Abstract
This chapter focuses on the U.S. as the nation with the largest number of adoptions. Although adoptions represent a small portion of family growth, from a demographer’s point of view they are worth investigating. The United Nations (2009:xv) estimates that approximately 260,000 children are adopted annually through intercountry adoptions (ICAs). In 2001, the country leading in ICAs was the United States (U.S.) adopting 127,000 children. Next in frequency is China, with 46,000 adoptions, followed by the Russian Federation, with 23,000 adoptions. Selman (2016) reports that in the decade from 2004 to 2014 there were 331,364 ICAs with 159,778 received in the U.S. Interestingly, intercountry adoptions (ICAs) are declining, which can be attributed to multiple factors, such as the reconstruction of global politics, The Hague Conference regulations, and of course, the economic conditions in both sending and receiving countries. Selman (2016), using United Nations data, reported that from 2004 to 2014 intercountry adoption declined from 45,383 with 22,884 received in the U.S during 2004.; to 13,254 in 2014 (excluding non-reporting Italy and Israel) with 6441 received in the U.S.
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Notes
- 1.
Data from decennial and American Community Survey (ACS) do not include all children who are living with a stepparent, and they ask for the relationship to the householder. Importantly, data do not capture informal adoptions, common among cultural groups including Hispanics, blacks, and certain Native Americans who may view family relationships and adoption differently (Kreider and Lofquist 2010: 2).
- 2.
See the Hague Convention on the Rights of the Child http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
- 3.
The top twelve receiving countries reporting intercountry adoption statistics to The Hague Convention reported 217 children received from the U.S. from 2005–2009.
- 4.
The full text of this convention adopted in 1995 is available online at: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.pdf&cid=69
- 5.
The data used in this section were made available by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Data have been used with permission of the Children’s Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, United States Department of Health and Human Services, responsible for the collection and sharing of the data archive at Cornell University. Their agents or employees bear no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here (NDACN 2002: iii).
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Davis, M.A. (2020). A Demographic Perspective on Childhood Adoptions in the U.S.. In: Farris, D.N., Bourque, A.J.J. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family. International Handbooks of Population, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35079-6_13
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