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Adoption Statistics

Three-Year Summary | 2006-2007 | 2005-2006 | 2004-2005 | 2003-2004 | 2002-2003

2004 - 2005

July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005

Placements

• OA&FS facilitated 49 adoptions. (We do 40 to 60 placements each year.)
  • Six (12%) were “identified” adoptions, when adoptive parents find a birthmother through their personal networks before beginning work with the agency.
  • Three (6%) were handled, for logistical reasons, in partnership with another agency or attorney.
    • An additional four families in OA&FS’ pool were chosen, as a direct result of our networking, by a birthmother working with another agency or attorney.
• Thirteen (28%) of the placements were “last-minute” situations, when a birthmother contacts the agency for the first time from the hospital.
• Adoptive parents and birthparents agreed to an average of three visits per year on their open adoption agreements.

Child Demographics

• 94% of the children placed were newborn, less than a few days old.
• 78% were Caucasian.
• 53% experienced no prenatal drug or alcohol exposure. 33% experienced “mild” exposure, 12% “moderate” exposure and 1 “severe” exposure.

Birthparents

• Birthmothers received counseling for an average of 2.5 months prior to placement.
• The average age of birthmothers was 23.

Adoptive Parents

• Adoptive parents waited an average of 10 months and a median of 6 months.
  • 65% of the families waited 10 months or less. 35% waited more than 10 months.
  • The longest wait was 36 months and the shortest wait less than one month.
  • Please note that these figures do not include families still waiting.
• The average age of adoptive parents was 39.
• Adoptive parents incurred pregnancy-related expenses in 46% of the cases, at an average of $1,426 per placement. Expenses were zero in 54% of cases.

Gay and Lesbian Couples

• Twenty-one gay and lesbian couples have adopted in the past three years. That’s 14% of the total placements.
• Gay and lesbian clients have made up approximately 40% of OA&FS’ pool of waiting families for the past three years.
• Gay and lesbian couples’ average wait for the past three years has been 16 months, compared to an all-family average of 9 months.
• In the history of the agency, OA&FS has placed with a total of 42 gay or lesbian couples (22 gay and 20 lesbian).

Single People

• No single people were chosen in fiscal years 2004-2005 or 2003-2004. Two single women were chosen in 2002-2003.
• Fourteen single people have adopted in the history of the agency. Their average wait time has been very similar to the all-family average.

Disruptions

• There were 7 disruptions (12.5% of the total placements) last fiscal year.
  • Two of these (3.5% of the total placements) occurred after the baby was born, when the birthmother decided to parent.
  • Five (9% of the total) occurred before the baby was born:
    • Three times, the birthparents decided to parent after entering mediation with adoptive parents but before the child’s birth.
    • One time, the birthparents decided to choose a different family after beginning mediation.
    • One time, the prospective adoptive parents decided, after starting mediation, not to go forward with the placement.