China has been steadily cutting back the numbers of healthy, well-adjusted orphans being made available for adoptions; a majority of Chinese children now available to U.S. adoptive families have special physical or emotional needs.
Adoptions from Guatemala (the #1 country in 2008) and Vietnam (#6 in 2008) have dropped significantly because adoptions from those countries have been plagued by corruption, and adoptions from those countries have been shut down indefinitely.
Domestic adoptions of newborns are also decreasing. Because of our current economic recession, many adoption agencies mistakenly believed more women in crisis pregnancies would decide to place their unborn babies for adoption.
According to a New York Times article by Susan Dominus, that hasn’t happened.
Dawn Smith-Pliner, founder of Vermont-based Friends in Adoption, told the Times that pregnant women are instead thinking:
“…if the achievable goal, a half-decent job, isn’t an option to work toward, then I might as well keep the baby — that’s tangible.”
Single motherhood continues to gain societal acceptance, and women who are considering placing a child for adoption may be foregoing traditional adoption agencies in favor of researching and networking with prospective adoptive parents online.
Intercountry, Domestic Adoptions Down Significantly
in Adoption Statistics, News, Issues, & Commentary
The numbers are in: International adoptions for fiscal year 2009 (10-1-08 – 9-30-09) dipped 27 percent from 2008, to 12,753.
Intercountry adoptions peaked in 2004, with 22,884 children from other countries finding homes with U.S. families.
The top 10 countries from which U.S. families adopted in fiscal year 2009 were:
In an Associated Press article, David Crary writes:
Adoptions from Guatemala (the #1 country in 2008) and Vietnam (#6 in 2008) have dropped significantly because adoptions from those countries have been plagued by corruption, and adoptions from those countries have been shut down indefinitely.
Domestic adoptions of newborns are also decreasing. Because of our current economic recession, many adoption agencies mistakenly believed more women in crisis pregnancies would decide to place their unborn babies for adoption.
According to a New York Times article by Susan Dominus, that hasn’t happened.
Dawn Smith-Pliner, founder of Vermont-based Friends in Adoption, told the Times that pregnant women are instead thinking:
Single motherhood continues to gain societal acceptance, and women who are considering placing a child for adoption may be foregoing traditional adoption agencies in favor of researching and networking with prospective adoptive parents online.
Sources: