Foreign adoptions: OK, but try here first

September 12, 2013, 10:09 PM GMT+0

Americans generally think that foreign adoptions are a good idea, but most think that parents should try adopting within the US first

Many Americans - for many reasons - have adopted children from abroad for years; recently it become a political issue after Russia made it illegal for children in the country to be adopted by Americans. This happened after a Russian child who had been adopted by an American was put onto an airplane and returned to Russia unaccompanied. Russia claims that in incidents of abuse involving adopted Russians, the US government has been reluctant to work with the country. In a separate incident, two parents in Washington were recently convicted of abusing - and murdering - their adopted Ethiopian daughter after she froze to death outside of their home.

The latest YouGov research shows that Americans generally view adoption of foreign children by US parents to be a positive thing. If people can neither conceive, nor adopt in the US, 68% of people approve of adopting abroad.

However, over two-thirds of the public says that people should try to adopt American children before looking abroad. Only 6% disagree.


When asked whether they approved of other countries limiting - or banning - adoptions by Americans, such as the Russian law, Americans are split. 44% approve of foreign countries imposing these rules while 38% disapprove. There are age differences on this issue, however with over 65s (57%) being most supportive of the limits and 18-29 year-olds (34%) being the least supportive.

Full results can be found here.

Image: Getty.

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