Profiles of Children of the Householder

This is an html transcription of the original Special Report document, authored by Rose M. Kreider, which can be found on the Census Bureau Web site in .pdf format at www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/censr-6.pdf.


Foreign-Born Adopted Children

Some prospective adoptive parents may decide to adopt a foreign-born child if adopting a child in the United States may take longer. Adopting from a foreign country with a well-organized program often assures parents they will receive a child within a fairly dependable timeline, generally about a year. For this reason and others, the adoption of foreign-born children has increased. The number of immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the United States for adoption increased from about 7,000 in 1990 to nearly 18,000 in 2000.²³

Because of the large sample size of Census 2000, a detailed examination of the place of birth of foreign-born adopted children can be shown in Table 5. The number of children from selected countries or regions is shown by the age of the child, which may suggest change over time in the most important birth countries.

In 2000, 13 percent of adopted children of householders of all ages were foreign-born. Nearly half (48 percent) of the foreign-born adopted children were born in Asia, about one-third (33 percent) in Latin America, and about one-sixth (16 percent) in Europe. An examination of the age differences in the proportion of foreign-born adopted children who were born in Europe suggests that their numbers may have increased in recent years. While about 10 percent of all foreign-born adopted children aged 18 and over were born in Europe, the proportion was 23 percent for children aged 6 to 11 and 27 percent for those under 6. A large component of all European-born adopted children under 6 was from Russia and Romania. Eighty-two percent of European-born adopted children under 6 in 2000 were from these two countries, compared with 69 percent of their counterparts aged 6 to 11, and only 13 percent for those 18 and over. Children under 12 in 2000 would have been born in 1989 or later, so they would have been very young when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, or were born in the subsequent years. The resulting economic and social changes left large numbers of children available for adoption.²⁴

Korea was the largest single-country source of foreign-born adopted children, providing about 57,000 children or a little over one-fifth (22 percent) of all foreign-born adopted children. This proportion is significantly lower for children under 6 (15 percent) than for children 6 to 11 (20 percent) or children 12 to 17 (35 percent). The percentage of foreign-born adopted children who were born in China was less than 3 percent of all foreign-born adopted children aged 6 and over but 28 percent of those under 6. One consequence of enforcement of the one-child population policy in China is the abandonment of little girls because of the cultural preference for sons.²⁵ Since the early 1990s, when China began to allow large numbers of these girls to be adopted by foreigners, an increasing number have been adopted by U.S. citizens. The U.S. State Department recorded only 61 immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the United States from China in 1991, but 5,053 in 2000.²⁶

After Asia, Latin America was the second largest region of origin for foreign-born adopted children of householders, numbering about 84,000 children or about one-third of all foreign-born adopted children. The largest source country in this region was Mexico, which accounted for one-third of all adopted children from Latin America. Unlike the children born in China, the Mexican children were evidently not predominantly orphans being adopted by U.S. citizens. The State department recorded only between 50 and 200 immigrant visas issued to Mexican children per year during the 1990s.²⁷ Thus, many of these children may have been adopted informally by relatives.²⁸ Intermarriage between non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics is relatively common, so the adoption of stepchildren in these marriages may also help account for the large number of foreign-born adopted children born in Mexico.²⁹ About 37 percent of the foreign-born adopted children born in South America were born in Colombia, which has experienced social turmoil and war for decades.

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²³ Totals from U.S. State Department Web site at: www.travel.state.gov/orphan_numbers.html. For more information about the increase in international adoptions, see: Peter Selman. "Intercountry adoption in the new millennium: the 'quiet migration' revisited" Population Research and Policy Review, 2002, Vol. 21, pp. 205-225.

²⁴ Peter Selman. "Intercountry adoption in the new millennium: the 'quiet migration' revisited" Population Research and Policy Review, 2002, Vol. 21, pp. 205-225.

²⁵ Kay Johnson, Huang Banghan, and Wang Liyao. "Infant Abandonment and Adoption in China" Population and Development Review, 1998, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 469-510.

²⁶ Totals from U.S. State Department Web site at: www.travel.state.gov/orphan_numbers.html. Also see the Families With Children from China web site at fwcc.org/statistics.html.

²⁷ Totals from U.S. State Department Web site at: www.travel.state.gov/orphan_numbers.html.

²⁸ Hamm describes informal adoption as perhaps more common among Hispanics than formal adoption, stating that children may be raised by relatives. Maria Suarez Hamm. "Latino Adoption Issues." Adoption Factbook III. National Council for Adoption: Washington, DC. 1999, pp. 257-260.

²⁹ See Census 2000, OHC-T-19, Hispanic Origin and Race of Coupled Households: 2000 and Tavia Simmons and Martin O'Connell. Married-Couple and Unmarried-Partner Households: 2000. Census 2000 Special Reports, CENSR-5. U.S. Census Bureau: Washington, DC, 2003.

Credits: CENSR-6
by Rose M. Kreider

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