Janine Myung Ja was adopted from Seoul, South Korea, in 1972, which resulted in her investigation into intercountry adoption and child trafficking. She curated numerous books on transracial and overseas adoption, including “Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists,” “The Unknown Culture Club: Korean Adoptees, Then and Now,” and “Adoption: What You Should Know.” These books explore the experiences and perspectives of adopted people from various countries. The narratives also point out the challenges adopted people face, including issues related to identity, culture, and belonging. JANINE and her twin submitted their adoption file to be examined by Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2022, along with more than three hundred Korean-born adoptees. Fifty years after her overseas adoption, the findings of the report recently confirmed Janine's suspicions that overseas adoptions were “illegal” and a “serious human rights violation.” Since 2004, Janine has written critically about the Evangelical Orphan Movement (EOM). To raise awareness on the crisis of child trafficking, which fills the adoption market, she serves as the Executive Director of Against Child Trafficking in the USA. She is adamantly opposed to the overseas child market spearheaded by missionaries who have profited from the now billion-dollar Adoption and Child Welfare industry and exploited vulnerable women, children, and families globally.
