The Adoption Paradox
 
The Adoption Paradox
Written By Micah Clark   |   07.26.25
Reading Time: < 1 minute

In 2022, there were over 2 million unintended pregnancies in America. Yet, there were only 25,000 private domestic adoptions that year.  When it comes to adoptions, Americans overwhelmingly support them, but very few choose them. By a ratio of 50 to 1, women choose abortion over adoption. This has been called the adoption paradox in a new article from the Institute for Family Studies.

A story I have heard many times from pregnancy resource counselors is that a woman will come into their center strongly considering abortion. When the issue of adoption is presented, the response is “I could never give away my baby.”

For some women in a crisis pregnancy, adoption is an option, but for many, it is either not considered or is near the bottom of the list of choices. Some of the findings of this study reveal that many women do not understand adoption, and some compare it to placing a child in foster care. Many wrongly believe adoption means they will never have communication or a relationship with their child.

“Open” adoptions, where the birth mother knows the adoptive family and can interact with them, are now the norm among adoptions over private or “closed” adoptions.

You can read more about this here:

Why Most Americans Admire Adoption But Don’t Choose It
(Institute for Family Studies)


This article was originally published by our friends at AFA of Indiana.

Micah Clark
In 1989 Micah Clark graduated from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Micah interned as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives’ Republican staff and later became an Assistant Campaign Manager for a State Senator. Micah then served as a legislative assistant for Citizens Concerned for the Constitution. He served as the Indiana Family Institute’s Director of Public Policy, and later as its Executive Director, throughout the 1990’s. Micah is the only person to have served with all three of Indiana’s top statewide pro-family organizations. In November 2001, Micah became the Executive...
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