("Holt International Children's Services")
"Holt International Children's Services is dedicated to carrying out God's plan for every child to have a permanent, loving home through family preservation, incountry adoption, and international adoption."
~Holt International Children's Services
INternational Adoption Today
International adoption has changed over time. " . . . the increasingly complex, lengthy and expensive process has caused the dramatic decline in international adoptions by American parents. The popularity of international adoption increased rapidly among American parents up to 2004. That year, Americans adopted nearly 23,000 children from other countries. Since then, however, adoptions have decreased by about 62 percent, to 8,668 last year, according to U.S. State Department numbers." (Penrod)
Nancy Clough, adoptive parent, believes, "International adoption has been, and will continue to be, a changing landscape because of the politics of the countries involved. The countries from which children are adopted has changed from predominantly SE Asia to now a greater focus on Latin America and Africa. The rules and regulations are different for each country. The wait times for expectant parents has grown substantially... Now the wait times can be 3-5 years."
Holt International Children's Services reports, "Across the globe and agency-wide, the profiles of children needing homes – and coming home to families – has changed. The children most requested by adoptive families – healthy infant girls – are finding families more frequently in their birth countries. Finally, children with special needs, older children and boys are first in line for international adoption!"
"This changing need in adoption reflects broader changes in many of the countries where Holt works. Economies are growing, giving more birth families the resources to care for their children. Domestic adoption is becoming more socially accepted, enabling more children to find adoptive families in their birth countries. At Holt, we see this as a reason to celebrate!"
"This changing need in adoption reflects broader changes in many of the countries where Holt works. Economies are growing, giving more birth families the resources to care for their children. Domestic adoption is becoming more socially accepted, enabling more children to find adoptive families in their birth countries. At Holt, we see this as a reason to celebrate!"