Save the Children Finland will stop accepting new clients for the intercountry adoption services after 31 December 2024. No changes will take place for existing clients of the intercountry adoption services.
For more than a decade, intercountry adoption has been in a major transition in Finland and elsewhere in the world. According to Statistics Finland, the number of adoptees born abroad has decreased by 54% from 2010 to 2023 in Finland.
A significant explaining factor for the collapse in the number of intercountry adoptions is the sharp decrease in the number of children in need of a family through intercountry adoption. The reasons for this change include the improvement of children’s living conditions and the development of child protection in the countries of origin of intercountry adoption, increased domestic adoptions in the countries of origin and the political decisions of the countries of origin regarding intercountry adoption.
Correspondingly, the client numbers of intercountry adoption services have been in continuous decline for a longer period of time in Finland and in many other receiving countries. There are several reasons for the decrease in the number of clients in the long term, such as the development and growing popularity of infertility treatments and a child-free way of life becoming more common in society.
The client numbers of Save the Children Finland’s intercountry adoption services and the number of children adopted in an intercountry way through the organisation have been dropping sharply for a long time. The number of children finding a family by way of intercountry adoption through the organisation has decreased by 85%, from 65 children in 2010 to 10 children in 2023. The operations of the organisation’s intercountry adoption services are no longer financially viable in their current form and, therefore, the organisation has decided to stop accepting new intercountry adoption clients after 31 December 2024.
Adoption processes for current clients to continue as normal
The changes in Save the Children Finland’s adoption operations only apply to new clients of the intercountry adoption services. The adoption processes of the existing clients of the organisation’s intercountry adoption services will continue as before in accordance with the client commitments drawn up for them. The organisation will continue its cooperation with the contact countries for intercountry adoption in accordance with the Adoption Act and international conventions, from the placement of the child until the end of the monitoring of the adoption. The organisation will continue the post-adoption services as normal. The changes also do not apply to the domestic and intercountry adoption counselling offered to clients in the wellbeing services counties.
Save the Children Finland’s intercountry adoption services have been operating since 1985 and have enabled nearly 2,000 children to be adopted by families from Finland. The organisation’s current partner countries for intercountry adoption are Bulgaria, the Philippines, Thailand and the Czech Republic. More information: www.pelastakaalapset.fi/adoptiotoiminta (in Finnish).
In Finland, intercountry adoption services are also offered by Interpedia, which is an adoption service provider authorised by the Adoption Board of the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira).
