U.S. Adoptions From Foster Care Fell to 43,380 in FY 2025

43,380 children were adopted from foster care in the United States in federal fiscal year 2025, according to the Children's Bureau. That's down from 47,335 in FY 2024 and from a peak of 66,210 in FY 2019.

Part of the story: fewer children in care

Adoptions can only come from children in care, and that number fell from 437,010 in FY 2018 to about 330,000 in recent years. With fewer children in care, especially fewer whose parents' rights have been terminated, there are fewer adoptions.

Part of the story: who's waiting

On September 30, 2025, 67,249 children in care had a permanency plan of adoption and 46,308 were legally free for adoption. Under the old reporting rules, the Children's Bureau published a "waiting for adoption" figure. It no longer does, so those two newer measures aren't directly comparable with pre-2023 "waiting" counts. We don't splice them together.

What hasn't changed

Older children and sibling groups still wait longest. Every year, thousands of young people age out instead of being adopted. And every year, families who once thought "we could never" find out they could.

See how Louisiana celebrated 650 adoptions, including 311 siblings kept together.