According to statistics from the U.S. State Department, the number of children adopted into the United States has dropped dramatically in the last decade. Sources say that there were just under 6,500 international adoptions in 2014, down from the peak of around 23,000 in 2004. Families seeking to adopt are also finding that it’s taking a lot longer to complete an adoption. In 2000, the average time it took to complete an adoption in China was about nine months. Some couples are now waiting nearly nine years to do the same thing. Sources say it’s the lowest rate for international adoptions since 1982.

One of the major reasons for the decline was the decision by Russia to discontinue any adoptions by Americans. Before 2012, the country was one of the major sources for families seeking to adopt internationally. China is still the most popular place for adoptive families to go, with more than 2,000 children adopted from China every year. Just a decade ago, though, there were almost 8,000 children adopted from China. Ethiopia is now second in the number of children adopted into the United States, with the Ukraine and Haiti third and fourth, respectively.

State officials say that one of the challenges to the international adoption process has been the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. When the convention was introduced, it was hoped that it would facilitate international adoption by eliminating concerns about human trafficking. As it’s turned out in practice, it’s actually made international adoptions more challenging by requiring a lot more paperwork and obstacles.

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