Numbers 

and trends

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway

Children’s Bureau/ACYF

1250 Maryland Avenue, SW

Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20024

703.385.7565 or 800.394.3366

Email: info@childwelfare.gov

www.childwelfare.gov

Voluntary placement of children for adoption is relatively rare in 

the United States. This paper examines some of the more recent 

statistics and trends regarding the relinquishment of children by 

birth mothers.

The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) is the only 

national source of data on voluntary relinquishment for adoption. According to the 1995 NSFG, less than 1 percent of 

children born to never-married women were placed for adoption 

from 1989 to 1995 (Chandra, Abma, Maza, & Bachrach, 1999). 

	 The most recent NSFG includes data from a 1995 survey with a nationally

representative sample of over 10,000 women. Data from 2002 (Cycle 6) have not yet been

analyzed.

How Many

Women Place

Their Children

for Adoption?

How Many

Women Place

Their Children

for Adoption?

Voluntary

Relinquishment

for Adoption

March 2005
Voluntary Relinquishment for Adoption www.childwelfare.gov

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The percentage is higher for White never-married women (1.7 

percent) than for Black never-married women (near 0 percent).

Relinquishment by married and formerly married women is 

rarer still, and percentages are not available.

About 1.4 million children were born to unmarried women in 

2003, comprising 34.6 percent of total births (Hamilton, Martin, 

& Sutton, 2004). If the relinquishment rate measured by NSFG 

in 1995 for never-married women were applied to all unmarried 

women who gave birth in 2003, this would mean that fewer than 

14,000 children were voluntarily relinquished in 2003. 

Other than the NSFG data on mother’s race, information about 

who relinquishes a child for adoption is limited, in part because 

relinquishment is rare and the numbers are so small. 

Most research focuses on unmarried teens who relinquish a 

child. In addition to being disproportionately White, those who 

relinquish tend to have higher education and income levels, 

higher future career and educational aspirations, and a strong 

preference for adoption expressed by the teen’s mother and/or 

the birth father (Miller & Coyl, 2000).

Namerow, Kalmuss, and Cushman (1993) studied 592 unmarried pregnant women age 21 or younger. The sample was 

selected from maternity residences, clinics, and teen pregnancy programs or adoption agencies. Postbirth interviews 

with 527 of the teens showed that those who had personal 

experience with adoption or had spent time at a maternity 

residence were more likely to relinquish. The choice to relinquish was also heavily influenced by the preference of the 

teens’ mothers and boyfriends.

A study of 162 pregnant teens residing in a maternity home 

found that birth fathers’ preference for adoption was the most 

powerful predictor of the mothers’ consistency in their decision to relinquish (Dworkin, Harding, & Schreiber, 1993).

One study at a residential facility for pregnant teens found 

that a disproportionate number of those who relinquished 

were from upper-middle-class families, living in the suburbs 

or small cities, and from intact families with highly educated 

parents (Moore & Davidson, 2002). The 178 teens studied 

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Who Are the

Women Who

Place Their

Children for

Adoption?

Who Are the

Women Who

Place Their

Children for

Adoption?
Voluntary Relinquishment for Adoption www.childwelfare.gov

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Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_place.cfm.

were heavily influenced in their decisions to relinquish by 

peers and siblings and by having personal experience with 

adoption (knowing someone who was adopted or being 

adopted themselves). 

Two trends stand out, as shown in Figure 1:

A decrease in the percentage of children relinquished by 

never-married women

A decrease in the difference between White and Black 

women in placement rates

Figure 1. 

Percent of Infants Relinquished for Adoption by 

Never-Married Women Under 45 Years

Source: Chandra et al. (1999) 

0

5

10

15

20

25

Before 1973 1973-81 1982-88 1989-95

Years

Percent

All women Black White

Race Before 1973 1973-1981 1982-1988 1989-1995

All Women 8.7% 4.1% 2% 0.9%

Black 1.5% 0.2% 1.1% near 0

White 19.3% 7.5% 3.2% 1.7%

Since the mid-1970s, relinquishments have declined from nearly 

9 percent to under 1 percent of births to never-married women. 

Among never-married women, relinquishment by Black women 

has remained very low—declining from 1.5 percent to nearly 

•

•

What Are

Some Trends

in Placing

Children for

Adoption?

