London, Sept 29(ANI): The child adoption system has declined in the United Kingdom, with just 63 children adopted in 2010.
The adopted infants below one year in the UK has also fallen from 150 in 2007 and 4000 in 1976, the Independent reports.
The average age of children at adoption is three years and 10 months in the UK and total adoption has fallen by 8.4 percent since 2007.
This is may be partly due to fewer babies offered for adoption, and higher miscarriage cases.
UK Children's Minister, Tim Loughton, said the figures were "disappointing, but not surprising".
"There is no excuse for children in care who should be put up for adoption languishing for one day more than they should do. We need to speed up the process so the whole thing is done much quicker," he said.
He said the adoption procedure should be fast tracked so that children spend less time in care homes.
Children's charity Barnardo's Chief Executive Anne Marie Carrie said the figures are "deeply worrying".
"Everyone involved in the care system needs to be braver and should act fast to place children with a new permanent family when it is clear that, even with support, the child's birth family is not going to change and cannot cope", she said.
"It is imperative that decision-making is sped up at every stage of the adoption process, as we know that by the time a child is four they have a far lesser chance of being adopted than a baby," she added.(ANI)
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