Adopted Children

In 2007, there were approximately 1.8 million adopted children living in the United States. Of all adopted children, 38 percent were placed with families through private domestic adoption, meaning the child was voluntarily placed for adoption by his or her biological parents. Another 37 percent of adopted children were placed with their families through foster care adoption, and the remaining 25 percent of adopted children came to their families through international adoption.

Overall, the sex distribution of adopted children is about even, but this varies by adoption type. Only one-third of children adopted internationally are male (33 percent) compared to 57 percent of children adopted from foster care and 51 percent of children adopted privately in the U.S. The racial/ethnic distribution of adopted children also varies across adoption types, with private adoptions most likely to involve non-Hispanic White children and international adoptions most likely to involve Asian children.

The majority of adopted children, 85 percent, were reported by their parents to be in “excellent” or “very good” health, however, nearly 40 percent of adopted children have special health care needs. Children with special health care needs are those who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally.¹ Children adopted from foster care are more likely to have a special health care need (54 percent) compared to children adopted privately from the United States (32 percent) or internationally (29 percent).

1 McPherson M, Arango P, Fox H, Lauver C, McManus M, Newacheck P, Perrin J, Shonkoff J, Strickland B. A new definition of children with special health care needs. Pediatrics, 102(1):137–140, 1998.

This image is described in the Data section.

This image is described in the Data section.