Adoption Statistics
An overview of adoption trends in the United States
18%
Decrease in adoptions from foster care from FY19 - FY 21
19,130
Number who aged out of foster care without a permanent family at the end of FY21
113,589
Children and youth waiting to be adopted at the end of FY21
24%
Decrease in private domestic adoptions from 2019 - 2020
73,591
Number of kids who were in the system for two or more years before exiting in FY21
93%
Decline in intercountry adoptions since peaking in 2004
Annual Adoptions by Type
Notes: Foster care and intercountry data reflect the fiscal year reporting period October 1 – September 30. Private Domestic Adoptions have been counted through NCFA's Adoption by the Numbers report. The 2014 methodology was unrelated domestic adoption of infants only (including from the public system) and excluded relative placements. The 2019 and 2020 methodology includes relatives and non-relatives, but excludes those from the public system. Current methodology was not limited to infants only, and included any private, domestic, non-stepparent adoption.
