Adoption Stats

While the total number of adoptions in the United States has alternatively risen and fallen over the past thirty years, it has remained relatively stable over the past ten years.  Breaking down the total number, international adoptions have increased over both time periods, and domestic adoptions have varied over the past thirty years and increased in the past ten years.  Looking at domestic adoption, foster care adoptions have outnumbered infant adoptions since the 1970s.  A more specific overview of current adoption numbers and attitudes is provided below.

General Adoption Numbers

·        6 million adopted individuals – including minors and adults – reside in the United States.[1]

·        2002 adoption numbers[2]:

o       Domestic adoptions: More than 130,000

o       International adoptions: More than 21,000

o       Total adoptions: More than 150,000

o       Unrelated domestic adoptions: More than 76,000

o       Related domestic adoptions: More than 54,000

o       Public agency (primarily foster care) adoptions: Almost 43,000

o       Private agency adoptions: 17,000

o       Independent/private adoptions: 16,000

o       Domestic infant adoptions: 22,000

·        The annual number of domestic adoption has remained relatively constant for the past 20 years, ranging from 118,000 to 130,000.[3]

·        International and foster care adoptions now comprise more than half of all adoptions.[4]

·        In 2001, the top five states for total number of adoptions were[5]:

o       New York

o       California

o       Florida

o       Texas

o       Illinois

·        65,000 children (4% of all adopted children) are living with a lesbian or gay identified adoptive parent.[6]

Foster Care Adoption Numbers

·        In 2004, states spent more than $23.3 billion dollars on child welfare services[7]:

o       $11.7 billion of federal funds

o       $9.1 billion of state funds

o       $2.5 billion of local funds.

·        The average age of children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted is 8.2 years.[8]

·        Children who are waiting to be adopted have spent an average of almost 40 months in continuous foster care.[9]

·        20,000 youths aged out of the foster care system, or reached the age of 18 and lost eligibility for state funded housing and support, in 2007.[10]

·        127,000 of the approximately 510,000 children in the U.S. foster care system are available and waiting for adoption.  Only those foster children whose parental rights have been terminated and/or those who are legally assigned a goal of adoption are eligible for adoption placement.  The other 383,000 children in foster care – whose parental rights have not been terminated – are not waiting for adoption at this time.[11]

·        There are more than 450 married couples in the U.S. for each child waiting to be adopted out of foster care.[12]

·        There are more than three places of worship in the U.S. for each child waiting to be adopted out of foster care.[13]  In other words, if just one person from each church adopted one child from foster care, we would place all orphans in homes - three times over.

·        Of all the children adopted from foster care in 2006[14]:

o       69 percent of children were adopted by married couples

o       26 percent were adopted by single females

o       3 percent were adopted by single males

o       2 percent were adopted by unmarried couples

General Attitudes about Adoption

• 72 percent of adults hold a very favorable opinion of adoption.[15]
• 10 million married couples in America would be interested in adopting an infant if they thought it was feasible.[16]
• More than 50 percent of Americans agree that for an unmarried woman with an unplanned pregnancy, adoption is a positive option.[17]
• Exposure to adoption improves peoples’ opinions of infant and foster care adoption.[18]
• Only one-third of Americans believe that same-sex parents can definitely provide a healthy environment for adopted children.[19]
• More people believe that same sex parents cannot provide a healthy and loving environment for children than any other category of adoptive parents.[20]

Attitudes about Foster Care Adoption

• While almost 90 percent of Americans are familiar with adoption in general, only 80 percent of Americans are familiar with foster care adoption.[21]  For an explanation of the different types of adoption, please see Focus on the Family’s “Domestic Adoption” site.
• While more than one-third of Americans have a negative opinion of the foster care sy