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International adoption. Children adopted. By countries

International adoption. Children adopted. By countries Catalonia
2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Children adopted 64 39 53 68 68 83 153 139 159 180 251 551
Total Europe 1 3 2 3 8 15 39 49 48 60 78 197
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bulgaria 0 1 0 1 2 2 14 12 10 14 2 0
Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Georgia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hungary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Romania 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Moldova 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 7 5 1 0
Russia 0 0 0 0 1 10 19 29 30 38 75 187
Ukraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 10
Rest of Europe 1 2 2 1 5 3 4 0 0 2 0 0
Total África 10 10 8 10 8 2 22 17 52 47 87 171
Burkina Faso 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Congo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cameroon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ivory Coast 5 4 3 7 2 1 3 2 3 1 1 3
Gambia 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Ghana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guinea Bissau 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ethiopia 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 6 29 16 50 68
Mali 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 13 0 61
Madagascar 4 6 5 3 6 1 8 8 6 9 4 2
Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 8 32 34
Nigeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Democratic Republic of the Congo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Senegal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Togo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rest of Africa 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2
Total América 26 12 25 23 25 19 16 24 23 20 31 35
Bolivia 7 2 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 5 5
Brazil 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 1
Colombia 5 2 5 15 18 4 6 14 11 12 14 17
Costa Rica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
El Salvador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Ecuador 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Guatemala 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Haiti 5 4 5 2 3 5 3 0 0 0 0 0
Honduras 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Nicaragua 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 0 2
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Peru 4 2 1 1 1 5 3 6 4 2 8 5
Dominican Republic 4 1 9 3 2 3 1 2 2 0 0 1
Venezuela 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chile 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3
Rest of Amèrica 0 1 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Total Asia 27 14 18 32 27 47 76 49 36 53 55 148
Índia 2 0 6 6 4 5 8 8 3 3 2 3
Israel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kazakhstan 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 3 0
Myanmar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Philippines 1 2 0 2 4 4 8 2 4 5 10 6
Sri LanKa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Palestine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Thailand 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Vietnam 24 8 11 21 18 31 47 29 15 26 10 6
China 0 0 0 2 0 3 11 9 12 19 30 83
Rest of Asia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 50
Total Oceania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: Institut Català de l'Acolliment i de l'Adopció.
(..) Confidential data, low reliability or not available.

Last update: February 21, 2024.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Adoption
Legal situation accorded judicially that leads to a parent-child relationship with identical effects to that produced naturally and that provides a family to a non emancipated minor or exceptionally to an adult or an emancipated child and person older than 25 years or a married couple or de facto couple, as long as there is a difference of 14 years in the ages of the adopted and the adopters. However, international adoption presents peculiarities such as the need for the adoption process to be in keeping with the legislation of the country of origin of the minor and the inscription of the full resolution of the adoption in the Central Civil Register, which produces plenary executive rights to the Spanish state as well as the acquisition by the minor being adopted of Spanish nationality.

Methodological aspects

Fostering and adoption

The Institut Català de l'Acolliment i de l'Adopció (Catalan Institute for Fostering and Adoption - ICAA, Ministry of Social Welfare and Family), with the purpose of helping to drive forward a general policy on adoption and basic placement in foster families, to streamline the process to assess suitability of people or families applying to foster or adopt, and to process international adoptions when required.

Adoption is the legal, psychological and social process of fully and definitively integrating a child in a family into which he/she was not born. It is a child protection measure that provides a parent-child relationship with the same legal effects as biological parenthood, and at the same time ends the legal bond with the family of origin, always in the best interests of the child.

The legislation that governs the adoption process is as follows: Law 25/2010, of July 29, of the second book of the Civil Code of Catalonia, on the person and the family. This legislation establishes in article 235 point 30 the requirements that persons wishing to adopt must comply with:

  • Be in full exercise of their civil rights.
  • Be older than twenty-five years and be at least fourteen years older than the person being adopted.
  • Adoption is only admitted for more than one person in the case of the spouses or partners living stably together. In these cases, it is sufficient for just one of the persons to be at least twenty-five years old.

International adoption

This is the legal process of adopting children from other countries on the basis of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. This Convention ensures that:

  • The adoption is for the benefit of the child.
  • The child has been declared adoptable.
  • The applicant family has a certificate of suitability.
  • No person that is not the actual child can benefit improperly from this adoption.

The assignation of a child to a family depends exclusively on the sovereign decisions of the child's country of origin.

The Catalan Institute of Fostering and Adoption is certified in the quality management system for the activities of: processing the resolution of suitability for international adoption in accordance with the requirements of regulation ISO 9001: 2008.

Unavailable information is represented using the symbol ":". When the value is lower than that of the minimum unit to be able to estimate the statistical operation or if it effects statistical confidentiality, the symbol used is "..".

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