Adoption gap in Moldova: demand for young healthy children exceeds supply

Adoptive parents prefer healthy children under the age of five—but there aren’t many of them

In the Republic of Moldova, there is a significant mismatch between the preferences of prospective parents and the profiles of children in need of a family. There are currently 800 children in the child welfare system with adoptable status, while the number of applications from families is only about 300. Most prospective adoptive parents are looking for healthy, young children, whereas the majority of children in the system are over 7 years old or have a disability.

Anastasia Gruzin, Deputy Head of the Department of Policy on the Protection of Children’s Rights and Families with Children at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, cited specific figures that reflect the scale of the situation.

“We have about 800 children with adoptable status, while there are about 300 applications from domestic adoptive parents. Why is there such a discrepancy? The fact is that the majority of children in the child protection system with adoptable status are older children—over the age of seven—or children with disabilities. At the same time, requests from domestic adoptive parents are for younger children—under five years old—with no health issues. This is where the biggest mismatch lies, and the children remain in the child welfare system. These are the preferences of adoptive parents,” explained Anastasia Gruzin.

The ministry representative added that the total number of adoptions has remained relatively stable in recent years. For example, in 2025, a total of 94 children were adopted (91 through the domestic adoption process and only 3 through international adoption), while in 2024, the figure was 107 children (12 of whom were adopted internationally).

To prevent children from remaining stuck in state institutions, the authorities are trying to expedite the legal procedures for granting legal status to children awaiting adoption, which will also reduce government spending.

Anastasia Ocheretny, State Secretary of the Ministry, emphasized that integration into a family environment is the best solution, including from a financial standpoint.

“There are children whose status as children left without parental care has not yet been determined. Accurately establishing this status would allow us to include them in the National Registry of Children Eligible for Adoption, and then we would be able to integrate these children into a family environment. After all, we at the ministry strive to ensure that children grow up in a family. Government expenditures are significantly lower when a child is in a family setting,” noted Anastasia Ocheretny.