1. Five Infants Discovered Inside Boxes

A mass discovery of infant bones and decomposed bodies was made at an apartment in Orange, southeastern France. Orange is a small town of about 30,000 residents located in the Vaucluse department in southern France, and this incident occurring in a peaceful residential area has deeply shocked the local community.

A forensic expert confirmed, "The recovered bones and decomposed bodies belong to a total of five infants." Prosecutors classified the case as a murder investigation. Under French criminal law, charges of murder of a minor could be applied. Specialized organized crime units of the National Police were immediately deployed to determine the exact cause of death and the timing of the abandonments.

2. A Shocking Discovery Arising From an Argument

Here is how the case came to light.

A 32-year-old woman gave birth to a baby alone at home on Sunday, July 26. Her 32-year-old male partner living with her testified, "I became anxious because I once again learned about my partner's pregnancy very late."

The following day, Monday, while the woman was transported to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain, the man remained at home and began searching through sealed boxes after an earlier argument with his partner over their contents. He then discovered what appeared to be human bones and brought one decomposed infant body to the hospital.

The hospital immediately alerted authorities, and a search was conducted on Monday evening. Bones belonging to four additional infants were discovered in the boxes.

An investigative official told Le Parisien, "This woman gave birth to her third child this time, which was the result of a third 'denial of pregnancy.'" This means it is the third instance in which the woman carried a pregnancy to delivery without realizing she was pregnant. However, as this was determined early in the investigation, concerns have been raised that there may actually have been more cases of pregnancy denial.

Autopsies are currently underway on the decomposed body along with forensic analysis of the bones. DNA matching and genetic testing are in progress to establish whether the couple are the biological parents of the infants and to determine the exact time of death.

The woman remains hospitalized and has not yet been questioned. The man testified that he was entirely unaware of the possibility of his partner's pregnancy, and he was released after undergoing voluntary questioning.

3. What Is 'Denial of Pregnancy'?

'Denial of pregnancy' is not a simple lie or concealment, but a psychological and physical condition recognized by the medical community.

It is a state where a woman is unaware of or unconsciously denies her pregnancy, and it is not uncommon for neither the woman herself nor those around her to notice the pregnancy even past 20 weeks. Physical signs themselves often appear faint—such as the belly not showing noticeably, fetal movement not being felt, or irregular menstruation continuing. In severe cases, women mistake labor pains for indigestion or constipation, head to the restroom instead of a hospital, and give birth on the spot.

Experts explain this as a psychological defense mechanism. When factors such as unwanted pregnancy, financial hardship, relationship instability, and the burden of having other children overlap, the brain blocks the reality of pregnancy from cognitive awareness. The problem is that if this state continues past childbirth, it can lead to an extreme impairment of judgment, where the newborn is perceived as 'not real.' Indeed, 'denial of pregnancy' has been treated as a key issue influencing sentencing in several court trials in both France and South Korea.

4. "Charming and Ordinary Neighbors"

The cohabiting couple already has two children, aged 8 and 9. The man worked a job, while the woman was a full-time homemaker.

One neighbor told AFP in an interview that the couple were "charming people in their 30s" and "ordinary people." Another neighbor said, "The mother brought the children home from school at lunchtime to feed them, and the father went to work in the morning and returned in the evening."

Prosecutors have referred the couple's two older children to child welfare services for an emergency assessment. A temporary protective order was also issued for the newborn born on July 26, who will be referred to a juvenile court judge.

5. France's Recurring Tragedy

Similar cases have repeatedly occurred in France.

In March of this year, a 44-year-old woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing two newborns and storing them in a freezer, and in 2018, a woman suffering from depression was sentenced to eight years for drowning five newborns and keeping them frozen. In another case, a jury acknowledged that a woman charged with killing multiple newborns had "impaired judgment," leading to a reduced sentence.

These rulings show that the French judiciary has broadly accepted 'denial of pregnancy' as a mitigating factor in criminal sentencing. However, they also serve as proof that punishment alone cannot prevent such tragedies from recurring.

6. The 2006 Seorae Village Case — 'Frozen Babies' That Shook South Korea

Tragedies involving 'denial of pregnancy' and infant abandonment have also occurred in South Korea. Twenty years ago in 2006, the 'infant murder and abandonment case' unfolded in Seorae Village, Seocho District, Seoul.

At the time, Jean-Louis Courjault, a French expatriate working for Renault Samsung, lived in Seorae Village with his wife, Véronique Courjault, and their two sons. On July 23, 2006, Jean-Louis returned alone from a vacation in France and reported to police after finding the bodies of two infants in his home freezer.

The National Institute of Scientific Investigation first established through detailed DNA testing that Jean-Louis was the biological father, and subsequently confirmed that Véronique was the biological mother using DNA collected from her toothbrush and earpick. By that time, however, the couple had already departed for France and sparked controversy over fleeing after refusing to return, claiming they "could not trust the DNA analysis of South Korean investigative authorities."

Ultimately in September of that year, French prosecutors made an emergency arrest of the couple, and Véronique confessed, stating it was a "sole crime committed behind her husband's back." She testified that "she felt an urge to kill during pregnancy and strangled the babies as soon as they were born." The births took place in a bathtub alone while her husband was on business trips in 2002 and 2003. During the trial, the existence of a third victim was revealed, bringing the total number of infants she killed to three.

