The Current State of Birth Family Search.
Posted: March 6th, 2025
We don’t think that Korean Adoptees understand the extent to which the future of birth family search may largely boil down to DNA Testing.
And one of the biggest commercial DNA tests -
23 and Me - has gone bankrupt.
Update - March 24th, 2025:
URGENT: 23 and Me, the test with the most Korean DNA in its database, has filed for BANKRUPTCY.
If possible, download your raw data and screen capture your closest matches.
This article contains steps for how to delete your data on 23 and Me.
We’ve been talking for over one year (since February 2024) about the coming movement of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to the Korean Government Agency NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) on July 19th, 2025.
While we hope for good things, we’re not optimistic about NCRC’s handling of our adoption documents. NCRC’s current President has admitted that it may take 10 years to sort out the file transfer.
Please see:
IMPORTANT! New Changes Coming To NCRC in 2025 - Including NEW Address!
New MBC Video Highlights The Failures of NCRC. KSS Adoptees Should Act NOW
With the file transfer looming on July 19th, 2025, we wanted to convey to Korean Adoptees some IMMEDIATE ISSUES which - if you have a strong interest in birth family search - you may need to take IMMEDIATE ACTION on (as of this writing on March 6th, 2025).
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PLEASE NOTE:
Prior to the file transfer on July 19th, 2025, we highly recommend that Korean Adoptees - especially KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees - contact their relevant KOREAN ADOPTION AGENCY for a birth family search and to request any relevant documents BEFORE the file transfer to NCRC. However, the closer you get to July 19th, 2025, the less likely you are to receive a response from your Korean Adoption Agency. If you have interest in birth family search, please act NOW!
KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees please see:
KSS Adoptees MUST ACT NOW To Request A Birth Family Search + KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary!
ALL Korean Adoptees Please see:
IMPORTANT! New Changes Coming To NCRC in 2025 - Including NEW Address!
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Below are a few IMMEDIATE ISSUES which directly impact birth family search. If you have a strong interest in birth family search, you may need to
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION.
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IMMEDIATE ISSUE 1:
23 and Me Is In Trouble Has Gone Bankrupt But May Hold Your Largest Number of DNA Matches.
URGENT: 23 and Me, the test with the most Korean DNA in its database, has filed for BANKRUPTCY.
If possible, download your raw data and screen capture your closest matches.
This article contains steps for how to delete your data on 23 and Me.
*Please note that we always recommend taking
ALL POSSIBLE DNA TESTS.
Please see our DNA Testing Page for more info.
23 and Me, the DNA test with the MOST KOREAN DNA in its database BY FAR, is facing severe financial challenges has gone bankrupt and may sell its data.
Update - March 24th, 2025: Please note that in light of 23 and Me’s recent bankruptcy, taking 23 and Me is NO LONGER AN OPTION.
If you have already taken 23 and Me, we strongly advise that you screencapture the individual pages of any close relative matches, and download your raw data.
*It should be noted that Hapa (Mixed Race) Korean Adoptees will have more matches in general on almost any DNA test than full blooded Koreans, because more black / white persons take DNA tests than do Koreans.
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IMMEDIATE ISSUE 2:
For US Adoptees ONLY:
FOIA
(Freedom of Information Act) Is Federally Funded. And The Federal Government is Currently Being De-Funded.
Please see our FOIA Request For US Adoptees page for more info. and important instructions about how to file a FREE FOIA request. Please CAREFULLY READ the entire page linked above BEFORE you file a FREE FOIA request.
FOIA is one of the best ways for US Korean Adoptees to obtain US-side adoption documents, since Korean Adoptees were adopted across international borders. This is especially useful for those Korean Adoptees who have no adoption documents in their possession and are not able to obtain any from their adoptive parents. However, FOIA is federally funded, and the federal government is currently being de-funded. We can no longer take FOIA for granted.
IF you are a Natura*ized Citizen, and wish to file a FREE FOIA request, we highly recommend that you do that NOW following our Paperslip Guide below. Please note that if you do not follow our detailed instructions, your FOIA request may fail, and you have a limited number of attempts at filing. The process is simple but it is VERY IMPORTANT to follow our instructions for filing to have a successful FOIA request:
FOIA Request For US Adoptees
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FUTURE ISSUE 1:
After July 19th, 2025:
ALL Korean Adoptees with an interest in birth family search will have to submit their searches to NCRC - likely through the KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website, which has been riddled with technical issues for YEARS.
*Please note we do not know exactly what the process for birth family search through NCRC will look like YET. However, it is likely that Korean Adoptees will have to use the KAS website, whose technical issues with creating a login, amongst other things, have been KNOWN AND UNRESOLVED FOR YEARS.
Brace yourselves. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
NCRC recently REMOVED its email address from its website. So we do not even know which (if any) email address they currently use.
Also, please DO NOT expect NCRC to be up and running and ready to go the day after July 19th, 2025 to handle your birth family search requests. Frankly, we have no idea how the file transfer from ALL Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC will go, nor how long it will take. We will likely only learn that NCRC / KAS is “open for business” by word of mouth, and not by direct announcement by NCRC or KAS. NCRC recently moved offices, but only announced this in a tiny graphic on their KOREAN website.
Apparently NCRC’s Korean Government Agency predecessors have had a bad habit of abandoning old email addresses without telling anyone.
*We will update our site when we know for sure what the process will be for birth family search after July 19th, 2025.