Statistics and Global Trends in Intercountry Adoption
Peter Selman
Newcastle University, UK
Introduction
The history of international adoption is often traced back to the aftermath of the 2nd World War and in particular to the Korean War of the 1950s. No global statistics are available until 1980-89, when Kane (1993) made estimates based on 14 receiving States. Selman (2002a; 2006) has made estimates for the period 1995-2004 based on 20 receiving States.
The paper presents new estimates of global numbers from 1998 to 2006, based on data for 22 receiving States (Table 1). Estimates of the number of children sent by States of origin will be made using this same data. This shows an initial continued rise in global numbers with a peak of over 45,000 in 2004, followed by two years of decline. Problems surrounding the statistics, which are explored in detail elsewhere (Selman 2002a, 2006), will be discussed briefly.
Table 1 Intercountry Adoptions to 22 receiving States 1998 to 2006
|
Country
|
1998
|
1999 |
2001 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
United States France Italy Canada Spain
|
15, 774 3,777 2,233 2,222 1,487
|
16,363 3,597 2,177 2,019 2,006
|
19,237 3,094 2,225 1,874 3,428
|
21,616 3,995 2,772 2,180 3,951 |
22,884 4,079 3,403 1,955 5,541
|
22,728 4,136 2,840 1,871 5,423
|
20,679 3,977 3,188 1,535 4,472
|
|
Sub-total for 5 top States |
25,493
|
26,162
|
29,430
|
34,514
|
37,862 |
36,998
|
33,851 |
|
TOTAL (22 states) |
31,924 |
32,896
|
36,376
|
41,527
|
45,288
|
43,821 |
39,800 |
|
% to top 5 states |
80%
|
80%
|
81%
|
83%
|
84%
|
84% |
85% |
The paper explores these changes and ask questions about the recent reversal - e.g. whether the decline reflects primarily changes in demand or supply - and reviews the rise and fall of States of origin, including Korea (1953-2005), India (1981 - 2006) Romania, (1990-2005), Russia (19 2005), China (1994-2006), and Ethiopia (1998 - 2006).
States of Origin
Until 1989 the main source of children was South Korea, followed by India, Colombia and Brazil. For one year in 1991 Romania accounted for most children and over the last decade China, Russia and Guatemala have emerged as the main sending countries with Ethiopia now sending more children each year than India (Table 2)
Table 2: Major sources of children for intercountry adoption 1980 - 2005
|
1980-89 |
1995 |
1998 |
2004 |
2005 |
|
Korea India Colombia Brazil Sri Lanka
Chile Philippines Guatemala Peru El Salvador |
China Korea Russia Vietnam Colombia
India Brazil Guatemala Romania Philippines |
Russia China Vietnam Korea Colombia
Guatemala India Romania Brazil Ethiopia |
China Russia Guatemala Korea Ukraine
Colombia Ethiopia Haiti India Kazakhstan
|
China Russia Guatemala Korea Ethiopia
Ukraine Colombia Vietnam Haiti India |
Sources: Kane (1993) Selman (2002a; 2006)
The experience of these countries which are discussed further in Selman (2007) will be compared with that of India, including an examination of inter and in-country adoption in India and Korea, 1998 - 2006, building on an analysis up to 1998 which was presented at an earlier conference in Delhi (Selman 2002b). Differences in the age, gender and race of children adopted from different sending countries will also be examined.
