Celebrity adoptions get attention from a lot of media outlets, and the Adoption STAR blog is no different as just last week I wrote a blog post about Nia Vardalos’ foster-care adoption.
Many of the stories that we hear are about celebrities adopting internationally, but actress Denise Richards recently domestically-adopted her daughter Eloise Joni, named after Richards’ mother who died in 2007.
This is a trend that is happening across the country as international adoption totals have dropped significantly from a high in 2004 of 22,991 international adoptions to 11,058 in 2010 according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs – US Department of State.
This drop can be attributed to many factors including stricter regulations, and developing stories in countries such as China where there are claims that babies available for adoption were forcefully taken away from parents, along with many other reasons.
It will be interesting to see if more celebrities begin to look to domestic adoption as the international adoption totals continue to decline.