Adoption is out of favour.
Numbers have fallen dramatically, and baby adoptions have become rare events. Recent trends in family law make it increasingly unlikely that children will ever be declared free to be adopted, while would-be adopters are discouraged by a series of obstacles and objections. The results for the children concerned are extremely poor, and all the evidence suggests that the state makes a very bad substitute parent. Children who have spent time 'in care' are more prone to psychiatric disorders, they suffer in terms of education and health, and they often 'graduate' from the system to homelessness, unemployment and prison. The results for adopted children, on the other hand, are extremely good.