Adoption statistics

The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) recently released the "Adoption Factbook V" which has statistics and articles about adoption.

While there has been a decline in the number of infant adoptions, the increase in overall
domestic adoption is due to a rise in adoptions by relatives as well as adoptions from foster
care.

Overall, domestic adoption has increased in recent years; In 2007, 133,737 domestic adoptions
were reported, an increase of 3,468 (2.6%) over the reported 130,269 domestic adoptions
in 2002.
 
Related adoptions (including step-parent adoptions and other family member adoptions)
have increased by 2,992 (5.5%), with 57,248 reported in 2007 compared to 54,256 in
2002.


55,684 children were adopted from foster care in 2009, an increase over previous years.  There are currently about 114,556 children in the US foster care system who are eligible for adoption.

The number of domestic infant adoptions obviously fluctuates from year to year, but it has been
on the decline since 1992, and the latest study by NCFA reveals that this is a continuing trend. 
There were only 18,078 domestic infant adoptions in 2007 (the most recent year for which this
study was able to obtain statistics), compared to 22,291 in 2002. This 18.9% decrease
indicates that there is still much work to be done in order to ensure that women facing
unintended pregnancies are fully informed, educated, and able to consider the option of
adoption on an equal basis with all other pregnancy options.

There were 11,059 immigrant orphan adoptions reported in 2010, a 35.8% decrease from 17,229 in 2008.  This also reflects an overall five-year decline in intercountry adoptions of 51.7% since 2004 (when 22,900 intercountry adoptions were reported).


While there has been a decrease in domestic infant and intercountry adoption over the past several years, there has been no decrease in the number of American families willing to adopt.  In fact, the opposite is true; many families wait for years in order to adopt children.

You may find it helpful to read the chapters “Should she make an adoption plan?” and “Dedication Service” in our book “How To Survive Your Teen’s Pregnancy“.

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