AN ANALYSIS OF THE RECENT TRENDS IN INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS: THE ROLE OF NATIONALISTIC AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRESSURES

Abstract

Between fiscal years (FY) 1999 and 2015, the United States received more than 256,000 children from more than one hundred countries for the purpose of intercountry adoption. Facing a consistent incline in total number of children received from abroad for years since the phenomena first began decades ago, 2004 marked the beginning of what would become a dramatic decline in the trends of intercountry adoption that are present today. This paper seeks to address the factors that have contributed to the rise and fall of intercountry adoptions over a fifteen-year span from 1999 through 2014. Though it is crucial to consider all possible factors that have influenced the trends in intercountry adoptions, the average economic state of individual countries is used to assess the presence of organizations such as the Hague Conference on Private International Law, as well as to assess the presence of cases of significant nationalistic sentiment in specific countries in an attempt to provide an explanation for the driving forces behind these trends. Additionally, in analyzing the average adoption rate, average economic growth rate, and presence (or absence) of organizations and nationalism, the question of the future state of intercountry adoptions is addressed.