Acknowledgments appear in each section where appropriate. In the U.S., approximately 60,000 children are adopted annually by unrelated persons. Of this, approximately 30,000 adoptions are of healthy infants and 30,000 of older children and children with special needs. These children are primarily infants. Permission is granted to create and distribute copies of this document for noncommercial purposes provided that the author and Children Youth and Family Consortium Electronic Clearinghouse receive acknowledgment and this notice is included.
Families choose intercountry adoption for a variety of reasons.
Perhaps the family does not meet agency guidelines for domestic adoption but qualifies for inter-country adoption. Often the waiting time for placement of a child is less through inter-country adoption. Sometimes families wish to adopt from the country of the family's ethnic origin, or they are acquainted with others who have successfully adopted from overseas. Often families who pursue an inter-country adoption speak of their desire to parent a child who really needs a family as much as the family needs the child. Typically, inter-country adoptions are handled by private adoption agencies.