Marketing orphans for adoption

As I continue to read this book on Korean orphans after the war, the tone is quite critical of the US military efforts to take care of the orphans. However, the author also from time to time acknowledges the good work of the military to help the orphans. The Korean government was unable to support the orphans, so the American military and missionaries filled the gap. What is interesting is how the orphans were prepared for adoption. Pate describes the "Oriental doll" look to make the children palatable to prospective American parents. The children were all dressed the same with similar hair styles to level the playing field. Pate claims the orphanages tried to Americanize them to make the orphans more marketable. There was a race and cultural barrier to overcome in order to adopt from Korea.

I wonder if that was a deliberate marketing ploy or simply Americans trying to provide some type of order and life for the orphans. Americans would be more likely to add American ways because that is what they know. The author does not cover what would have happened had the American military and missionaries not built orphanages or supported the children. Would they simply just die? The destruction of modern warfare leaves a larger imbalance of dead and destruction of the land.


Pate, S. (2014). From orphan to adoptee. U.S. empire and genealogies of Korean adoption. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press