According to the Census Bureau's 2000 Form, there are 1.6 million adopted children under the age of 18 in the United States. The vast majority - 87 percent - were born in the U.S.

But foreign adoptions are on the rise, almost tripling over the past 15 years. The U.S. State Department issued more than 22,000 visas to orphans entering the U.S. in 2006. The highest numbers were from China, Guatemala and Russia.

However, major policy changes this spring are likely to shift many adoptions from those countries to others or - as domestic adoption advocates hope - back to the U.S., where approximately 120,000 foster children are waiting.

And beginning May 1, China is introducing stricter requirements for prospective adoptive parents. The rules place restrictions on the age of the parents: they can be no older than 44 to adopt a baby. China also will not permit adoptions by single parents or same-sex couples, and excludes those who are obese or have severe facial deformities.

Meanwhile, the State Department is discouraging adoptions from Guatemala until that country meets the requirements of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

The age restriction, said Davis mother Anna Frampton, who adopted a son from Guatemala in 2005 while in her early 50s, is particularly onerous. Most couples come to adoption after years of battling infertility, she said. That fact, paired with the modern practice of delaying child bearing, means many couples don't begin the adoption process until their mid- to late- 40s.

Foreign adoption was much rarer - but also much simpler - in the1980s, when Goldberg and her late husband set out to bring a child into their family.

Both had health problems that made it unlikely they would conceive a child naturally. Adopting domestically was complicated by several factors. In Michigan at that time, government agencies would not allow couples to adopt children from outside their race. The wait for a Caucasian child was about nine years. Private agencies were quicker, but were primarily religious-based and would not accept the couple's application because they were of different religions.

Once the couple decided to adopt from Korea, the wait for Rachel was less than a year. At that time, Goldberg recalled, there was no Internet and no traveling to Korea. Choosing an adoption agency was done by word of mouth. The entire process cost less than $10,000. International adoptions today can cost up to $40,000, but most often range from $15,000 to $20,000.

The Internet has dramatically changed the adoption world. Agencies often post photos with descriptions of waiting children, including their age, appearance, disposition and health issues. Prospective parents can easily research different agencies and other parents' experiences through Web sites, blogs and chat rooms.

When Davis couple Tim Fong and Elena Almanzo decided to add to their family by adopting from China, they could not only conduct extensive research on the process but also travel to that country to meet their daughter in her own environment.

The couple said they considered adopting from the domestic foster care system. But like many people, they ruled against it after hearing stories of prospective parents waiting years to be chosen by birth mothers, and children on the verge of being adopted only to be returned at the last moment to their birth parents or a family member. The couple did not want to put themselves or their sons, Gabriel, 9, and Tomas, 5, through that, they said.

All four family members traveled to China last month to bring Mia to Davis. Arriving at the orphanage, which is home to about 600 children, the family was able to tour the facility and ask her caretakers questions about her.

“It happened so fast," Fong said. “They just sat us down in a nice conference room, we were there about five minutes and then they brought her out and that was it."

In the early days of foreign adoption, some parents believed the best way to help their children better assimilate into their new family was to disregard the culture of their home country.

That practice is uncommon these days. Many families are not only acknowledging their children's home country, but participating in and encouraging a love of it.

The family has traveled to Korea three times, most recently when Rachel was 17. Each visit included a trip to the orphanage that Rachel lived at as an infant.

Even in California, with its rich diversity, being an Asian child in mostly white Davis was challenging, Rachel Goldberg-Lapoint, now a student at Santa Barbara City College, said.

Integrating two cultures is already a practice at the Fong-Almanzo house. Fong is of Chinese descent; Almanzo is Mexican-American. Their recent trip to China helped to further their sons' appreciation of their Chinese heritage, they said, and the boys attend César Chávez Elementary School, learning their mother's native tongue.

“I fell in love with the country and the people. I felt a great affinity for the culture and the people, especially the children," she said.

The Framptons suffered through two failed adoption attempts before successfully adopting Alex, 4. The pain of those failures almost discouraged them, Anna Frampton said.

But when Frampton saw Alex's photo and description posted on the Internet, she was immediately taken, she said. He was malnourished, undersized and had been through smallpox, but she saw something in him that was unforgettable.

It has been two years since Alex came to live with the Framptons. Anna Frampton said there have been many ups and downs and a lot of anxiety, but she believes Alex is coming to understand that he is a permanent member of their family.

There is increasing hostility in Guatemala against foreigners who adopt Guatemalan-born children. Frampton said the couple hopes to bring Alex back to the country in the future but feels it is not safe at this time.

“Where did I come from?" It's a question almost every child asks at some point. For those who have been adopted, the answer is often incomplete or unsatisfactory.

While they have few details of Mia's birth parents or the circumstances that brought her to the orphanage in China, the Fong-Almanzo family has a lot of documentation on Mia after she was abandoned at 21 days old. (The practice is common - especially with girls - in the world's largest country because of its one-child policy.) The orphanage gave the family a newspaper clipping that includes a short report and photo of Mia along with pictures of about a half-dozen other babies who were abandoned around that time.

For now, Mia is content to play in the yard, explore, eat crackers and be held by her mother. But Fong said the family is grateful to have so much information about Mia's early childhood.

As adults, many adopted children set out to learn more about their past. Goldberg-Lapoint said she is thankful that she was brought to America by a loving family, but she has many questions that remain unanswered.

She has made some attempts to find her birth mother in Korea, she said, but she wavers considerably on how far she is willing to go to find her.

“If I could make that happen in some way I would do that in a flash, because she didn't just begin to exist when she landed in Detroit," Goldberg said.

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