Foster care/adoption trends and abortion

Posted this in another thread, but it's buried on page 12 or 13 so I want to make a new thread for it.

I realize that a lot of people have moral and ethical objections to abortion and think adoption is the best option. However, I don't think people are considering practical realities when they make this decision.

I don't expect to change anyone's mind about abortion being murder, but I'd like to show that adoption is not necessarily as great an idea as everyone believes.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/waiting2005.htm

As of 2005, there were 115,407 children in foster care waiting for adoption (not counting approximately 70,000 also waiting with terminated parental rights - see next graph). The number has slowly been dropping over the seven year period listed on that site, from 128,980 in 1999. That's a very slow progression.The site also mentions that the totals given might be lower than the actual totals.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/trends.htm

This site shows foster care and adoption trends from 2002-2006.


We see approximately 800,000 children per year served in the foster care system, with approximately 500,000 in care on the last day of the fiscal year, approximately 300,000 children entering the system during the fiscal year, a comparable number leaving the system, approximately 200,000 children either waiting to be adopted or waiting to be adopted with terminated parental rights, and only approximately 50,000 being adopted. These numbers seem to be holding relatively steadily over the five year period shown here.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

Now we look at abortion statistics.


The numbers are dropping, looking at abortions per 1,000 women over the years since abortion was legalized. But, totaling up the numbers, we see that in 2005 there were approximately 1.21 million abortions performed, down from 1.31 in 2000.

Now, assuming that these 1.21 million abortions didn't take place, but that these children were entered into the foster care system to be adopted out, we'd see a jump from 300,000 to 1.5 million children entering the foster care system per year. Assuming the ratios stay roughly the same as they've been shown to over the five year period shown in the above graph, that means that we now see 500,000 children at the start of the year plus 300,000 plus 1.2 million so 2,000,000 children in the system. Right now the statistics show approximately 16% being adopted (800,000/50,000), so at 2 million children in the system that's 320,000 adoptions. Which leaves about 1.7 million children needing adoption. Add in another 1.5 million the next year, that's 3.2 million, so 512,000 adoptions and about 2.7 million children left. Add in 1.5 million the next year, 4.2 million in the system and 672,000 adoptions. As you can see, this number rises exponentially.

Now, I don't claim that the math is perfect, or that trends will continue as they are, but it stands to reason that if there are children waiting now, adding a lot more children per year won't encourage people to adopt more. Even if we saw pregnancy rates go down, they're not going to go down so far that hundreds of thousands of children per year aren't going to be put into the foster care system.

If you look at the numbers, you see these children are just not being adopted, and with the number of abortions that take place, that number is just going to get larger and larger. We already have 200,000 children waiting right now for families.

Adoption is the ideal, yes. But, this isn't an ideal world. Who is going to adopt all these babies? Look at the numbers, please, before you just assume that adoption is always the best choice.

C.

I saw this in the other thread. And I have to say, I was shocked when I read your research! I had no idea there were so many children in our foster/adoption systems without homes. I always assumed that since there are so many people who say they would love to adopt that these kids would find homes immediately. I wonder if part of the problem is that adoption has gotten so expensive in the U.S., and therefore people are adopting outside the country or opting to do private adoptions.

Either way - I have to say I agree with you. IDEALLY adoption would be the way to go, but it just doesn't seem logical to throw that many more kids out there into the system. Therefore, I remain pro-choice for reasons such as these.

Good topic.

I was adopted when I was 12. In foster care since I was about 3.

Quoting Tiffany ♥'s Kirra:“ I was adopted when I was 12. In foster care since I was about 3.”

Wow...9 years is an awfully long time to be in foster care. I'm glad you were one of the lucky ones to find a home. Hopefully your experience was a good one.

That being said, your 9 years of foster care really only adds to God's argument. If we banned abortion and all of those unwanted pregnancies turned into foster children/adoption cases your 9 years might look more like 20 years, which obviously is silly, since they boot you out at age 18.

Yea I understand but I'm definitely glad I wasn't aborted. I don't think we should ban abortions though. I just think that people shouldn't use it as a birth control method.

