRC will make just 3 attempts to contact any known birth parents in your file, but even if these first attempts are unsuccessful, you can wait around one year and request that they try again.
Don't just take no for an answer and quit. The more you push, the further you may get. As one KSS Adoptee has mentioned, it is harder for NCRC to say no to someone who is in front of them than to an email from someone who is not in Korea at the time.
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It should be noted that BEFORE you work with NCRC, you MUST request and receive your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary (ACSS) from KSS FIRST. Even if you have previously obtained the Korean ACSS through other means, requesting it through the “Option D” method initiates a formal process that leads to a birth family search through NCRC. Please follow the steps here for requesting your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary via the "Option D" Method:
NCRC: Permanent Preservation of Adoption-Related Records.
Please see this link for a list of Korean orphanages whose adoption records have been digitalized by NCRC.
Search For Birth Family On The KAS Website(KAS Was The Predecessor To NCRC).
Adoptees Searching For Birth Family
Korean Birth Families Searching For Adoptees
We recommend using Google to search this site:
In your web browser, type for example:
site:kadoption.or.kr + "korea social service"
You can use this on any website and for any search term, with or without quotes (“ “). Use quotes for an exact match to your search term.
To use this trick on any website, simply remove the http://www. portion of the url (web address) and type:
site: (remaining website url) + “search term” with or without quotes (“ “). This will search any website more efficiently with Google.