The number of international adoptions has fallen to its lowest point in 15 years, a steep decline attributed largely to crackdowns against baby-selling, a sputtering world economy and efforts by countries to place more children with domestic families.
Globally, the number of orphans being adopted by foreign parents dropped from a high of 45,000 in 2004 to an estimated 25,000 last year, according to annual statistics compiled by Peter Selman, an expert on international adoptions at Britain's Newcastle University.
Some adoption advocates argue the decrease is also linked to a set of strict international guidelines known as the Hague Adoption Convention.
Critics say the guidelines, devised to ensure transparency and child protection following a rash of baby-selling and kidnapping scandals, have also been used by leading adopting nations, including the U.S., as a pretext for freezing adoptions from some countries that are out of compliance.
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"It should have been a real step forward, but it's been used in a way that's made it a force for shutting down" adoptions in some countries, says Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard law professor who promotes international adoptions. "That affects thousands of children every year."
She says places where international adoptions are stopped may ultimately see more children stuck in orphanages or on the street where they could fall prey to sex traffickers.
U.S. adoption officials and international agencies such as UNICEF say the Hague rules, which require countries to set up a central adoption authority and a system of checks and balances, are necessary to safeguard orphans and keep profit-driven players from corrupting a system that should be purely about helping children.
Much has changed from a decade ago, when busloads of would-be foreign adoptive parents flocked to orphanages in poor countries such as China, Vietnam and Guatemala to take babies home following a relatively quick and easy process.
Waits have become longer and requirements stiffer, with some countries now refusing obese or single adoptive parents and requiring proof of a certain amount of cash in the bank. Countries embroiled in scandals have pulled the plug on their programs or been cut off by the U.S. and other countries, leaving hundreds of children in bureaucratic limbo.
Vietnam joined the Hague convention on Feb. 1, and U.S. officials say they are hopeful adoptions will resume within the next year.
Shutdowns in Guate-mala, Nepal and Kyrgyzstan have coincided with efforts to promote domestic adoptions in countries including Russia and China, where foreigners now face tightened restrictions.
The U.S., which historically has received about half of the world's annual international adoptions, saw a decline of more than 60 percent from 2004 to just over 9,000 last year.
Alison Dilworth, a U.S. adoption official, says the economic downturn is at least partly to blame, with foreign adoptions typically costing $20,000 to $40,000. But the U.S. freeze on adoptions from some countries also means there are fewer children available to adopt.
Last year's 25,000 international adoptions were the fewest since 1996, Selman said.
