The vast majority of adopted children are in good health and fare well on measures of social and emotional well-being, according to “Adoption USA,” a recent report by researchers at Child Trends, a nonpartisan Washington research group, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 85% are reported, by their parents, to be in excellent or very good health. And 88% of adopted children age 6 and older show positive social behaviors.That’s contrary to the “negative stories that capture media attention,” about adoption, says the study’s co-author, Sharon Vandivere.

The study also found that more than half of adopted children perform at excellent or very good levels in reading and math, according to their parents. And more than two-thirds of adopted children — 69% — live in a household with married parents. That’s almost identical to the number of other children who live with married parents.

It just goes to show what the Bible knows: “Children … are a gift from the Lord” (Psalm 127:3).