Canadian adoption stats
May. 1st | Posted by Nicky
5 comments
Jrock and I 
took the dogs for a drive Sunday up to the sand beaches in Northern Alberta (rimmed with ice still, but sandy!)
On the way home, we were talking about how, even though the most famous couple in Nth America have adopted a daughter from Ethiopia, and people think it’s a big trend, it actually isn’t. Turns out people don’t make major life decisions based on celebrity watching! (Yes, that was a bit of a wry jab.)
Anyway, I decided to look it up. Be prepared for the masses of people flocking to adopt from Africa:
Intercountry adoptions (from all countries) to Canada have been stable for eleven years, running between 1,800 and 2,200 a year:
2005: 1,871 / 2004: 1,955 / 2003: 2,180 / 2002: 1,926 / 2001: 1,874 / 2000: 1,866 / 1999: 2,019 / 1998: 2,222 / 1997: 1,800 / 1996: 2,061 / 1995: 2,010
So where do we adopt from?
| International Adoptions in Canada, Top 25 Countries | |||
|
|
2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| China | 973 | 1,001 | 1,112 |
| Haiti | 115 | 159 | 150 |
| United States | 102 | 79 | 74 |
| Republic of Korea | 97 | 97 | 73 |
| Russia | 88 | 106 | 92 |
| Philippines | 70 | 62 | 58 |
| India | 41 | 37 | 10 |
| Ukraine | 39 | 16 | 23 |
| Ethiopia | 31 | 34 | 14 |
| Taiwan | 30 | 15 | 26 |
| Jamaica | 22 | 23 | 43 |
| Thailand | 21 | 40 | 38 |
| Colombia | 18 | 38 | 37 |
| Pakistan | 17 | 7 | 9 |
| Ghana | 15 | 12 | 11 |
| Congo, Dem. Rep | 11 | 8 | x |
| Bulgaria | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Liberia | 10 | 10 | x |
| Cambodia | 10 | 14 | 23 |
| Hong Kong | 8 | x | x |
| Guyana | 8 | 14 | 19 |
| Nigeria | 6 | x | x |
| Brazil | 6 | x | x |
| El Salvador | 5 | x | x |
| St. Vincent/Grenadines | 5 | x | x |
| Other Countries | 113 | 183 | 297 |
| Total | 1,871 | 1,955 | 2,180 |
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), in 2005, Ethiopian kids were adopted only in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In 2003, only Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba.
Another interesting fact… in 2005, Ethiopia had 4,414,000 orphans and only 1,400 of all these kids left to join their new families overseas that year. (US, Canada, Spain, Italy, etc.)
So two interesting conclusions to perhaps draw from these stats.
- We are not as trendy as some may have thought.
- Parents who adopt from Ethiopia are pretty web-savvy! Check out how many family blogs are linked on the right of this page, for not that many parents!
Well that is comforting! And also, it gives us ammunition for the inevitable joke that follows the “Why did you pick Ethiopia” question… “Because of Angelina???”
OY, it makes me NUTTY!
“Turns out people don’t make major life decisions based on celebrity watching!”
WHAT?? But I was waiting to see if Halle Berry would adopt and from which country before I made my choice!
Yes, because celebrities are the leaders we look to for inspiration and moral guidance.
*smirk*
Very interesting stats. Thanks for the post. People have been making the Angelina jokes to us for a few years now. So frustrating! I try to keep my mouth shut but it’s hard not to point out that we started our adoption journey before her first adoption AND that no one in their right mind makes a decision that will impact the rest of your life and a child’s life to be trendy.
Interesting Arnica, though I wonder how much the numbers will change (not so much with the total numbers of adoption, but where those numbers are from) with new agencies working with Ethiopia now, as well as longer waits with China?