Adoptions up slightly

A total 1,299 children were adopted in the Netherlands in 2000. There were 1,010 requests for adoption, of which 989 were granted by the courts. Another 310 children were adopted under the The Hague Treaty.

The number of adoptions has risen slightly since 1999. Compared with 1995 it has risen by a quarter.

Number of adopted children

Most adopted children from abroad

129 children (ten percent of the total) were adopted by a step-parent. Seventy-one percent of these have the Dutch nationality. For ‘normal’ adoptions, 98percent of the children adopted came from a foreign country. The remaining two percent were Dutch.

Adopted children by nationality, 2000

Columbia and China main countries of origin

Just as in recent years, Columbia is the main country of origin. More than a quarter of children adopted in the Netherlands come from this country and the proportion is increasing. China is in second place, the number of adoptions of children from this country (19 percent) has been rising clearly since 1996. As in the past, and more so than in other countries of origin, most of the children from China (93 percent) are girls.

Marcelle van Zee