25 Facts About Adoption To Melt Your Heart

About one in three children from the foster care system are adopted by parents of a different race than the child. In foster care, most adopted children are non-white, while a 73% majority of the adopting parents are white.

Research has shone that if every one out of three American churches adopted a child, every child looking for their forever family would no longer be in need in the U.S.

In America alone, about seven million people were adopted.

There are many reasons families may decide to adopt, these include issues with fertility, wanting to avoid contributing to the overpopulation of the planet, and wanting to give someone a second chance at life.

Additionally, they may want to avoid passing on a hereditary disease, and even concerns over complications in pregnancy and birth.

Embryo adoption is also an option, where the embryo is given to another couple or individual to be implanted in the recipient woman’s uterus.

The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act allows the tribe and family of a Native American child to be involved in adoption decisions and preference.

The Colorado Adoption Project took a lot at genetic influences on adopted children and children were more similar to their adoptive parents in early childhood. However, adolescence saw their cognitive abilities mimicking that of their biological parents.

About 100 million Americans have adoption in their immediate family. This includes being adopted themselves, adopting a child of their own, or placing a child into the system.

In 2011, Americans made about 9,000 adoptions. The highest number of children were from China, followed by Ethiopia, Russia, and Ukraine.

The Hague Adoption Convention was established by many countries to help regulate international adoptions. It fights against trafficking and tries to make the process of finalizing the child’s citizenship in their new countries more quickly and easily.

Statistics show that American families adopt more children, not only internationally but also domestically, than the rest of the world combined.

Adoption rose sharply between 1945 and 1974. Conservative sexual beliefs were changing, and science was stressing the importance of nurture over genetics, making adoption attractive and valuable.

Humans are not the only ones to adopt. Certain animal species, like the baboon, have been shown to take in infants whose mothers have died.

They are cared for by young adults within their social groups. Their adoptive parents care for them by grooming them, carrying them around, and protecting them.

Famous names you may have heard of who have also been adopted include Jamie Foxx, Jack Nicholson, Gary Coleman, Nicole Richie, even Steve Jobs.

Today, between 60 to 70 percent of adoptions are open. This means that both birth and adoptive parents disclose information regarding the adopted child, and sometimes the birth parents can still be involved in the child’s life.

American citizens made 19,942 international adoptions in 2007. Since then, international agencies have become much more restrictive and lengthy, but that hasn’t stopped a rise in adoption numbers.

Adoption agencies do not work with just anyone. A home study carried out by an agent can take anywhere from two to 1o months, and helps the applicants to be matched with a child whose needs they can support.

Adoption in the U.S. Is made up of three main categories: adoption from the public care system; adoption from a private agencies; and international adoption from other countries.

Adoption agencies work with families to build relationships long after they are matched through the adoption system. 

They want to make sure everyone is as prepared as possible so the process is smooth for all involved. You can except regular parental training and guidance through the process, so you never have to feel overwhelmed or alone.

The adoption agency stays involved long after coming home with your child. There will be a lot of post-placement reporting to be done on the part of the new parents, but also continual support from your agency!

Adoption agencies are very thorough and very lengthy. Every international agency requires at least one visit to the physical location to meet with the child you are paired with.

So if you are looking overseas, make sure your passport or visa is up to date, and plan a trip out of it!

Surprisingly, children are not the only ones open for adoption. In most states, people over the age of 18 may also be legally adopted.

Some states require that the adopting parent be at least 10 years older and married, but it’s a great opportunity for those who have aged out of the foster care system and have moved around too much to know stable, loving parents.

If you considered putting your own child up for adoption, know that you have many options available.

The birth parents can choose the adoptive family, decide how the hospital stay will go, and also decide if the adoption is open or closed.

It is not just families who are unable to conceive who adopt, but families with their own biological children, as well.

Growing a family with the help of an adoption agency takes work, and building bonds between adoptive and biological children can be a journey, but it is nothing that willing, loving parents cannot do.

Some parents look to the adoption with apprehension, afraid that the child may not feel like their own.

However, they quickly find that raising and caring for a child is what makes them your own, not how you got them. Adoptive parents have a special kind of love for their children, as they are a miracle that never seemed possible until adoption.