To better understand the debate over international adoption, we utilize the National Survey of Family
Growth and the Demographic and Health Surveys to study who adopts internationally and the status of
orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa. According to NSFG data adopters are church going, highly
educated, stable families aware of the challenges faced by international adoption, with high incidences
of infertility. According to the USAID/UNICEF Demographic and Health Surveys, orphans in sub-Saharan
Africa suffer from significantly higher material deprivation, reduced schooling, and increased levels of
stunting and underweight reported. Using DHS data, we estimate conservatively that that 150,000
orphans from our sample of sub-Saharan African countries died from the five year birth cohort. Given
the large number of stable families and the high number of orphan deaths, it seems counterproductive
to restrict international adoptions given the significant benefit to both children and families that could
be realized.