Adoption Statistics?

Question

Do you know where I could find "acurate" stats on adoption in the U.S. such as how many children are put up for adoption a year, how many actually get adopted, and how many couples/ persons are looking to adopt?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I cannot answer all of your question but am happy to share what I know.

I have heard that there is no agency in the US (assuming that you are in the US) that keeps adoption statistics.  I think that part of the problem is that adoption has been "privatized", meaning that helping the adoption industry make a profit is more important to our government that tracking and understanding social trends and the needs of the populace.

I do not know how many children (without regards to age) are put up for adoption every year, but I have read that for every infant available for adoption there are 40 individuals or couples who are in competition to adopt the baby.  I have also read that approximately 50% of the expectant mothers who plan to give their children away change their minds after they give birth and realize that they love their babies too much to entrust them to strangers.

There are some 10 year old studies that report less that 2% of unplanned pregnancies result in adoption, meaning that greater than 98% choose abortion, parenting, or family kinship care. Link -->  http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_place...

I realize that my answer is very piecemeal, but I felt badly that you were not getting any answers.

Answer 2

The numbers vary, however, the most recent numbers from Adoptive Families Magazine were as follows, give or take you understand

adoptions in US last year 100,000 (this includes foster children)

Out of that number, roughly 25,000 were infants, or newborns.

As far as the number of couples looking to adopt, I only know that the number of couples "seeking newborns" rate 3-1, meaning 3 couples to every one baby available. The reason why the wait may be a year, two or even longer depending on criteria of the couple.

These amounts may vary, but they give you a rough idea.

I also read that US adoptions last year were greater than US/International adoptions. Meaning, more US adoptions (domestic) occured in the US than International. I was suprised to hear this with all of the media hype on international adoptions. You can see how they can totally blow something out of proportion!