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As we sit safely with family & friends...

A couple days ago I received a letter from the executive director for our agency, All God's Children Inc.  As I think about going HOME for Christmas and spending time with family and friends, these statistics that she wrote about have been on my mind...

In 2004, orphans had a reason to hope…
  • 45,298 orphans joined families worldwide through international adoption, with 22,991 adopted by U.S. families.
  • Adoption timelines averaged 12 months.
  • AGCI’s ‘International Fees’ helped provide loving care to orphans who remained behind in their birth countries, by providing increased caregivers, nutrition and developmental programs.
In 2012, hope is fading…
  • Last year, an estimated 23,000 orphans worldwide found loving families through international adoption, with just 9,319 adopted by U.S. families. That is less than half the number of children adopted in 2004. The cumulative effect of this decrease is that 342,876 children will not have been adopted into safe, permanent homes that could have been.
  • Adoption timelines now average two to four years.
  • Since implementation of the Hague Treaty adoption has closed in numerous countries worldwide. AGCI is still serving the orphan population in many of these countries.
  • AGCI’s adoption income can no longer supplement our orphan care programs.
The number of international adoptions has fallen to its lowest point in 15 years; for the estimated 153 million orphans across the globe, they need our help today.

I ask that you pray for the orphans in this world, both far and near. Pray that someday they too can have a forever family to celebrate the holidays with.


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Comments

  1. KatieDecember 21, 2012 at 11:59 PM

    Those numbers might not all be a bad thing. I don't know anything about other countries, but for China, my understanding is that the numbers have dropped and the wait time has increased because there are many more domestic adoptions taking place. Now most of the adoptions out of China are kids who have special needs of some sort. (And the Hague treaty is a good thing, right?) I don't want to minimize the problem though--153 million orphans is a lot and I'm so glad you'll be welcoming a few of those into your family.

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