OUR REPORTING ON INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
Government Sources
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Government sources |
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Intercountry adoption statistics |
Government sources
Canada
France
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
United Nations
Citizenship and Immigration Canada> International Adoption
Information about intercountry adoptions to Canada.
France-Diplomatie > Les Français et l’étranger > Conseils aux familles > Adoption Internationale
Information about intercountry adoptions to France.
Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri> Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali
Information about intercountry adoptions to Italy
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores
Dirección General de Asuntos Consulares y Protección de los Españoles en el Extranjero
C/ General Pardiñas, 55
28071 MADRID
tel.: +34 (91) 379-1700 / 379-1610
fax: +34 (91) 578-0433
E-mail: mjesus.montane@mepsyd.es
Politica Social > Familias e infancia > Ministerio de Sanidad y Politica Social
Information about intercountry adoptions to Spain.
Switzerland’s Official Web Portal> Your Life> International Adoption
Information about intercountry adoptions to Switzerland.
United Kingdom Department for Children, Schools, and Families> Intercountry Adoption
Information about intercountry adoptions to the U.K. Includes factsheets about popular sending countries and statistics.
"International Adoption: Respecting Children’s Rights," Report of Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, Council of Europe, Doc. 8592, Dec. 2, 1999.
This position paper of the Council of Europe includes: “The purpose of international adoption must be to provide children with a mother and a father in a way that respects their rights, not to enable foreign parents to satisfy their wish for a child at any price. The Assembly condemns the current transformation of international adoption into what is nothing short of a market regulated by capitalist laws of supply and demand.” |
United States Department of State> Office of Children’s Issues> Intercountry Adoption Home
Website provides detailed information about adoption from specific countries; news and alerts; statistical data about international adoptions; and information about the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. View their overview of the Hague Convention.
State Department Adoption Alerts & Notices
Statistics: Total Adoptions to the U.S., FY2009
If you can provide web addresses for any other countries’ intercountry adoption sites, please email us.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is mandated by the UN to work for children's rights, their survival, development and protection, guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Releases related to orphans and adoption include:
“UNICEF believes that all decisions relating to children, including adoptions, should be made with the best interests of the child as the primary consideration.” Outlines UNICEF’s approach to holding the child’s welfare paramount. |
Explains UNICEF’s unusual definition of the term “orphan.” “Of the more than 132 million children classified as orphans, only 13 million have lost both parents. Evidence clearly shows that the vast majority of orphans are living with a surviving parent, grandparent, or other family member. 95% of all orphans are over the age of 5.” |
- “State of the World’s Children 2008”, UNICEF.
An examination of child mortality and child health statistics around the world, including statistics about orphans.
UNICEF and Terre des Hommes FoundationThe Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), July 2004.
- “Adopting: the rights of the child, A study on inter-country adoption and its influence on child protection in Nepal,” UNICEF and the Terre des hommes Foundation, 2008.
Report concludes that many children living in Nepal’s orphanages, children’s homes, and other institutions are deprived of basic rights. Most children in institutions surveyed have living relatives from whom they have been separated. Reports on abuses, including kidnapping and baby-buying, coercion of parents, bribery, and trafficking.
More UN Publications
- “A Report on the Human Rights Situation in Liberia,” United Nations Mission in Liberia, May–October 2007.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia found in 2007 that, despite a lack of government accreditation, some orphanages were still operating as a for-profit venture and putting children at risk. (See page 8 for information about problems in Liberian orphanages.)
- “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Ms. Ofelia Calcetas-Santos. Addendum, Report on the mission to Guatemala,” UN Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, January 23, 2000.
Reports on widespread child buying, coercion, and kidnapping of children for adoption. Includes allegations that some hospital staff members were defrauding new mothers out of their babies, and that other “child finders” were contracting with women to bear a series of children specifically to be sold for international adoption.
- "Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Right of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography," G.A. Res. 263, U.N. GAOR, 54th Sess., Supp. No. 49, U.N. Doc. A/RES/54/263, 2000 (entered into force Jan. 18, 2002).
Addresses intercountry adoption as a form of child trafficking; calls for all parties’ adherence to international law in adoption, specifically the Hague Convention.
Hague Conference on Private International Law
- Report of a fact-finding mission to Guatemala in relation to intercountry adoption,” Hague Conference on Private International Law, May 2007.
Intercountry Adoption Statistics
U.S. Department of State Intercountry adoption statistics
The Department of State provides statistical information about the number of Immigrant Visas issued to orphans dating back to 1990.
Department of Homeland Security Statistics
The United States Department of Homeland Security Immigration Unit publishes annual immigration statistics.
- 2006 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. See Table 12: “Immigrant orphans adopted by U.S. citizens by gender, age, and region and country of birth: Fiscal year 2006”
- 2005 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. See Table 12: “Immigrant orphans adopted by U.S. citizens by gender, age, and region and country of birth: Fiscal year 2005”
- 2004 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. See Supplemental Table 4: “Immigrant orphans adopted by U.S. citizens by gender, age, and region and country of birth: Fiscal year 2004”
Australian InterCountry Adoption Network Statistics
Please email us if you have suggestions for this list.The Australian InterCountry Adoption Network (AICAN), founded in 1990, is the national network of 14 non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in intercountry adoption. AICAN maintains comprehensive worldwide adoption statistics, organized by: Orphan’s Country of Origin and by Receiving Country. NOTE: According to Peter Selman, AICAN does not include all of the most current data.
NOTE: This page from the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism website offers documentation of and background about serious irregularities in international adoption. For the systemic analysis of corruption in international adoption, please read “The Lie We Love,” Foreign Policy magazine, Nov./Dec. 2008, and visit our webpages dedicated to international adoption. For ideas about fairer policy solutions, please read “The Baby Business,” Democracy Journal, Summer 2010.
© 2008-2014 Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 02454. All rights reserved.
Last page update: February 23, 2011