More Adoption Info

November is Adoption Awareness Month. Here are some statistics that may surprise you about adoption. If you have ever considered adoption or foster care, now is the perfect time to get more information. You will never know if it is for you until you take the first step and get more info. I would be glad to point you in the right direction! Also, you can check out Cry of the Orphan for info. Every child deserves a family for the holidays!


Global Orphans

*Over 130 million orphans and waiting children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents.i
*Over 13 million double orphans under the age of 18 have lost both parents.ii
*Sub-Saharan Africa, with 48.3 million orphans, has the highest proportion of children who are orphans at 12%
*Asia has the largest total number of orphans with 73.7 million orphans, which represents 6% of all children
*Latin America and the Caribbean has 10.7 million orphans, also representing 6% of all children.iii
*Over 15 million children have lost a parent due to AIDS, and that number is expected to rise to over 20 million by 2010.iv
*Without AIDS, the total number of double orphans in sub-Saharan Africa would have declined between 1990 and 2010. AIDS, however, will push the number of double orphans in the region from 9 million to more than 10 million by 2010.v
*Orphaned children are much more likely than non-orphans to be working in commercial agriculture, as street vendors, in domestic service and in the sex trade.vi
*Orphans are more vulnerable and at risk of becoming victims of violence, exploitation, trafficking, discrimination or other abuses.vii

Domestic Orphans

*More than 500,000 children are in United States foster care.viii
*Over 120,000 children in foster care are waiting to be adopted.ix
*Only around 50,000 children, or 18% of those waiting in foster care, are adopted every year.x
*On average, children in foster care wait over 2 years to be adopted.xi

Adoption

*Over one-third of Americans have ever considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent of Americans have actually adopted.xii
*48% of the people who have seriously considered adoption indicated that they would first look to a house of worship (church) for information or advice about adopting.xiii