The implementation of the Birth Notification System in South Korea, aimed at improving the registration of newborns, still left many children unregistered. A report from the National Assembly's Legislative Research Service revealed that from July 2024, when the system was introduced, until the end of December last year, 381 children faced delayed registration. A staggering 92.1% of these cases (354 children) were tied to legal conflicts surrounding parentage, primarily involving claims to deny paternity which obstructed timely registration. This indicates the system's reliance on legal affirmation of parentage before formal registration can occur.

The report highlighted that these unregistered children, termed 'identified shadow children,' are caught in a legal limbo due to South Korea's civil law concerning presumed parentage. Specifically, civil law Article 844 presumes children born during marriage or within 300 days of divorce to be the legal offspring of the husband or ex-husband. This creates a significant problem for children born from remarriages or non-marital births, as their actual guardians or biological fathers may differ, yet they are still recorded under their ex-husbands' names. The necessary legal procedures to correct these discrepancies place children in a position without legal identity while disputes are being resolved.

The report further emphasized that even when provisional registrations are made, the dignity of these children is compromised. It pointed to a structural issue where the process of recognizing births does not consistently translate into formal registrations, which perpetuates the existence of these 'identified shadow children.' It called for a comprehensive redesign of family laws to address these complexities and prevent such issues in the future.