The number of adoptions made in Finland in 2018 amounted to 404, of which 212 were girls and 192 boys, informed today Statistics Finland.
Among them, there were 309 adoptions carried out within the country, which is an increase of 17 adoptions compared to 2017 figures. On the contrary, the number of international adoptions fell down: 95 adoptions were made abroad, 9 less than in the previous year.
Still, the latest figures published by Statistics Finland show that the total number of adoptions in 2018 was 8 higher than in 2017, when adoptions totaled 396 (this includes both domestic and international).
Adoptions within the family
When observing the official statistics on adoption, the first thing that attracts attention is that, of those adopted, 131 were persons aged 18 or older, which is a slightly higher number than in previous years. According to Statistics Finland, the "majority" of those adopted as adults were born in Finland and in most cases, it was an adoption within the family.
Adoptions within the family amounted, in fact, for 65% of the total (261). This refers to the process by which a married spouse or the other partner of a registered partnership adopts his spouse's biological child. Of those adoptions within the family, 127 were made by families of registered partnerships or same-sex married couples.
Most foreign adoptions from Thailand
The picture changes slightly in the case of adoptions carried out abroad. The figures by Statistics Finland show that in nearly 60% of adoptions of persons born abroad the adopted child was aged under five years. In domestic adoptions, less than a half of the adopted were aged under five.
Examined by country, figures show that the highest number of adopted children born abroad were from Thailand (22 children). The next most common countries of birth for those adopted were South Africa (13 children) and China (9 children). Around 52% of the adopted children born abroad were boys. Thailand, South Africa and China have been, also in previous years, the most common countries for international adoptions.
Parents in their early forties
By continents, Asia is the most common when adopting, with 46 registered adoptions. In addition to Thailand (22) and China (9), Finns adopted in 2018 also children from the Philippines (8), India (5), Vietnam and Japan.
In Africa, 20 children were adopted, more than half of them (13) from South Africa. There were also adoptions from Nigeria (3), Zimbabwe (2), Ethiopia and Uganda.
There were 19 European children adopted by Finns. Among them, the highest number was recorded in Russia (6), followed by Estonia (5) and Bulgaria (4). Adoptions were also recorded in Belarus, Sweden, Slovakia and the Former Soviet Union (state unspecified).
In the case of America, 10 adoptions were made by Finns, in Colombia (6 adoptions) and the United States (4).
Six out of ten adoptions (60%) of children born abroad were adoptions by two parents. That is also a significant difference compared to national adoptions, in which only 60% were made by two parents. In adoptions of children born abroad by two parents, both the adoptive mother and the adoptive father were most typically aged 40 to 44.
