Foreign adoptions lowest since 1994

— The number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents fell by 7 percent last year, to the lowest level since 1994. That number is likely to plunge further this year due to the new ban by Russia on adoptions by Americans.

Figures released Thursday by the State Department for the 2012 fiscal year showed 8,668 adoptions from abroad, down from 9,320 in 2011 and down about 62 percent from the all-time high of 22,884 in 2004. The number has dropped every year since then.

As usual, China accounted for the most children adopted in the U.S. But its total of 2,589 was far below the peak of 7,903 in 2005.

Ethiopia was second, at 1,568, followed by Russia with 748. For the current year, the figure from Russia is likely to shrink to only a few dozen adoptions that were in the final stages of approval before the ban was enacted last month.

Following Russia on the 2012 list were South Korea, which accounted for 627 adoptions, Ukraine at 395, the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 240, Uganda at 238 and Nigeria at 197.

The adoption numbers were up for several African countries and for Haiti, which had virtually halted foreign adoptions after the devastating earthquake of 2010, but has slowly resumed them. Haiti accounted for 154 adoptions by Americans last year, compared with 33 in 2011.

The last time there were fewer foreign adoptions to the U.S. was in 1994, when there were 8,333.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/25/2013

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