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Foreign adoptions by Americans reach lowest mark since 1981

March 29, 2016
Korean Adoptive Families in CT had its first meeting at North Haven's Ridge Top Club Sunday.

FILE — This 2015 file photo shows Korean Adoptive Families in CT, a Connecticut-based Facebook group of families that adopted Korean children, at their first meeting at Ridge Top Club in North Haven. Unfortunately, the number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents have dropped every year since 2004.

NEW YORK (AP) — The number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents dropped by 12 percent last year to the lowest level since 1981, according to new State Department figures.

The department’s report for the 2015 fiscal year shows 5,648 adoptions from abroad, down from 6,438 in 2014 and about 75 percent below the high of 22,884 in 2004. The number has fallen every year since then, to the frustration of many adoption advocates in the U.S.

China, as customary, accounted for the most children adopted in the U.S. Its total of 2,354 was up 15 percent from 2014, but far below the peak of 7,903 in 2005.

However, there was a sharp drop in adoptions from other countries that had been high on the 2014 list — including Ethiopia, Ukraine and Haiti.