The number of adoptions of foreign children by U.S. couples hit a three-decade low last year as the number of orphans continues to grow, according to data from the State Department.
Americans adopted 5,648 children abroad in 2015, down 12 percent from 6,438 in 2014 and well below a peak of 22,884 in 2004, the report revealed.
Intercountry adoptions have not been this low since 1981 when 4,868 foreign children were adopted by U.S. couples.
Adoption advocates attribute the drop to U.S. measures demanding that nations improve their child welfare system and reduce child trafficking in order to participate in adoption arrangements with Americans.
Chuck Johnson, CEO of the National Council for Adoption, has been critical of the State Department’s requirements, noting that impoverished nations lack the funding and resources needed to meet the standards.
Johnson said the world’s orphan population is growing by the millions each year, leaving children homeless or living in underfunded and understaffed orphanages.
"For thousands of children, intercountry adoption will be their only opportunity to live, learn, grow, and thrive within a family, and be protected from trafficking, forced into the sex trade, homelessness, or premature death," Johnson said in a statement Friday.
The State Department reported that the trend of Americans most commonly choosing to adopt children from China continued in 2015 with 2,354 adoptions. While that number increased 15 percent from 2014, it was far lower than the peak of 7,903 in 2005.
Russia closed off adoptions to the U.S. in 2013 to retaliate against U.S. sanctions on Russian officials who allegedly committed human rights violations.
In the past decade, the U.S. has frozen adoptions from several nations including Cambodia, Vietnam, and Montenegro, citing fraud, baby stealing, and baby selling.