Number of foreign adoptions hits 13-year low

The number of foreign children adopted by Americans has plunged to the lowest level since 1996, in large measure because Guatemala’s government shut down that country’s thriving but corrupt international adoption industry.

Adoptions from abroad dropped 27 percent in 2009 to 12,753, the U.S. State Department reported Dec. 17, according to The Associated Press (AP). That number was almost 45 percent off the all-time high — 22,884 — registered in 2004. It was the lowest figure since 1996.

Guatemala’s 4,123 adoptions to Americans in 2008 sank to 756 for 2009, before authorities shut downthe industry indefinitely while reforms are formulated. International adoptions from China, the leading source in 2009, also dropped substantially as China cuts back on the number of healthy orphans made available for adoptions, the AP reported.

Adoptions from Vietnam — where corruption also has been a problem — dropped as well. (BP)