Over 14,000 children registered for adoption in Ukraine

There are 14,333 children registered for adoption in Ukraine, the press service of the Ministry of Social Policy reported. The majority of them are raised in foster families, family-type children’s homes, or under guardianship or care. However, about 3,000 children remain in institutional facilities.

Illustrative photo. Photo: Pixabay

Among the children registered for adoption, 94% are over 6 years old. Almost 70% have brothers and sisters who cannot be separated, meaning adoption is only possible as a group. Additionally, 11% of the children have disabilities.

“It is the most difficult to place these specific categories into families – older children, family groups and children with developmental disorders,” the ministry noted.

Currently, the majority of children eligible for adoption are being raised in family-based care. However, about 3,000 children remain in residential institutions.

“Every third child who is in an institution and can be adopted has a disability. One of the priorities of the reform of the child care and support system is to ensure the right to a family for every child, taking into account their needs,” noted Iryna Tuliakova, head of the Coordination Centre for Family Upbringing and Child Care Development.

She pointed out that not only must families be ready to accept such a child, but the “hromada”, a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements, must also be able to provide them with all the necessary support. Educational, medical, rehabilitation and other services must be accessible there.

Guardianship pending adoption has been in effect in Ukraine since last year; this arrangement allows a child to avoid waiting months in an institutional facility while the legal process in court is underway, and to start living with their prospective parents immediately.

“The child can gradually get used to the new family and home, fall asleep in their own room, celebrate birthdays together with their parents, and feel care and support every day,” remarked First Deputy Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity Liudmyla Shemelynets.

Since the beginning of the year, the one-time financial assistance for child adoption is 50,000 hryvnias, regardless of the child’s age.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice, in the first eight months of 2026, the state civil registration authorities issued 2,713 birth certificates for adopted children. The highest numbers were in the Dnipropetrovsk (253), Kyiv (193) and Vinnytsia (186) regions.

In 2024, the Strategy for Ensuring the Right of Every Child in Ukraine to Grow Up in a Family Environment for 2024–2028 was adopted. This document stipulates that by 2028, 95% of orphans and children deprived of parental care will be raised in families, and the number of children in residential institutions will decrease by 30%. The deinstitutionalisation reform is one of Ukraine’s commitments as part of its accession to the EU.

Ukraine has recorded a shift in adoption patterns for the first time in five years. In 2025, the number of people who submitted applications to adopt a child decreased by 13% compared to 2024. At the same time, 1,150 children were placed with new families last year – 10% fewer than the year before.

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ZMINA earlier reported in Ukrainian that orphans and children deprived of parental care in Ukraine can be placed in several family-based forms of upbringing to avoid ending up in orphanages and residential institutions. The most common form is guardianship and care.

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