More than 90% of Adoptions Are Under Age 3... 97% Overseas

More than 90% of children adopted domestically and internationally are under the age of 3, with overseas adoptions reaching as high as 97%, indicating a serious concentration of infant and toddler adoptions.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 7th, over the past five years, the average percentage of domestic adoptions involving children under 3 years old was 91.2%. The figures were 93.5% in 2017, 89.2% in 2018, 92.8% in 2019, 91.2% in 2020, and 89.4% in 2021.

In particular, adoptions of children aged between 3 months and under 1 year accounted for a significant portion: 60.4% in 2017, 65.1% in 2018, 69.8% in 2019, 60.4% in 2020, and 53.6% in 2021.

Overseas adoptions showed an even more pronounced concentration, with infants and toddlers averaging 96.7%. The percentage of adoptions for children aged 1 to under 3 years overseas was 96.0% in 2017, 97.0% in 2018, 95.6% in 2019, 97.0% in 2020, and 97.9% in 2021.

However, there were no cases of infants under 1 year old being adopted overseas. This is believed to be due to the implementation of the 'Domestic Adoption Priority Promotion System,' which prioritizes domestic adoption for five months from the day a child enters an adoption agency.

Additionally, the rarity of adoptions for children aged 3 and older is attributed to the fact that the system connecting these children with new families through private adoption agencies responsible for domestic and international adoptions is not functioning properly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.