What Are

Some Trends

in Placing

Children for

Adoption?
Voluntary Relinquishment for Adoption www.childwelfare.gov

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Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_place.cfm.

0 percent, while relinquishment by White women has declined 

sharply—from nearly 20 percent to less than 2 percent.

Researchers offer various explanations for the dramatic decline 

in relinquishment. Some suggest that the increased social acceptance of single parenthood has led more unmarried women to 

keep their children (Miller & Coyl, 2000; Mosher & Bachrach, 

1996). Also, a higher proportion of unmarried mothers are in 

their 20s rather than their teens, so the personal and financial 

stresses may not be as great as in the past (Freundlich, 1998). 

Several researchers agree that it is likely that relinquishment 

rates will not increase in the next several years (Miller & Coyl, 

2000; Freundlich, 1998).

Chandra et al. (1999) hypothesize that informal adoptions are 

becoming more common. They suggest that transfer of custody 

from the birth mother to another person may be occurring 

increasingly in a variety of informal manners instead of through 

formal, permanent relinquishment of all parental rights and 

responsibilities. These authors cite Henshaw (1998) in suggesting that the decline in abortion rates shows that the decline in 

relinquishment is not a result of increasing selection of abortion 

over relinquishment.

The role of birth fathers in relinquishment decisions is unclear. 

Freundlich (1998) suggests that any increase in their role may 

be offset by other factors, such as court rulings that birth fathers 

have little right to veto relinquishment if they have not taken 

an active prenatal role and an active role immediately after the 

birth. 

The study of relinquishment is hampered by a number of limitations. Fisher (2003) notes several of these:

The relatively small number who relinquish makes generalizations based on samples difficult.

Many studies use biased samples of women who have selfselected by volunteering to report.

Very little of the literature addresses the behavior and rights 

of fathers.

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Future Research
Voluntary Relinquishment for Adoption www.childwelfare.gov

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Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_place.cfm.

As the percentage of women who place their children has 

dropped, the opportunity to study this population has 

decreased, and it is increasingly difficult to generalize from the 

small numbers of individuals studied. Future research may concentrate on the characteristics of this group and the factors that 

influence their decision to place their children for adoption. 

Chandra, A., Abma, J., Maza, P., & Bachrach, C. (1999). 

Adoption, adoption seeking, and relinquishment for adoption 

in the United States. Advance Data (No. 306) from Vital 

and Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention, National center for Health Statistics, U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved 

February 16, 2005, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/

ad306.pdf

Dworkin, R. J., Harding, J. T., & Schreiber, N. B. (1993). Parenting 

or placing: Decision-making by pregnant teens. Youth & 

Society, 25, 75-92.

Fisher, A. P. (2003). Still “Not quite as good as having your 

own”? Toward a sociology of adoption. Annual Review of 

Sociology, 29, 335-61.

Freundlich, M. (1998). Supply and demand: the forces shaping 

the future of infant adoption. Adoption Quarterly, 2(1), p. 

13-46.

Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A.., & Sutton, P. D. (2004). Births: 

Preliminary data for 2003, National Vital Statistics Reports, 

53(9). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Retrieved February 25, 2004, from http://www.cdc.

gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr53/nvsr53_09.pdf

Henshaw, S. K. (1998). Abortion incidence and services in the 

United States, 1995-96. Family Planning Perspectives 30(6), 

263-270, 287.

Miller, B. C., & Coyl, D. D. (2000). Adolescent pregnancy and 

childbearing in relation to infant adoption in the United 

States. Adoption Quarterly, 4, 3-25.

References
Voluntary Relinquishment for Adoption www.childwelfare.gov

 This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit 

Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_place.cfm.

Moore, N. B., & Davidson, J. K. (2002). A profile of adoption 

placers: Perceptions of pregnant teens during the decision–

making process. Adoption Quarterly, 6(2), 29-41.

Mosher, W. D. & Bachrach, C. A. (1996). Understanding U.S. 

fertility: Continuity and change in the National Survey of 

Family Growth, 1988-1995. Family Planning Perspectives, 

28(1). Retrieved February 16, 2005, from http://www.agi-usa.

org/pubs/journals/2800496.html

Namerow, P. B., Kalmuss, D. S., & Cushman, L. F. (1993). The 

determinants of young women’s pregnancy-resolution 

choices. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 3, 193-215.