Interactive: The decline of international adoption
By CNN Staff
September 16, 2013 -- Updated 0552 GMT (1352 HKT)
The chart above shows the total annual decline of overseas adoptions globally; the graphic to the right details the changes in sending and receiving countries. Sources: The Hague Adoption Convention and Peter Selman, Newcastle University.
Interactive by Clarence Fong and Jason Kwok, CNN
Editor's note: Editor's Note: In this series, CNN investigates international adoption, hearing from families, children and key experts on its decline, and whether the trend could -- or should -- be reversed.
(CNN) -- International adoptions steadily rose since the 1950s before exploding in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War and the opening of China and Russia. After peaking in 2004 with more than 45,000 overseas adoptions, the numbers globally have fallen by half in less than a decade.
After rising for decades, the number of overseas adoptions has dropped by almost half since 2004. In this series, CNN probes the reasons behind the decline and whether the trend could -- or should -- be reversed.
International adoptions steadily rose since the 1950s before exploding in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War and the opening of China and Russia. But for the past decade its been in freefall.
While the number of international adoptions is plummeting, there is one nation from which parents abroad can adopt a healthy infant in a relatively short time: The United States.
Advocates say international adoption system is holding orphans hostage in red tape. Critics say adoption from developing nations feeds nefarious practices. A "business" in need of reform.
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