Chapter 8 - Adoptions
Adoptions of children have been registered by law in Scotland since 1930. Today the Registrar General for Scotland registers them under the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007.
Adoptions include cases of step-parents adopting their spouse's or partner's children, and relatives adopting children of other family members, as well as people adopting children who are not related in any way to them. The figures include small numbers of foreign adoptions registered in Scotland, and parental orders granted following a birth by a surrogate mother.
Following a steady rise to a post-war peak of 2,292 in 1946, the total number of adoptions fell back to 1,236 in 1959 before peaking again at 2,268 in 1969. Since then, the annual number of adoptions declined fairly steadily to around 400 in 2000 and fluctuated around the level of 400 to 450 in the following decade.
The Registrar General recorded 496 adoptions during 2011. This is 30 more than in 2010, but around half the number recorded per year in the early 1980s, and around a quarter of the number recorded per year in the late 1960s to early 1970s.
Of the children adopted in 2011, 24 per cent were adopted by a step-parent and 71 per cent were adopted by non-relatives of the child. Figure 8.1 shows the children's ages. Only 14 per cent of children adopted in 2011 were aged under 2, 16 per cent were aged 2, 25 per cent were 3-4, 30 per cent were 5-9, 9 per cent were 10-14 and 5 per cent were aged 15 or over. Of the children aged under 2, 69 per cent were adopted by non-relatives. In contrast, only 18 per cent of the 74 children aged 10 or over were adopted by non-relatives.
Figure 8.1 Age at adoption, Scotland, 2011
More information about adoptions
More detailed information about Scotland's adoptions can be found at: http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/adoptions
Or in the adoptions section of the Vital Events Reference Tables at: http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/vital-events-reference-tables