The 2005 EU Organized Crime Report stated that an estimated 1 million children are involved in illegal adoptions. The market value of these adoptions are estimated to be worth EUR 1 billion ($1.3 Billion) a year.

Source: EUROPOL, “2005 EU Organized Crime Report”, October 25, 2005, pg.16, (accessed: March 25, 2007).

More than 60 percent of children in orphanages in Nepal have living parents, according to a study.

The high level of children with parents demonstrated abuses within the system where many children were trafficked for illegal adoptions.

Source: “Nepal ’should suspend’ adoptions,” BBC News, February 4, 2010.

According to the Chinese Government, between 30,000 to 60,000 children go missing each year. Most of them are believed to have been abducted by child traffickers and sold to orphanages who sell them to Western Families for adoption.

Source:  Barbara Demick, “A family in China made babies their business,” Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2010.

According to a report by Save the Children, 4 out of 5 children living in an orphanage around the world has a living parent. The report states that some organizations trick or force the parents to give up their child, leading to risks of trafficking and abuse.

Source:  “Most ‘orphans’ have a living parent, says charity,” BBC News, November 24, 2009.

According to UNICEF, between 1,000 to 1,500 Guatemalan babies are trafficked each year for adoptions by couples in North America and Europe.

Source: UNICEF, “Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse: Child Trafficking,” Page updated: March 12, 2007. Accessed: August 26, 2009.

The average cost to adopt a baby from Vietnam is $25,000, according to the New York Times.

This high cost has created a black market in baby-buying which lead to the US State Department issuing a warning on adoptions from Vietnam.

Source:  Elizabeth Olson, “Families Adopting in Vietnam Say They Are Caught in Diplomatic Jam,” New York Times, February 11, 2008.

A law enforcement official in Australia is stating that pregnant women are being trafficked for their babies.

According to Radio Australia service, the babies are being trafficked to be sold to international adoption agencies.

From the ABC Radio Australia:

One of Australia’s senior law officers says more and more, smugglers are trading in pregnant women – the perfect incubators – for access to their newborns. Australia’s Chief Federal Magistrate John Pascoe is presenting a paper on the issue to the LawAsia conference in Singapore, which is looking at children and the law.

Source:  “Pregnant women being trafficked for their babies,” ABC Radio Australia, May 25, 2009.

Foreign Policy Magazine has an article on the unregulated market of international adoptions, and the misconceptions amongst those who adopt foreign babies.

From Foreign Policy:

We all know the story of international adoption: Millions of infants and toddlers have been abandoned or orphaned—placed on the side of a road or on the doorstep of a church, or left parentless due to AIDS, destitution, or war. These little ones find themselves forgotten, living in crowded orphanages or ending up on the streets, facing an uncertain future of misery and neglect. But, if they are lucky, adoring new moms and dads from faraway lands whisk them away for a chance at a better life.

Unfortunately, this story is largely fiction.

Nepal’s adoption system is rift with problems that allows the trafficking of children and illegal adoption practices, according to a new report.

From eKantipur:

Inter-country adoption system in the country has encouraged child abuse including abduction and trafficking of children, according to a report released by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Terre des Hommes (Tdh), an international NGO, on Friday.The report revealed that only four out of every 100 children adopted in Nepal are adopted by a Nepali family, whereas many children put up for adoption are not orphaned but are separated from their families.

Of the some 15,000 children in orphanages or children’s homes, a significant number of admissions in these setups are a result of fraud, coercion or malpractice, according to the 62-page report.

Law enforcement authorities in Vietnam arrested two women for attempting to bring a 10-day old baby into China to be sold.

The women told police that they were paid $150 to get the baby.

The baby trade in Vietnam appears to be growing in recent months.

From AFP:

The arrests came after police here detained six Vietnamese who tried to take two newborn baby boys across the border into China for adoption last Monday.

Vietnamese police busted a trafficking syndicate in February, which sold babies to China for adoption, reportedly charging about 500 dollars each for girls and 1,000 dollars for boys.

The US embassy in Hanoi last month issued a damning report about widespread baby selling and rampant corruption in Vietnam’s adoption system, which led authorities here to cancel a bilateral adoption agreement.

The illegal adoptions market is listed at $1.3 Billion.