A recent report in The Washington Times by Margie Mason of the Associated Press reveals a massive decrease in the number of orphans being adopted globally by foreign parents. According to annual statistics, adoption record is at its lowest at estimated 25,000 in 2011 as compared to a high record of 45,000 in 2004.

Factors connected to the declining record of adoptions is said to be a set of strict international guidelines called the Hague Adoption Convention to ensure transparency and child protection.

The Hague Adoption Convention requires countries to set up a central adoption authority and a system of checks and balances necessary to safeguard orphans and keep profit-driven players from corrupting a system that should be purely about helping unwanted children.

The set of strict guidelines is prompted by reported cases of stolen child from birth parents but international adoption advocates argued these strict guidelines also shut down international adoptions in many third world countries and children may stuck in orphanages or on the streets where they could fall prey to sex traffickers.

“It should have been a real step forward, but it’s been used in a way that’s made it a force for shutting down countries.That affects thousands of children every year.” says Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard Law professor who promotes international adoptions, Mason reports.

Thailand Adoptions are separated into 2 types, International Adoption and Domestic Adoption. International Adoptions involve foreign (non-Thai) adaptive parents and require a much more intense background investigation.