OSLO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Around 50 Norwegian children get adopted every year by their foster parents, a number researchers said too small, newspaper Aftenposten reported Wednesday.
According to a recent research conducted by the University of Bergen, less than one percent of children under the care of the Child Protection Service are adopted in Norwegian families.
The researchers reviewed adoption issues from the period 2011 to 2016 -- a total of 283 cases involving 302 children.
The children who are later adopted are very often placed outside the home for the first time as babies and have on average lived with the foster parents for four years before the Child Protection Service promotes the issue of adoption, the report said.
"International research shows that later in life children who were adopted are much better off than children who are in foster care or at an institution," said Marit Skivenes, researcher from the University of Bergen.
Several of the interviewed children expressed that they want to be part of the new family and be treated as an equal sibling within the family.
Mari Trommald, chief of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, pointed out that Norway uses adoption measures much less than other countries.
"Much evidence suggests that child protection services should clarify more quickly if adoption is a good measure while children are young, rather than waiting several years," she said.
