10 Adoption Facts

I found these adoption facts on Superpages.com and I thought I'd share them.....

 

1. In the U.S. the average age for prospective adoptive parents is the late 30s to middle 40s.


2. The largest adoptive parent group is couples who have been married for three years or longer. Even though this is still the norm, interracial, single-parent, and gay-parent adoptions are gaining in popularity.


3. Adoption laws in the U.S. are enacted and monitored by the states. This means that the laws can vary quite a bit from one state to another. Laws can change too. If you're planning on adopting, it pays to do your homework and stay current on changing trends.


4. There are typically two broad categories of adoption, open and closed. A closed adoption is one in which the identities of the parties involved are withheld. In an open (or semi-open) adoption, certain information is shared. What and how much can vary from state to state and agency to agency. There are advantages and disadvantages to either method. The trick is to find an agency and process that works for you.


5. State adoption agencies are usually of two types, public and private. Public agencies are run by the states themselves, where private agencies are only licensed by the states. Public agencies typically have lower costs involved in adoption where private agencies can sometimes charge a great deal.


6. Adopted children can and often do grow up well-adjusted and happy. A 1994 study conducted by the Search Institute in Minneapolis evaluated 881 adopted adolescents and their adoptive parents over four years. The teens scored higher than their non-adopted counterparts in caring and social competency.


7. Although there may be lots of reasons to adopt a child, the overwhelming motivator in 95 percent of cases is infertility.


8. The average adoption takes -- well, there is no average adoption time frame. Times can vary anywhere from a few months to five years or more depending on the circumstances.


9. As of the 2000 census, about 1.6 million children in the U.S. under the age of 18 were adopted. Of those, around 98,000 were one year old or less (this includes foreign adoptions).


10. Using those same 2000 census figures, there were almost a half-million adopted adults living in the U.S. (473,000).

I thought a lot of these facts were interesting.   I love fact number 6!   I pray my children group happy and well=adjusted!   I think the biggest fear of every adopted parent is if your child will identify with you when it's grown and still consider me his or her parent.  I think in most cases the answer is YES!!!  Fear not and trust in GOD!!  Everything happens for a reason.   :)