An employee of Guatemala’s National Adoptions Council, left, greets a child held by his adoptive mother after a press conference in Guatemala City, Tuesday, July 8, 2008. The child, whose real name has not been revealed in order to protect his identity, is the first case of adoption under the new Guatemalan adoptions’ law. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — American men ages 18 to 44
are more than twice as likely as women in the same age group to have
adopted a child, a new federal report says.

The report uses data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth,
which showed that more than 1.2 million men and 613,000 women had adopted
children. The exact reasons why more men adopt than women aren't outlined
in the report, but it may be partly due to men getting married and
adopting their spouse's children from a previous relationship, the report
said.

The report found that:

• Among people who've ever been married, men were more than 2.5 times as
  likely as women to have adopted — 3.8 percent vs. 1.4 percent. Overall,
  2.3 percent of all men had adopted a child.
• More than one in four women ages 40 to 44 who had ever used
  infertility services had adopted a child.
• Never-married adults ages 18 to 44 were significantly less likely to
  have adopted a child compared to those who were currently married. About
  100,000 never-married women and 73,000 never-married men had adopted a
  child.
• Compared with non-Hispanic white women, Hispanic and non-Hispanic
  black women were more likely to be currently seeking to adopt a
  child.

The report was released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention's National Center on Health Statistics.

More information

The U.S. Children's Bureau has more about adoption.