The Registrar General recorded 495 adoptions during 2012. This is one fewer than in 2011, 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.
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 has been between roughly 400 and 500 in every year since then.
Of the 495 children adopted in 2012, 28% were adopted by a step-parent and 67% were adopted by non-relatives of the child. Figure 7.1 shows the children's ages. Only 15% of children adopted in 2012 were aged under two, 15% were aged two, 23% were 3-4, 29% were 5-9, 14% were 10-14 and 4% were aged 15 or over. Of the children aged under two, 74% were adopted by non-relatives. In contrast, only 26% of the 90 children aged ten or over were adopted by non-relatives.
Figure 7.1: Age at adoption, Scotland, 2012
More information about adoptions
More detailed information about Scotland's adoptions can be found within the following sections of the NRS website:
Adoptions; and
Vital Events Reference Tables 2012 (Adoptions section)