Quoting Tiffany ♥'s Kirra:“ Yea I understand but I'm definitely glad I wasn't aborted. I don't think we should ban abortions though. I just think that people shouldn't use it as a birth control method.”

I had a roommate in college who had 3 abortions in one year, because she kept forgetting her BC. Even though I'm pro choice, I do understand how some people take advantage of a good thing. Anyway - I'm glad you weren't aborted either. Lol.

Quoting Tiffany ♥'s Kirra:“ Yea I understand but I'm definitely glad I wasn't aborted. I don't think we should ban abortions though. I just think that people shouldn't use it as a birth control method.”

Agreed.

And I think if the government would put more effort into campaigns that teach women about the factual realities of abortion, what it does to their bodies and what the potential consequences are, and also provided free birth control, that more people would use birth control and avoid resorting to abortion as a method of birth control (I don't think the percentage of women who do this is very high, but it is sad that it exists at all) - appealing to morality obviously doesn't work, but if we shift the focus from "you're killing a baby!" to "look what you're doing to YOURSELF" I think more women might listen.

C.

Quoting funnymommy#1:“ I had a roommate in college who had 3 abortions in one year, because she kept forgetting her BC. Even ... [snip!] ... pro choice, I do understand how some people take advantage of a good thing. Anyway - I'm glad you weren't aborted either. Lol.”

Yea, plus that many abortions does numbers on your body.  
I couldn't imagine.
Even though I am pro-choice I personally wouldn't do it. I just don't think it's right tosay what a woman can and cannot do with her own body.
Lol, I wouldn't be pregnant with my little girl if I were so I'm definitely glad too  

Quoting God:“ Agreed. And I think if the government would put more effort into campaigns that teach women about the ... [snip!] ... we shift the focus from "you're killing a baby!" to "look what you're doing to YOURSELF" I think more women might listen. C.”

100 % agreed.
Our society has a lot to work on.

There isn't much I can squeeze in that hasn't already been justified.

But wow, it's sad to me to see such high numbers. It's also sad to me that really, the only way to control those numbers is to increase the amount of abortions.

I personally am one who plans on adopting down the road, when my biological son is born and considerably older. But adopting one or two kids won't even begin to make a dent in those numbers.  

This is such a shame. =/

Quoting God:“ Agreed. And I think if the government would put more effort into campaigns that teach women about the ... [snip!] ... we shift the focus from "you're killing a baby!" to "look what you're doing to YOURSELF" I think more women might listen. C.”

I absolutely agree, because there is a sense of self-centeredness with MOST of these women, and making it about them may actually increase their desire to be more educated.I know 4 people who have had abortions and honestly all of these women(all over 24) were going through some incredibly hard shit in their life-some of them just don't have the inner strength to cope, and I couldn't imagine what life these little people would have had!And I still morally couldn't accept it as an option for myself.

Quoting Lilly89:“ There isn't much I can squeeze in that hasn't already been justified. But wow, it's sad to me to see ... [snip!] ... older. But adopting one or two kids won't even begin to make a dent in those numbers.   This is such a shame. =/”

yea same here we are planning on adopting at least 2 kids ( if we can ) we are going to have 3 of our own and adopt hopefully 2 later down the road but we are planning on adopting a little older children everyone wants babies so we will probably adopt a 6 or so year old.

Quoting 7 wks 2 days left:“ yea same here we are planning on adopting at least 2 kids ( if we can ) we are going to have 3 of our ... [snip!] ... but we are planning on adopting a little older children everyone wants babies so we will probably adopt a 6 or so year old.”

That's awesome. I'm glad you are willing to make a difference in someone's life just like my adopted mom madein mine. There are so many children who need love and support.

Quoting Lilly89:“ There isn't much I can squeeze in that hasn't already been justified. But wow, it's sad to me to see ... [snip!] ... older. But adopting one or two kids won't even begin to make a dent in those numbers.   This is such a shame. =/”

but you'll make a difference.
 
and that's what matters.

Wow ... Thanks for the education . I have always found myself saying how bad abortions were , but maybe not ? I feel so dumb for not be educated , thanks for posting this .