The Associated Press reported in January that the number of Americans deciding to adopt children from overseas is soaring — “even amid high costs, mountains of paperwork and tightening by some countries, notably China, of requirements for eligible parents.” In 2006, the U.S. Department of State issued 20,679 visas for orphans being adopted from other countries. This is up from just under 7,100 in 1990, and it’s not far below the number of babies both born and adopted in the United States (22,291) in 2002. (That’s the most current data available on domestic adoptions, according to the National Council for Adoption.)