| **National Center    for     Health Statistics            Division of Data     Services            6525 Belcrest Road     Hyattsville, MD     20782-2003     (301)458-4636      **

 
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****Adoption, Adoption    Seeking, and Relinquishment for Adoption in the United States****

**Advance Data 306**.  This report    presents national data on adoption and adoption-related behaviors among ever-married women    aged 18-44 in the United States, according to selected characteristics of the women.    Trends are shown in the prevalence of adoption and relinquishment of children for    adoption. For 1995, the report shows demand for adoption and women’s preferences for    characteristics of the child. Data are based on nationally representative samples of women    aged 15-44 from the 1973, 1982, 1988, and 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG),    conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

**Data Highlights:**The    prevalence of adoption increases with age, education, and income. Adoption by black women    has remained relatively stable, but data suggest that adoption by white women has    declined.In 1995, 9.9 million women had ever considered adoption, representing over    a quarter of all ever-married women in this age range. Of these women, 15.9 percent (1.6    million) had ever taken steps toward adoption.In general, preferences are strong about the characteristics of an adopted    child with regard to age of child, disability status of child, race of child, and number    of children. Preferences are less strong for sex or religious affiliation of child.Between 1989 and 1995, just under 1 percent of babies born to    never-married women were relinquished for adoption. Never-married black women have been    consistently less likely than never-married white women to relinquish their babies for    adoption, and this likelihood has remained very low over the decades.

**Keywords:**    adoption, relinquishment, population characteristics

**Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics**NCHS Home | Advance Data Home    |AD 1-100 | AD 101-150AD 151-200 | AD 201-250    | AD 251-260 | AD 261-270AD 271-280 | AD 281-290    | AD 291-300 | AD 301-310AD 311-Present | Search    NCHS | Contact us****
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This page last reviewed June 22, 2000

**U.S.    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES****Centers    for Disease Control and Prevention**    National Center for Health Statistics    Division of Data Services     Hyattsville, MD    20782-2003    (301) 458-4636
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