Every year during November, public and private advocacy groups host National Adoption Month (NAM) in order to raise awareness about the children and families of adoption and bring attention not only to the unique issues they face, but also focus national attention on children in foster care awaiting adoption, or on the verge of aging out of foster care without an adoptive family or permanent family relationships and support.
National Adoption Month (NAM) began in 1976 in Massachusetts, when Governor Michael Dukakis initiated a statewide Adoption Week to encourage families to consider adopting kids in the Massachusetts foster care system. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan launched the first National Adoption Week, and in 1995, President Bill Clinton increased the scope and length of the adoption awareness movement, and National Adoption Month was born.
About National Adoption Month
President Clinton expanded the awareness week to an awareness month to achieve the following goals:
- Leverage the use of online resources to increase adoption from foster care
- Lower costs associated with adoption
- Allow states to set their own rules and regulations for adoption
- Reduce barriers to adoption based on race and ethnicity
- Provide legal protections for adoptive kids and families, such as paid family leave for new adoptive parents.
Fast forward twenty-none years to 2024, when NAM organizers at the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) and Children’s Bureau: An Office of the Administration for Children & Families, both divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration the Child Welfare Information Gateway (CWG), chose the following theme for NAM 2024:
“Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds”
This theme is designed to address several goals:
- Help young people build and sustain lifelong networks of support.
- Help young people build and sustain lifelong networks of community.
- Provide a sense of belonging and relationship permanency for young people.
- Ensure youth benefit from lasting relationships
- Ensure youth have holistic supports and opportunities.
In this article, we’ll share the latest facts and figures on adoption, briefly address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adoption, then discuss adoption in the context of foster care. We’ll end by debunking common myths around adoption and offer suggestions for how we can all raise awareness about adoption.
Adoption Statistics: How Many Adopted Kids Are There?
Probably more than you think.
Adoptions most often occur in two ways: public and private.
Public adoptions occur through federal, state, and local child welfare agencies, whereas private adoptions occur through private adoption agencies. All types of adoption agencies must follow the rules and regulations established by federal, state, and local child welfare agencies. First, we’ll share the big-picture statistics on adoption in the U.S., then focus on the lates adoptions statistic for which we have credible, verified data, retrieved from a report published by The Adoption Council called “Adoption by the Numbers.”
Here are the overall adoption figures for the U.S.:
Adoption: Facts and Figures
- Around 5 million people in the U.S. are adopted.
- About 4.5 million are children – roughly 7% of children in the U.S.
- 110-120,00 children are adopted in the U.S. each year
- By Age:
- 0-2: 5%
- 3-4: 9%
- 5-9: 30%
- 10-12: 19%
- 13-14: 14%
- 15-17: 23%
- Average age at adoption: 5
Those are the big-picture facts: there are millions of people in our country with a direct connection to adoption, either by being adopted themselves or having an adopted family member. Here are the primary reasons families choose to adopt a child:
- Provide permanent home for child: 70%
- Wanted to expand family: 60%
- Inability to have own child: 52%
- Wanted sibling for another child: 16%
- Previously adopted siblings of newly adopted child: 7%
Now let’s take a closer look at the two types of adoption – public and private – to get an idea how many kids and families belong to each adoptive category. Since we’re in California, we’ll include California-specific figures, and also take a moment to look at the numbers related to international adoptions.
But first, public and private adoptions within the U.S., including California:
Domestic Adoptions: U.S. Families Adopting Children Within U.S.
2019:
- Total: 115,353
- Public: 57%
- Private: 43%
2020:
- Total: 95,306
- Public: 58%
- Private: 42%
In California 2019:
- Total: 10,223
- Public: 70%
- Private: 30%
In California 2020:
- Total: 7,575
- Public: 71%
- Private: 29%
Now let’s look at international adoptions, i.e. when families in the U.S. adopt kids born abroad, through international adoption agencies.
Intercountry Adoptions: U.S. Families Adopting Children from Other Countries
2019:
- Total: 2,969
- In California: 208
2020:
- Total: 1,622
- In California: 130
These last two sets of statistics show the effect the coronavirus pandemic had on adoption in the U.S. Here’s a quick summary of that impact.
The Impact of COVID on Adoptions
2019-2020:
- Public: Decreased by 13%
- In California: decreased by 20%
- Private: Decreased by 24%
- In California: decreased by 28%
As the figures show, adoptions decreased significantly during COVID, but have since rebounded, and have returned – almost – to pre-COVID levels. Next, we’ll look at the latest figures on kids on foster care who were either adopted or are waiting for adoption.
The Foster Care System and Adoption
This article is about adoption in general, but we should remember that the origin of National Adoption Month, back in 1976, was to bring attention to kids in foster care waiting for adoption. Each of those kids deserved a permanent, loving family then, and all the kids in foster care now need the same thing: a permanent sense of belonging, and ongoing support from people who love them unconditionally.
Here are the facts on kids currently in foster care in the U.S.
