WASHINGTON - Hollywood gossips say Angelina Jolie and Brad
Pitt intend to adopt another child from Ethiopia. If they succeed, the
movie-star couple will be among the lucky few who do.
That's because the East African country, like others that
have been prime sources of U.S.-adoptable children in recent years, has cut way
back on the foreign adoptions it allows. In fiscal 2010, more than 2,513
Ethiopian children were adopted by Americans. This fiscal year, just over 1,700
were.
In fact, Americans adopted fewer children abroad this year
than in any of the previous 17 years, according to State Department statistics.
In all, 9,320 children were adopted from abroad this year, compared to 11,050
last year, and the record number of 22,800 in 2004.
The reason for the drop is the growing unease of U.S.
officials and their counterparts in Guatemala, South Korea, China, Russia and
elsewhere about rampant corruption.
International adoption is a big-ticket business, with
parents in the U.S. and Europe willing to pay as much as $35,000 in fees for a
single adoption. Lawyers, judges and bureaucrats all have been implicated in
kickbacks and other schemes, spurring countries to shut down their adoption
departments or try to reform them.
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