The number of foreign children adopted by Americans has dropped by 15 percent in the past two years, mostly because of new restrictions from China and Russia. New policy changes from China, for example, require adopting parents to be married, have a certain income level, not be overweight or suffer from certain diseases, and be under age 50.

According to State Department statistics, the number of foreign adoptions peaked in 2004 at 22,888 but dropped to 20,679 in 2006.

Besides tougher restrictions on foreign adoptions by China and Russia, another factor is the United Nations' preference for caring for orphans in their own countries over sending them abroad.

Labels: international, foreign_adoption

Posted By: Aspen Education Group