International Adoption

The number of foreign orphans — usually from developing countries — adopted by families in wealthy countries has plummeted in recent years. In 2010, only 30,000 of the world's nearly 18 million orphans were adopted by parents from other countries. Nations such as South Korea, Brazil, China and Russia — which traditionally allowed thousands of children to be adopted overseas — have drastically restricted or shut down their foreign adoption programs, in part because of fears that the huge amounts of money spent by prospective parents and adoption agencies — up to $100 million a year — have led to bribery, fraud, trafficking and kidnapping. The Hague Convention, an international treaty to regulate international adoptions, has been endorsed by many countries, with mixed results. Adoption advocates say the crackdowns mean that up to 2 million children still languish in sometimes squalid institutions, many of whom will end up living on the street after leaving their orphanages.