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Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73not60

§14914 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoptions

Title 42 › Chapter 143— INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS › Subchapter I— UNITED STATES CENTRAL AUTHORITY › § 14914

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Starting 1 year after the Convention takes effect for the United States, and every year after, the Secretary must, after talking with the Attorney General and other agencies, send a report about the U.S. central authority’s adoption work during the past year to six Congressional committees: the House Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, and Judiciary Committees, and the Senate Foreign Relations, Finance, and Judiciary Committees. The report must give key facts and numbers. It must say how many children were adopted into and out of the United States and where they came from or went to, and which States were involved. It must describe disrupted or dissolved placements and what happened to those children. It must list average times to finish Convention adoptions by sending country, current accredited agencies and approved people, and any agencies or people who were debarred and why. It must report ranges and medians of adoption and accreditation fees, list countries with laws that blocked adoptions and when those laws began, what was done to try to restart adoptions, any U.S. actions that stopped adoptions and why, what problems those countries need to fix and progress made, and an assessment of how the accreditation fee schedule affects families (especially low-income families, sibling groups, and children with disabilities). The Secretary must put the report on the Department of State website.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §14914

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Beginning 1 year after the date of the entry into force of the Convention for the United States and each year thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and other appropriate agencies, shall submit a report describing the activities of the central authority of the United States under this chapter during the preceding year to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
(b)Each report under subsection (a) shall set forth with respect to the year concerned, the following:
(1)The number of intercountry adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoption occurred under the Convention, including the country from which each child emigrated, the State to which each child immigrated, and the country in which the adoption was finalized.
(2)The number of intercountry adoptions involving emigration from the United States, regardless of whether the adoption occurred under the Convention, including the country to which each child immigrated and the State from which each child emigrated.
(3)The number of Convention placements for adoption in the United States that were disrupted, including the country from which the child emigrated, the age of the child, the date of the placement for adoption, the reasons for the disruption, the resolution of the disruption, the agencies that handled the placement for adoption, and the plans for the child, and in addition, any information regarding disruption or dissolution of adoptions of children from other countries received pursuant to section 622(b)(12) of this title.
(4)The average time required for completion of a Convention adoption, set forth by country from which the child emigrated.
(5)The current list of agencies accredited and persons approved under this chapter to provide adoption services.
(6)The names of the agencies and persons temporarily or permanently debarred under this chapter, and the reasons for the debarment.
(7)The range of adoption fees charged in connection with Convention adoptions involving immigration to the United States and the median of such fees set forth by the country of origin.
(8)The range of fees charged for accreditation of agencies and the approval of persons in the United States engaged in providing adoption services under the Convention.
(9)A list of countries that established or maintained a significant law or regulation that prevented or prohibited adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether such adoptions occurred under the Convention.
(10)For each country listed under paragraph (9), the date on which the law or regulation was initially implemented.
(11)Information on efforts taken with respect to a country listed under paragraph (9) to encourage the resumption of halted or stalled adoption proceedings involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoptions would have occurred under the Convention.
(12)Information on any action the Secretary carried out that prevented, prohibited, or halted any adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoptions occurred under the Convention.
(13)For each country listed pursuant to paragraph (12), a description of—
(A)what policies, procedures, resources, and safeguards the country lacks, or other shortcomings or circumstances, that caused the action to be carried out;
(B)what progress the country has made to alleviate those shortcomings; and
(C)what steps the Department of State has taken in order to assist the country to reopen intercountry adoptions.
(14)An assessment of the impact of the fee schedule of the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity on families seeking to adopt internationally, especially low-income families, families seeking to adopt sibling groups, or families seeking to adopt children with disabilities.
(c)The Secretary shall make the information contained in the report required under subsection (a) available to the public on the website of the Department of State.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b)(5), (6), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 106–279, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825, known as the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 14901 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

2020—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–184, § 2(d), substituted “Foreign Affairs” for “International Relations”. Subsec. (b)(9) to (14). Pub. L. 116–184, § 2(a), added pars. (9) to (14). Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–184, § 2(b), added subsec. (c). 2006—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 109–288 substituted “622(b)(12)” for “622(b)(14)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2020 Amendment Pub. L. 116–184, § 2(e), Oct. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 898, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [amending this section] shall apply with respect to reports required to be submitted under section 104 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14914) beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2020].”

Effective Date

of 2006 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 109–288 effective Oct. 1, 2006, and applicable to payments under parts B and E of subchapter IV of chapter 7 of this title for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date, without regard to whether implementing

Regulations

have been promulgated, and with delay permitted if State legislation is required to meet additional requirements, see section 12(a), (b) of Pub. L. 109–288, set out as a note under section 621 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective upon entry into force for the United States of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, pursuant to Article 46(2)(a) of the Convention, with transition rule, see section 505(a)(2), (b) of Pub. L. 106–279, set out as an

Effective Date

s; Transition Rule note under section 14901 of this title. Privacy Concerns Pub. L. 116–184, § 2(c), Oct. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 898, provided that: “In complying with the

Amendments

made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section], the Secretary shall avoid, to the maximum extent practicable, disclosing any personally identifiable information relating to United States citizens or the adoptees of such citizens.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 14914

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60