Finland registered 370 adoptions during the year 2019, which is 34 adoptions less than in 2018, according to the latest data released by Statistics Finland.
The number of domestic adoptions was 291 and that of international adoptions 79.
Of the people adopted, 186 were girls and 184 were boys.
34% of adoptions (127) were adoptions outside the family and 66% (243) were adoptions within the family.
Source: Statistics Finland.
International adoptions
In about 60% of adoptions of children born abroad, the adopted child was aged under five, whereas in domestic adoptions only about one-half of the adopted were aged under five.
Of adopted children born abroad most were born in South Africa (25). The next most common countries of birth were Thailand (13 children) and Colombia (10 children).
South Africa and Thailand have been the most common countries of adoption in previous years as well.
Around 52% of adopted children born abroad were boys.
The adoptive parents
Two out of three adoptions of children born abroad were adoptions by two parents.
Of domestic adoptions, 14% were adoptions by two parents.
In adoptions of children born abroad by two parents, the adoptive mother was typically aged 35 to 39 or 40 to 44 and the adoptive father was aged 40 to 44.
Adoptions within families
Good one-quarter of persons adopted were aged 18 or over, which is similar to the last few years. The majority of those adopted as adults were born in Finland and in most cases, it was adoption within the family.
Adoption within the family refers to the process by which a married spouse or the other partner of a registered partnership adopts their spouse's biological child.
Of the adoptions within the family, 127 were adoptions in families of registered partnerships or same-sex married couples.
