The KAAN newsletter had a link to an article that was published by USATODAY in 2003. A little old, but they only run the census every ten years so the data is the same today. I thought it was interesting that the 2000 census was the first time the government has really studied how adoption has changed the structure of the “traditional” family.

Link: Census

The Census Bureau's first profile of adopted children, out Friday, shows that 1.6 million adopted kids under 18 are now living in U.S. households. Although foreign adoptions are increasing and getting the most headlines, the report shows 87% of adoptees under 18 were born in the USA.

1.6 million adoptees under 18 is a lot of adoptees and that doesn’t even count those of us who are well over the 18 mark. I also thought the 87% born in the USA was interested. It goes to prove that there a lot more adoptees out there. The difference is that those of us who are a different race than our parents have no choice but to broadcast our status to the world. I think one of the reasons so many people think that international adoption is so much more prevelant than domestic adoption is that we are the only ones that they can see.

About one in six adopted children (17%) are of a different race than the head of their household. About half (49%) of the foreign-born come from Asia; Korea leads the list. And adopted kids tend to live with older and more economically secure parents. Adoptive families are fairly evenly distributed across the USA.

It really doesn’t surprise me that Korean adoptees lead the other countries. Korea has been a part of the scene for much longer than any of the other countries. After all, this census was looking back over the last 18 years. I suspect that China will top this list soon (if not by the end of this decade, then soon after).

In the Census report, 76% of householders with an adopted child list their race as white; 15% list African-American. Asians, other races and people who listed two or more races make up the difference. Nine percent are Hispanic, who can be of any race.

Sometimes, I forget that though Korea was really the beginning of international adoption, it really isn’t the founder of adoption in this country. I tend to be pretty centered on Korean adoption (for obvious reasons), but there are an awful lot of us in this country that are simply adoptees.

If you would like to comment, but not on this site, please e-mail me at adoptkoreablog@adoptionmail.com.