Gender Selection For Adoption

The adoption industry is increasingly catering to gender-specific needs and desires, and the push to make parents select the gender of their child is having a palpable impact. For some couples, this is a natural next step. In fact, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly half of all adopted children are now female. And it's a trend that's expected to continue. "The demand for baby girls is increasing dramatically," says Michelle Robinson, founder of BabyCenter, a popular adoption site. "More women are choosing to adopt girls over boys and are making it a priority to find a girl."

But the choice of gender isn't just a matter of personal preference. According to a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Human Biology, when parents decide to adopt a child, they tend to value traits that match their own. This means that parents who are male-identified, or who have historically been attracted to the idea of fatherhood, are more likely to pick a boy over a girl.

One reason for this, according to the study's author, Dr. Lisa DiBiase, is that parents believe their sons will be more independent and self-sufficient than daughters. DiBiase, who's also a researcher at the University of Texas at Dallas, points to studies that show parents who are male-identified are more likely to place boys in foster care, and that they also tend to see boys as better leaders and caregivers. This perception of boys as superior to girls may also explain why the gender of the adoptive parent is often the same as the gender of the birth mother.

In 2016, a large survey conducted by the United States Association for Adoption Studies found that nearly 60 percent of adopters considered the gender of their child when they began the process. The percentage dropped slightly to 49 percent in 2017, but the study did reveal some interesting trends about how parents choose gender. Parents of children adopted in 2015 were most likely to choose the gender of the child. Among those who had already finalized an adoption plan, about half chose the gender of the birth mother. Parents who were planning to adopt from China were most likely to have a preference for a specific gender, and the majority of these parents wanted a boy.

As the adoption industry continues to evolve, there are many factors to consider when selecting the gender of your child. Many states are now offering gender-neutral options that allow prospective parents to select a non-binary gender option or to leave the gender field blank. And there are also other ways to identify the gender of your child, such as using gender-neutral names like "X" or "Z" or signing up with a company like Gender Spectrum, which offers a range of gender-neutral toys, clothing, and other products for children.

The adoption industry is also becoming more diverse, and some families are adopting more than one child. So, what does this mean for the gender of those children? "It's getting harder and harder to keep track of the gender of every child in an adoption," says Robinson. "Sometimes you'll have one that is the gender you want, but there are others you might not know about."