Rate of Adoptions Dissolution

Q: How often do adoptions dissolve after they are finalized and the children are home?

A: That’s a hard statistic to find. No entity keeps tract of this number and there is no national database on adoption failures, so we have to rely on representative samples of the adopted population. The statistic also varies based on the age of the child at adoption. In one study by Dr. Trudy Festinger, of about 200,000 children adopted from foster care, less than 1% dissolved after adoption. For more information on this study and others, listen to the Creating a Family radio show on Adoption Dissolutions: How Common, What are the Causes, How to Prevent. Also, check out this Creating a Family blog on How Common Are Adoption Dissolutions.