Bye bye, little babushkas; enjoy your tuberculosis

[CountDeMoney]

My understanding is that adoption agencies prefer to give black kids to black parents, but that black parents don't adopt much.

Why should they?  It's not like they have fertility issues.

[merithyn]

Are there no orphans in the US? 

The fear is that the birth parents or their families may come after the child, even after the adoption is finalized. A few sensationalized cases from a decade or so ago have made many US parents nervous. Add to that movies made that depict birth parents getting out of prison and going after their children, and, well, you can see the concern. With foreign adoptions, there is little to no risk that a birth parent will suddenly appear to take the child back.

Plus, in the US, we know that our orphans are well-cared for, even if they're not in an ideal situation. In places like China, Russia, India, etc., we're led to believe that the orphanages are horrific places that will do serious and permanent damage to the children left there.

Add to that the fact that it's extremely difficult to adopt a very young child in the US. Most are aged five or older, or severely handicapped. Many people are nervous about adopting a child that age because by then, serious emotional damage could have been done that may or may not be something the child can overcome.

There are a lot of factors that go into adopting (age, gender, money, family dynamic, parental age, number of kids already in the house, amount of disability a family can handle), so it's not all that odd that a significant proportion will go beyond the foster care-to-adoption route that is typical here in the states.

[DGuller]

Are there no orphans in the US? 

We don't have enough. 

[Faeelin]

Add to that the fact that it's extremely difficult to adopt a very young child in the US. Most are aged five or older, or severely handicapped. Many people are nervous about adopting a child that age because by then, serious emotional damage could have been done that may or may not be something the child can overcome.

Is it because of paperwork, or because demand is so high?

[merithyn]

Add to that the fact that it's extremely difficult to adopt a very young child in the US. Most are aged five or older, or severely handicapped. Many people are nervous about adopting a child that age because by then, serious emotional damage could have been done that may or may not be something the child can overcome.

Is it because of paperwork, or because demand is so high?

Demand is so high. The wait can be as long as five or six years for an infant, and you typically have to have been a foster parent during that time before they'll let you have an infant. That is, unless you go through private adoption, but even that is fraught with struggle. The mother may change her mind, up to six months after the child is born in some states. The cost is usually as high as a foreign adoption, and still carries the risk of the birth parents coming back.

And Yi isn't entirely wrong. Race is a factor, too. There are states with laws that specifically state that a child is to be placed with someone of the same race if at all possible FIRST. So, the state will hold a child in limbo for several months while they try to find an appropriate candidate of the right race. If they can't, then they will allow the child to go to someone else.

A lot of times, to get an infant, you have to agree to taking the infant's elder siblings, because DHS doesn't want to separate families if it can be helped, and it's an easy way to find homes for older kids.

[merithyn]

Here's where I should point out that it's been a few years since I looked all of this information up. Things have likely changed since then. My information is from roughly 2008-2009 timeframe.