Standardised Adoption Rates
Although China sends most children today, the number is small in relation to its population size. To make a comparison of levels of intercountry adoption in different sending countries, the most useful measures are the number of adoptions per 1.000 live births (adoption ratio) or per 10.000 population under age 5 ( adoption rate). Table 3 below gives the rate for 2003 and the ratio for 2003 and 2004
Table 3 Standardised adoption rates and ratios in States of Origin 2003/2004
Adoptions to 22 receiving states - listed in order of ratio in 2003
|
Country
|
Number of Adoptions 2003 |
Rate (per 10,000 under age 5) |
Ratio (per 1,000 live births) |
Adoption Ratio 2004 |
|
Bulgaria |
962 |
31.5 |
15.5 |
6.3 |
|
Guatemala |
2,677 |
13.8 |
6.4 |
8.2 |
|
Russia |
7,746 |
12.7 |
6.3 |
7.7 |
|
South Korea |
2,308 |
7.9 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
|
China |
11,230 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
0.8 |
|
Ethiopia |
854 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
|
India |
1,172 |
0.1 |
0.05 |
0.04 |
Intercountry Adoption Today and in the Future
The paper will end with a brief review of the impact of intercountry adoption since the Second World War in the light of available research - and the increasingly loud voices of those adopted internationally over the past 50 years - and examine the likely future of the movement of children in the years ahead. Questions will be raised about the extent to which intercountry adoption has become - or could become - a market in children with fears of a growth in the "trafficking" of children.
Concluding Quotes
"Let us hope that culture and economic circumstances in all Third-World countries change to the extent that it will be the exception when a child’s only chance for a satisfactory upbringing exists with a family thousands of miles from its birthplace". (Hoksbergen 1991:156)
"…the recurrent cycle of scandal, excuse, and ineffective "reform" will probably continue until intercountry adoption is finally abolished, with history labelling the entire enterprise as a neo-colonialist mistake. …… It does not have to be this way, but it will take more than legal fictions and illusory restrictions on child trafficking to prevent the ultimate demise of the intercountry adoption system" (Smolin 2004: 325)
" … adoption scandals, like those in Andrah Pradesh, illustrate the necessity of building systems of accountability into the global adoption system….. Without accountability, the pretty face of adoption as a loving act that fills a real need in a child’s life will all too often turn out to be no more than a mask covering ugly realities of trafficking, profiteering and needless tragedy." (Smolin 2005: 493)
References:
Altstein, Howard, and Rita Simon (1991) Intercountry Adoption; a multinational perspective, New York: Praeger.
Dodds, Peter (1998) "The Case Against International Adoption", keynote speech, National Adoption Conference of New Zealand, Christchurch, 1998.
Dodds, Peter (1997) Outer Search/Inner Journey: An Orphan and Adoptee’s Quest
Washington, US: Aphrodite
Hoksbergen R (1991) "The Netherlands: Basic Issues, Trends and Devleopments" in H. Altstein, and R. Simon (1991) Intercountry Adoption; a multinational perspective, New York: Praeger.
Kane S. (1993) "The Movement of Children for International Adoption: an epidemiological perspective", The Social Science Journal, 30-4: 323-339
Selman P. (ed) (2000) Intercountry Adoption: developments, trends and perspectives. London: BAAF.
Selman P. (2002a) "Intercountry Adoption in the New Millennium: the ‘quiet migration’ revisited" Population Research & Policy Review 21: 205-225
Selman P. (2002b) An Overview of Intercountry/International Adoption, paper
presented at 4th International Conference on Adoption, Delhi, India, 21-24 October. 2002
Selman P. (2003) The Adjustment of Older and Special Needs Children in Receiving
Countries, Paper presented at International Meet on Adoption, Organized by
CARA, Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, 8-10 December, 2003.
Selman P (2006) "Trends in Intercountry Adoption: Analysis of data from 20 receiving countries " Journal of Population Research, 23-2: 183-204 - special issue on "Globalisation and Demographic Change"
Selman P (2007) "Intercountry Adoption in the Twenty-first Century: an examination
of the rise and fall of countries of origin" in K Nelson, E Kim & Petersen M
(eds) Proceedings of the First International Korean Adoption Studies
Research Symposium, Seoul: IKAA.
Smolin David (2004) "Intercountry Adoption as Child Trafficking", Valparaiso Law
Review 39-2: 281-325
Smolin D (2005) "The Two Faces of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance of the
Indian Adoption Scandals?" Seton Hall Law Review 35 pp 403-493.