[Chatting] 4 months pregnant, cheating husband with ex girlfriend..."If you erase your child, you'll be charged with murder".

□ Broadcast date and time: November 27, 2024 (Wednesday)
□ Host: Attorney Jo In-seop
□ Castor: Attorney Ryu Hyun-joo

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

□ SENT: I've been married to my husband for about two years. My husband and I met through a marriage information company. Because I got married at a late age, I went to the obstetrics and gynecology department from the beginning of my new marriage and underwent fertility procedures. Like that... I had a child with great difficulty and am currently in the fourth month. Both parents and their families were so happy and blessed. I concentrated on prenatal education, knowing that only happy things would happen in the future, but I found out that my husband was cheating on me. My affair partner was my husband's ex-girlfriend. I heard you met for about three years before you married me, but it turns out they've never been separated. In the midst of my marriage preparations, and in the midst of my efforts to have children, their relationship has continued. When I found out the truth, I was so shocked. I called my mother because I was worried about what would happen to the child in my stomach, but I couldn't calm down. I cried for a few days and decided. By organizing with my husband. But the child in the boat was still in front of my eyes. I wondered if a child born after despair would grow up happily. After a lot of thought, I decided to erase the child. But when my husband found out about this, he fumed. He has threatened to sue me and my mother for murder if she ever gets surgery without her consent. I asked the hospital, and they said the procedure is impossible without my husband's consent. What should I do?

◇ Lawyer Cho In-seop (hereinafter referred to as Cho In-seop): You made that decision because your husband had an affair, what is the attitude of the current laws and precedents regarding abortion?

◆ Attorney Ryu Hyun-joo (hereinafter referred to as Ryu Hyun-joo): Yes. The sender is in a very difficult situation. Currently, there is a legislative vacuum in which proper laws have not been made for abortion surgery. In other words, in 2019, a "constitutional nonconformity decision" was made on the provisions of abortion under the criminal law and Article 14 of the Mother and Child Health Act, which allows abortion under certain conditions if you are within 24 weeks of pregnancy. It is acknowledged that the current law overly restricts the basic rights of pregnant women, but it is judged that the current law will be temporarily applied until December 31, 2020 until the revised law is prepared. However, since December 31, 2020, the revised law has not been prepared until now. In this situation, front-line hospitals appear to be conservatively performing abortions to meet the conditions under the existing Mother and Child Health Act, especially with the consent of both couples to minimize legal conflicts. In your case, if your spouse does not agree to continue surgery, it may be practically difficult.

◇ Cho In-seop: If I go ahead with the abortion surgery, will you and your mother be punished?

◆ Ryu Hyun-joo: If you go to the hospital and have an abortion, it seems that your husband could go ahead with the criminal complaint as announced. First of all, under the criminal law, you are not punished for an abortion because, as I mentioned earlier, the abortion was decided in 2019 as constitutional inconsistency. Next, if you look at whether it is possible to punish murder, in principle, abortion does not mean that the object of murder is only "human" and the fetus in the stomach is not a human. However, if a child who came out through cesarean section or natural delivery is taken alive, it may be exceptionally punished for murder. The legal relations surrounding termination are very complicated. In the meantime, it seems that pregnant women's right to self-determination and health are seriously threatened, so reasonable supplementary legislation should be made.

◇ Jo In-seop: If a child is born during divorce proceedings, can I register as my husband's biological child?

◆ Ryu Hyun-joo: Yes. Of course. Even if you are in a divorce lawsuit, you can register your birth as your husband's biological child because you are still legally married and are presumed to be born. The 'presumption of paternity' is a civil law system that assumes that children born 200 days after the date of marriage and within 300 days from the date of termination of the marriage are presumed to be pregnant during the marriage. However, these days, genetic testing technology has developed so much that if the other party denies being the biological child, the genetic test is performed immediately.

◇ Jo In-seop: Can I get child support for my born child right away?

◆ Ryu Hyun-joo: There seems to be a possibility that the divorce proceedings will continue for a considerable period of time after you give birth to the child. In this case, you must apply for additional child support and pre-disposition of child support. In other words, you have to decide who has parental authority and custody of the child through a divorce lawsuit, so you have to add the child as a party to the case, and you have to apply for a preliminary disposition of child support to receive a certain amount of child support temporarily while the lawsuit continues. If you apply for a preliminary disposition, a preliminary disposition decision will be made for the payment of temporary child support within one to two months, and from then on, you can receive a certain amount of child support every month until the lawsuit is over.

◇ Cho In-seop: How do interview negotiations take place if the child is too young?

◆ Ryu Hyun-joo: Interview negotiation is the right of a non-custodial person who does not raise a child during or after a divorce to meet a child with the cooperation of the caregiver. There is also a usual method for interview negotiations. Every other month, interview negotiations are held, including a two-day stay twice a month. However, interview negotiations are also non-custodial rights, but since the child's emotions and welfare must be considered first, it is of course possible to transform them into various forms according to the situation. In the case of the sender, it would be practically impossible for the other person to take her as soon as the child is born and negotiate an interview for 1 night and 2 days. In this case, interview negotiations are expected to be excluded until the child grows up to a certain extent, and after that, it is possible to proceed with interview negotiations on the same day with the caregiver present. In addition, if there is a severe dispute over interview negotiations between the parties, the interview negotiation center in the family court may be used. Since the interview negotiation center has professional manpower, you can conduct interview negotiations relatively safely and smoothly.

◇ Jo In-seop: Now, to summarize what we've done so far... Currently, abortion surgery is conservative in accordance with legal conditions and I think it will be difficult if my husband does not agree to the surgery. Even if you have an abortion, you will not be punished for abortion under the criminal law, and surgery in the fetal state of the womb will not be punished for murder. Marriage is legally maintained during divorce proceedings, so you can register your birth as your husband's biological child. If divorce proceedings continue after childbirth, temporary child support can be received by applying for additional child support and pre-disposal child support. If the child is young, interview negotiations may take place on the same day with the caregiver's attendance, and the interview negotiation center may be used depending on the situation. So far, I've been with lawyer Ryu Hyun-joo.

◆ Ryu Hyun-joo: Yes, thank you.

◇ Cho In-seop: You can listen to <Attorney Cho In-seop's Counseling Office> again on YouTube and the website. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a message on the consultation bulletin board on the website.