International adoption is on a sharp decline over the past 8 years. From oversight reforms, to resurgent nationalism, to diplomat rivalries and financial strains, country-to-country adoption is being minimized and phased out all together.

This is what a recent Times article (http://ti.me/116BcJ8) has to say about Russia’s decline in international adoptions:

“Russia became the latest country to (ban international adoption) at the end of December, when President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the adoption of Russian children by American citizens. The reasons for each country’s policies are different–Putin’s motivations were reportedly political, striking back against a new U.S. law that will punish Russian citizens accused of violating human rights–but their combined effect on the U.S. is clear: the number of international children adopted by American families has dropped some 60% since a peak in 2004. That year, Americans adopted 22,991 foreign children, according to the State Department. In 2011, despite long waiting lists at adoption agencies, the total was 9,319–the lowest since the mid-1990s.”