Adoptions from China continue to rise

Altogether Dutch families adopted 1, 368 children in 2004. China led all other countries with the number of children adopted by Dutch families. The average age of adoptive parents is a bit higher than in 1995, children are slightly younger at the moment of adoption.

Increase in adoptions nearly 20 percent

The number of petitions for adoption awarded by Dutch courts totalled 1, 368 in 2004, over 200 more than in 2003. Out of 1, 368 adoption cases 1, 116 were non-stepparent adoptions and 252 were stepparent adoptions. Non-stepparent adoptions are usually international adoptions, only 7 percent of non-stepparent adoptions involve Dutch children.

Number of adopted children

Chinese girls are popular

Nearly 60 percent of foreign children are Chinese. Traditionally, most of the children (87 percent) adopted from China are girls.

Adopted children from China, by gender

Age disparity between child and adoptive parent

The average age disparity between adoptive parent and child has hardly changed over the last decade. In 2004 age disparity between adoptive mother and adopted child in non-stepparent adoptions was 35.8 years, in 1995 it was 34.7 years and in 2000 the age gap was 34.9 years. The age gap between adoptive father and adopted child was 36.5 years (1995), 36.8 years (2000) and 37.1 years (2004). Children are adopted at an increasingly younger age. In the case of non-stepparent adoptions, the average age of the child at the moment the petition is submitted was 2.5 years in 2004; in 1995 the age of an adopted child averaged 2.8 years, in 2000 the average adopted children was 2.7 years old.

Half of stepparent adoptions by same-gender couples

In 2004 nearly 300 Dutch children were adopted. Three-quarters were stepparent adoptions. In 130 cases the female partner of the mother is the adoptive parent.

Adoptions by female partner of the mother

The Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption

Adoptions under The Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption do not require the consent of a Dutch court. In 2003 this applied to 237 children. Most of them (171) came from Colombia.

Adoptions under The Hague Agreement on Inter-country Adoption

Marcelle van Zee