In this heart-breaking report about the Baby Box, follow a man who’s dedicated his life to saving South Korea’s unwanted babies. With hundreds of them being abandoned every year, why has the government ordered him to stop?

Up to 18 babies a month end up in pastor Lee Jong Rak’s Baby Box, a box attached to his house for women to leave their unwanted children in. “The babies that come here are the ones who’d otherwise die,” he says. The shame of having a baby out of wedlock leaves many women feeling desperate. But some say the Baby Box encourages mothers to abandon babies without registration, slowing down the adoption process. Pastor Lee’s been ordered to shut down his facility, but remains defiant: “There is nothing illegal about saving someone’s life.”

Baby Box in South Korea