Patients speak out over OB-GYN doctor's offensive remarks at Jeju clinic

Accounts of patients receiving offensive remarks from a specific doctor at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Jeju are spreading across SNS.

According to Yonhap, a complainant identified as A said on SNS that during a recent visit to the clinic, a doctor identified as B peppered her with questions unrelated to her care — including where she lived and whether she was married. "Even while I was sitting in the examination chair, he kept asking, 'Do you have kids? Are you not going to have any?'" she said.

She added that the doctor then abruptly said, "You should have children. Why don't you! So how do you use contraception?" When she told him her method, she said he laughed and replied, "You'll make a mistake soon."

A said she had been visiting the clinic for years because another doctor there was kind and attentive, but had ended up seeing B because her regular doctor was unavailable that day. She turned her experience into a webcomic and posted it on SNS.

"After I posted the webcomic, many people commented calling it sexual harassment, and I also received several private messages from people who said they had similar experiences with doctor B," A said.

In one such message, a woman identified as C said she had visited the clinic for an ultrasound while pregnant. When the doctor remarked that the baby's legs were short and she responded that both she and her husband were tall, B asked, "Is the father someone different?"

"When I gave him a serious look, the doctor said, 'It was a joke — you're supposed to laugh. Everyone else laughed,'" C said. "I was disgusted."

Another person who sent a private message wrote, "I went home and cried after being hurt there. I can't believe there are others who went through the same thing."

Yet another person who said she had been treated by B wrote, "The rude remarks and so-called jokes he made to us were no small thing," while someone else said, "I still go to that clinic, but I only ever ask for a female doctor."

A representative of a women's organization in Jeju said that even when uncomfortable situations arise, patients often do not recognize them as such, and the intimate nature of obstetric care makes many reluctant to speak out. "In practice, it seems that harm like this occurs at OB-GYN clinics more often than people realize," she said.

Multiple attempts to reach the clinic for comment went unanswered.