Foster Facts 2022: United States
368,000 kids live in foster care:
- Average age: 7 years old
- Male: 51%
- Female: 49%
- Under age 1: 25,388
- 12-17: 234,690
- 13-17: 78,876
- 18-20: 14,404
186,000 kids entered foster care in 2022. Reasons for entering foster care (may overlap):
- Neglect: 62%
- Parent drug use: 33%
- Caretaker unable to offer adequate care: 13%
- Physical abuse: 13%
- Housing problem: 11%
- Child behavior: 8%
- Parent incarcerated: 6%
- Abandonment: 5%
- Sexual abuse: 4%
- Parent death: 1%
201,372 kids left foster care in 2022
And here’s the data on kids in foster care and adoption:
Foster Care and Adoption: Basic Facts
108,877 kids in foster care are waiting to be adopted:
- Average age: 8
- Average age at entry to foster care: 5
- Overall average time in foster care: 3 years
53,665 kids were adopted from foster care system in 2022:
- Average age: 8
- Average age at entry: 6
- Overall average time in foster care system: 2 years
In addition, there are close to five thousand teenagers aged 17 who are on the verge of aging out of the foster care system. For those kids, hope of finding a permanent family is fading quickly, but parents can still adopt them, as well as any of the 100,000+ kids under age 17 awaiting adoption.
In order to learn more about what we can all do to help those kids, we’ll share four common myths about adoption and debunk them. This is one way we can all do our part: learn the facts – and share them far and wide.
Debunking Common Adoption Myths
We adapted this list from the Adoption Network resource “U.S. Adoption Myths and Facts.” For a detailed understanding of the myths and misinformation around adoption, please consult that page. What we offer below is a summary of the salient points, and things we can all share with people we know who may be considering adoption.
Myth 1: Adopting Kids is Always a Second Choice
This common misconception is one reason there’s still stigma around adoption and adopted kids. Here’s the realty: adopting a child or children is almost never a second choice, but rather, it’s an alternative way to create a family. Every family has a different reason for adopting. Some families can’t have biological children, others have children who’ve grown up and want more, and some families who want kids planned on adopting from the beginning. The Adoption Network describes adoption as a “valid and meaningful way to build a family,” and we think that’s the healthiest way to understand adoption and families with adopted kids.
Myth 2: Parents Who Give Their Kids Up for Adoption Don’t Love Them
This myth is partially a creation of Hollywood and the television industry. The fact of the matter is that in most cases, the opposite is true. Deciding to place a child up for adoption is an extremely emotional decision, based on personal reasons. Birth parents who choose adoption, in many cases, believe it’s in the best interest of the child. The birth parents may be too young, without means to support a child, or without an extended family support network that can help raise a child. And in some cases, it’s a reality check that’s hard to face: some birth parents recognize that they’re not ready – and some aren’t willing – to commit to raising a child. These parents choose adoption to give the child a future they think they cannot, and believe that adoptive parents who are ready, willing, and able to adopt will be more capable of providing for the child over the long-term.
Myth 3: Adopted Kids Have More Emotional and Behavioral Problems Than Other Kids
Adopted kids do have a special set of emotional and psychological experiences that sets them apart from non-adopted kids, such as dealing with concepts of loss, belonging, rejection, identity, and others, there’s no evidence to support the assertion that these factors increase the likelihood they’ll develop mental health or behavioral disorders. In fact, most adoption agencies provide adoptive families with excellent support and resources to manage the issues common to adopted kids.
Myth 4: International Adoptions Are Faster and Easier
In some cases, yes, the international adoption process may be faster than the domestic process, especially for families who want to adopt an infant. When adoptive parents adopt an infant form another country, that child, in most cases, is already born, that’s the only part of the process that may reduce the time it takes to adopt a child. In the U.S., adoption agencies need to locate a potential birth mother, determine how far along she is, and get the ball rolling on the paperwork.
However, to safeguard the best interests of the child, the adoption process should never be fast and easy, except in very rare cases where, literally, the stars align, the bureaucracy moves quickly, and all “i’s’” are dotted and “t’s” are crossed. Think fictional scenarios, like the way the adoption of Randall played out in the TV show “This is Us.” Yes, it can happen – but situations like that are exceedingly rare.
The facts: legitimate adoption agencies in the U.S. and abroad have a lengthy set of policies, procedures, rules, and requirements for adoption. They can create long delays, bureaucratic challenges, and in some case, lead to years of waiting – but it’s worth it for two basic reasons: 1) families who want to start a family can start a family, and 2) it prevents the horror of human trafficking, child kidnapping, and/or other illegal activity related to very young children.
We Can All Help Raise Awareness About Foster Kids Who Need Families
Adoption is an option that many people discount because of the myths we list – then debunk – above. One thing to consider is that when you adopt a child from the public foster care system, most of the cost is covered by public and private entities.
Adopting through private or international agencies can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000, and in some cases, the process can take up to four years or more. On the other hand, adopting through the U.S. public welfare system costs between $0.00 to $2,500, and – depending on criteria set by the adopting parents – can take less than a year.
To take a deep dive on the costs and processes related to domestic and international adoption, public and private, please visit Creating A Family.
In the meantime, during National Adoption Month, share what you know about adoption with people you know who want to start a family: kids in foster care certainly need loving parents, and they may learn about a realistic option they’d never considered.
