FACTS & STATS

 

• There are currently more than 147 million orphans in our world today!

 

• More than 20 Million of them are waiting to be adopted worldwide 

 

• In Canada, there are more than 30,000 children waiting to be adopted

 

• Every year 12 million children become orphans

 

• 87.6 million orphans live in Asia

 

• 43.4 million orphans live in Sub-Saharan Africa

 

• 12.4 million orphans live in Latin America and the Caribbean

 

• Every 14 seconds an AIDS death leaves another child orphaned

 

• In Ukraine and Russia, 10%-15% of children who leave orphanages commit suicide before the age of 18

 

• In many countries, children who are not adopted by the age of 5 are transferred to mental institutions where they live the remainder of their years in cribs or “laying rooms”

 

• There are 2 billion Christians in the World. If only ONE of every 1000 people adopted out of Canada’s foster care system, there would be no more waiting children

 

• If ONE family out of every TWO churches adopted a child out of foster care in BC, there would be no more waiting children in BC

 

• 34% of Christians consider adoption, yet only 1% actually do it

 

• For those who are not able to foster or adopt there are many other ways to get involved and help support children without families.  James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

 

• In Canada there are more than 70,000 children in foster care.

 

• In BC there are more than 8,100 children in foster care.

 

• More than 1000 children are waiting to be adopted in BC.

 

• In 2013/2014 there were only 97 children adopted internationally in BC and only 74 in 2014/2015 (AFABC)

 

• In 2014/2015 there were only 265 children adopted from foster care (AFABC)

 

• More than 600 children each year age out of foster care (AFABC)

 

• More than 300 children in BC waiting for adoption are 12 years or older

 

• Children who age out of foster care don’t have someone to love them unconditionally, watch them graduate high school, walk them down the aisle, kiss their first grandchild, guide them through the hard times, or laugh with them through the good

 

• Attachment is crucial in children aged 0-5 for critical brain development

 

• There is a huge need for parents with Aboriginal heritage

 

• The majority of children waiting for adoption locally and internationally have special needs

 

• 78% of children who commit suicide have been in foster care

 

• More than 50% of those kids have substance abuse