International Adoption Guide

17 December 2009

Internationally Adopted Children Are Thriving, Study Shows
By Jeffrey Thomas, Staff Writer, America.gov



Washington — Even as the latest figures show a continuing multi-year decline in the number of U.S. children adopted from other countries, a U.S. government survey released in November finds that most of these international adoptees are in good health and fare well on measures of social and emotional well-being. They get a lot of attention from their parents and generally do well in school.

The survey, Adoption USA, was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services between April 2007 and June 2008 and is nationally representative. Information was drawn from more than 90,000 children who represent the nation’s 73.8 million children, including the 1.8 million who are adopted. Some key findings include:

• 87 percent of adopted children have parents who said they would “definitely” make the same decision to adopt their child, knowing everything that they now know about their child.

• More than nine out of 10 adopted children ages 5 and older have parents who perceived their child’s feelings towards the adoption as “positive” or “mostly positive.”

• Almost nine out of 10 adopted children ages 6 and older exhibit positive social behaviors.

• 85 percent of internationally adopted children have parents who reported their relationship with their child as very warm and close. In addition, 42 percent had parents who reported the relationship as “better than ever expected,” with only 15 percent reporting the relationship as “more difficult” than they expected.

http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2009/December/200912171352251CJsamohT0.1063196.html