What About England, Ireland, Germany

Not sure about England or Germany but Ireland has banned international adoptions since the early 1970s because of the black market problems there at that time.

Do you mean international adoptions where people from other countries adopt the German, Irish or English children and so on, or German (etc) nationals adopting kids from China??? If you mean the first option, I would imagine it would be because there was no need for their children to be adopted out of the country and that the countries you have mentioned have a social/welfare program and also run their own adoption programs for their domestic adoptions. There is a clear post on the Australian/NZ boards about this same topic. I'm not sure if this is wht you meant or not. If not, disregard this post.

Also, if they are like Canada, and party to the Hague convention, this does not allow the international adoption of its citizens when there are available families within the country. All those countries listed above adopt hundreds of children into their countries each year themselves.

Yes, that is what I mean. I would like to adopt from one of those countrys. Ok, I now understand. But hey Russia & the Ukraine are fine as well. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the quick replys.

Doug, the bottom line with the English-speaking countries and Western Europe is that they are exactly like the U.S. There are very few adoptable babies -- too few even for the families who are citizens of those countries. As a result, many families from those countries, like American families often go to Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America to adopt. There are several reasons for this being the case. Let me give you just a few. 1. First of all, like the U.S., these countries are prosperous, compared to many of the countries where children can be adopted. They also have a "social safety net" in the form of welfare and so on. You are not going to find many women in these countries placing babies because of dire poverty, as often happens in countries like Ethiopia and Guatemala. 2. There is also a very low birth rate in these countries, in part because of a high education level and access to contraception. In some parts of the world, women marry at 15 or 16 and may have eight children before they are thirty. They and their spouses may be illiterate or have minimal education, and very little chance of a good job. So one or more children in the family may be placed for adoption, simply so that the others will have enough food. 3. The U.S., the other English-speaking countries, and Western European countries have also been fortunate in that there have been few huge natural disasters, such as earthquakes, there, as well as few wars fought on their soil. In some countries, thousands of children become parentless because of natural disasters and wars. 4. The U.S., English-speaking countries, and Western European countries also have good quality medical care that is widely available, and good public health programs. Some countries have such poor public health programs that large numbers of people die in epidemics. And in many countries, families abandon or relinquish children with medical issues that we would consider easily fixable, either because they don't know that the conditions are minor, or because the necessary care isn't available, or because they do not have financial access to these services. 5. Even when there is a disaster, the U.S., the other English speaking countries, and Western European countries rarely wind up with children who have no homes. As an example, despite the fact that the events of September 11 killed a lot of parents, no child wound up in an orphanage. Families in these countries make guardianship plans for their children. They have relatives living nearby who can afford "another mouth to feed", and so on. In some countries, if a Dad dies, the Mom doesn't have the skills to go to work, no relatives can afford to parent, etc. 6. Further, adoption is not greatly stigmatized in the West. It is very common in the U.S., the other English speaking countries, and Western Europe, for people to adopt domestically -- even children who are not biologically related to them. People spend large sums to find a healthy infant, and talk publicly about their search for a child. In many countries, the "blood tie" is considered so important that people just don't understand how decent folks would take in a child who is not related. Also, in many countries, the children who are most likely to need homes come from the poorer race or ethnic group -- and the more affluent people would not think of taking in these children, who look different. 7. In the West, parenthood outside of marriage is not as stigmatized as it is in some countries, such as China. Today, many Western women who become pregnant choose to keep their babies. In some other countries, if a woman was known to be pregnant while unmarried, she would bring shame to her family, be ostracized by the neighbors, and even lose her job. There are probably more reasons, but the bottom line is clear. There are simply no healthy infants/toddlers who cannot be placed within their birth country, in the other English speaking countries and Western Europe. Sharon

I think that should be re-written to say The reality is that there are PLENTY of african-american children/infants/toddlers that ARE available for adoption in the United States.