Taking into account the psychological factor of 'denial of pregnancy,' the Assize Court of Orléans in France ultimately sentenced her to eight years in prison, and Véronique was paroled after four years under the condition that she make no contact with the media. This case served as the catalyst that first widely introduced the phenomenon of 'denial of pregnancy' to South Korean society.

7. The 2023 Suwon Refrigerator Case and 'Ghost Children'

This issue resurfaced in South Korea in 2023 when the bodies of two infants were found inside a refrigerator at an apartment in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Investigations revealed that the biological mother, then in her 30s, had murdered and abandoned the infants immediately after giving birth in 2018 and 2019, and she was ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison.

The shock of the case did not end there. A comprehensive investigation subsequently conducted by the government revealed that this incident was merely the tip of the iceberg. Between 2015 and 2022, there were over 2,000 children who remained unregistered and existed only as temporary newborn identification numbers, and 249 of them—or 11.7%—were already deceased. A total of 601 had been abandoned in baby boxes and other locations, while 45 were confirmed to have died without relatives after failing to receive even a temporary newborn number. Children who existed but went unrecorded in state systems came to be called 'ghost children.'

According to an SBS analysis at the time of the incident, there was an annual gap of 5,000 to 6,000 between the number of newborns receiving BCG tuberculosis vaccinations and the actual number of birth registrations. This meant that every year, thousands of children were born in hospitals and even received vaccinations, yet remained listed as 'never born' in government records.

Under South Korean law at the time, hospitals had no obligation to notify local governments of a child's birth, placing the reporting responsibility entirely on parents. Failing to report incurred no criminal punishment, carrying only an administrative fine of 50,000 won. Critics repeatedly pointed out that this loophole created a blind spot for infant murder and abandonment crimes.

8. Institutional Alternatives: A Safety Net for Pregnant Women in Crisis

Both France and South Korea have moved to reform institutional measures whenever such tragedies recurred.

France has long operated an 'anonymous birth system.' This system allows pregnant women in crisis to give birth safely in hospitals without disclosing their identity, with costs covered by the state and the mother's name omitted from birth records. However, as shown in the recent Orange case, limitations were reaffirmed: the safety net fails to function when individuals are unaware of the system's existence or fail to seek hospital care because they do not realize they are pregnant.

Following the Suwon case, South Korea enacted two new laws. One is the 'Birth Notification System,' which mandates that medical institutions notify local governments when a child is born. The other is the 'Special Act on Support for Crisis Pregnancy and Protected Birth (Protected Birth System),' which allows pregnant women in crisis seeking anonymous delivery to give birth without exposing their identity and receive counseling and support. Both laws passed the National Assembly in June 2023 and went into effect on July 19, 2024.

Experts contend that steps must go further. Because cases of 'denial of pregnancy' often go unrecognized even by the women themselves, merely publicizing the existence of institutional systems has limitations. Consequently, proposed measures include early detection systems for high-risk pregnant women linked to routine obstetric checkups, home-visit counseling services targeting isolated pregnant women, and expanded outreach to lower the threshold for crisis pregnancy counseling. Because harsher punishment alone cannot undo tragedies that have already occurred, experts emphasize the need for a preventive safety net capable of identifying crises before pregnancies come to light.

While institutions have been established, now is the time to reflect on whether these systems are failing to reach the very people who need help most.


Deep Dive Q&A
Q1. What exactly is 'denial of pregnancy,' and how is it connected to the 2006 'Seorae Village case'?

A. 'Denial of pregnancy' is a medical condition in which a woman unconsciously or psychologically rejects or fails to recognize her own pregnancy completely. In many cases, physical changes such as morning sickness or a showing belly hardly manifest even months into pregnancy. In the case of Véronique Courjault, the French woman who murdered and abandoned two newborns (later confirmed to be three) in Seorae Village, Seoul, in 2006, the symptom of 'denial of pregnancy' was similarly recognized during her trial, treated as a mitigating factor in French court, and resulted in an eight-year prison sentence.

Q2. How will the investigation into this infant abandonment case in Orange proceed moving forward?

A. Under the direction of the Carpentras Prosecutor's Office, specialized criminal investigation units of the National Police will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death of the decomposed body. Detailed DNA and skeletal analyses will also be carried out on the bones of the four infants to establish biological paternity with the couple, determine whether death occurred in utero, and investigate potential homicide. Once the woman currently hospitalized recovers, formal detention along with forensic and psychiatric evaluations will take place.

Q3. What institutional mechanisms have countries like South Korea and France implemented to prevent such tragedies of infant abandonment?

A. France operates an 'anonymous birth system' guaranteeing anonymous deliveries to help pregnant women in crisis give birth safely in hospitals without revealing their identity. South Korea has similarly strengthened its legal safety net since the 2023 Suwon infant case by enforcing the 'Birth Notification System'—requiring medical institutions to report births to local governments—and the 'Special Act on Support for Crisis Pregnancy and Protected Birth (Protected Birth System),' allowing anonymous delivery and parenting support, starting in July 2024. Experts emphasize that alongside these measures, counseling and monitoring systems capable of detecting high-risk pregnant women at an early stage must also be established.