US Adoption Statistics

May 11, 2021 | Adoption

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Adopting children is a very popular practice in the US, which allows children from all across the country to be raised in loving families. However, adopting a child is not easy and requires guidance from an experienced adoption professional. If you are looking to adopt a child, then you will be excited to see the statistics you are going to see here below:

 

US Adoption Statistics

 

    1. More than 33% of Americans think of adopting a child, but only 2% actually adopt one. (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a35860/adoption-statistics/

 

    1. US citizens have adopted a significant number of international children, but that rate declined after 2011 because of stringent international adoptions procedure.

 

    1. The number of open adoptions has gone high in recent years with around 60-70% of domestic adoptions being considered as open adoptions where both birth and adoptive parents discuss all the necessary things about the adopted child.

 

    1. You won’t believe but the population of adopted Americans is touching 7 million. (http://adoptionmap.com/adoption/)

 

    1. More than 1.5 million children are adopted in the US, which makes them 2% of the total population. (https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-myths-facts/domestic-us-statistics/)

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    2. Every year, families in the US adopt around 135,000 children. (http://archive.pov.org/offandrunning/fact-sheet/)

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    3. Nearly 100 million Americans adopt in their immediate family, whether it includes placing, adopting, or being adopted. (https://www.findlaw.com/family/adoption/adoption-statistics-and-legal-trends.html)

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    1. 62% of the children in the US are adopted within the first month of their birth.

 

    1. There are around 135,000 children in the US who are adopted each year out of which, 15% are voluntarily relinquished babies, 26% are from other parts of the world and 59% are from foster families. (http://archive.pov.org/offandrunning/fact-sheet/)

 

    1. A large number of American couples want to adopt, around 1-2 million couples. Every year, the US witnesses 800,000 to 1 million abortions. Only 4% of women with unwanted pregnancies give birth to children, which then are adopted by willing couples or individuals. (https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2019/09/us-abortion-rate-continues-drop-once-again-state-abortion-restrictions-are-not-main)

 

    1. Of all the adopted children, 37% are non-Hispanic white whereas 73% of adoptive parents are non-Hispanic white. 40% of total adopted children are of a different race, ethnicity, or culture compared to their adoptive parents. (https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-myths-facts/domestic-us-statistics/)

 

    1. On average, a child waits for more than 3 years before being adopted and around 11% spend 5 years or more until they are adopted. Therefore, the average age of children who have to wait in foster care before they are adopted is 8 years. (https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/temporary-haven-children-and-youth-are-spending-less-time-foster-care/length-time-spent-foster-care)

 

    1. There are more than 400,000 children in foster care in the US. While some of those will be reunified with their families or adopted by their new families, many will remain in foster homes for years to come. (https://www.adoptuskids.org/meet-the-children/children-in-foster-care/about-the-children)

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    2. On average, over 60% of children spend 2-5 years in foster care before being adopted. Almost 20% will spend 5 or more years in foster care. Some children will never find an adoptive family. (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a35860/adoption-statistics/ )

 

    1. Of 400,000+ children staying in foster care, more than 25% won’t return to their families and wait to be adopted. Those children include a huge number of African American children, more children with an age of 6 years, and more and more males than females. (https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-myths-facts/domestic-us-statistics/)

 

  1. The US government spends a staggering $4.3 billion on foster care, which roughly estimates to $6,675 per child. (https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-myths-facts/domestic-us-statistics/)

 

These are some of the most fascinating stats about child adoption in the US.

Are you interested in adopting? Connected by Love Adoptions can help!