For the fourth year, a full-scale war has been going on in Ukraine, which has radically changed the lives of millions of Ukrainian children. They lost their parents, their homes, their usual world. Children are forced to grow up earlier than they should. Despite numerous challenges, Ukrainian society demonstrates what can be called a quiet but profound form of resistance — the ability to accept, support and create families where there are none. In 2024, Ukrainians adopted the most children in the last five years. In a country that fights for life every day, every morning there is news of loss, but also of new families. It is proof that human warmth and responsibility can overcome even war.
The highest adoption rates in five years
According to the official data Ministry of Social Policy, in 2024, 1,270 orphans and children deprived of parental care were adopted in Ukraine. Of them, 1,268 became part of Ukrainian families, and only two were adopted by foreigners. This is an almost complete preservation of the national vector in the field of adoption, which became more active after the introduction of martial law, which significantly limited opportunities for foreign citizens.
Compared with previous years, the dynamics of growth is obvious. In 2023, Ukrainians adopted 926 children, in 2022 – 643. Before the start of the full-scale invasion, the numbers fluctuated: 2021 – 1,082 Ukrainian adoptions, 2020 – 992. It turns out that 2024 became a turning point not only from the point of view of quantitative indicators, but also from the point of view of the moral weight of this choice. After all, adoption in wartime is always more than a formal act. It is a choice not only of love, but also of responsibility in times of instability.
Family forms are a priority of state policy
As the Minister of Social Policy, Oksana Zholnovich, emphasizes, most children who lose parental care do not end up in institutions — they are taken in by relatives or family friends, they are placed under guardianship or in foster families. This means that even in critical conditions, Ukraine maintains a tendency towards family upbringing. At the same time, adoption itself gives the child something irreversible — a new legal family forever. And it is for such children that the state seeks to simplify the access of adults to the procedure in order to reduce the waiting time and increase the number of decisions in favor of adoption.
According to Zholnovich, the development of family forms of upbringing, in particular adoption, remains one of the key social priorities. The fact that Ukrainians adopted the most five-year-old children last year shows that society is ready to take on a role that it sometimes delegated to foreigners or state institutions.
Procedural changes: simplifying and expanding access
The year 2024 was also marked by significant changes in regulatory regulation. The Ministry of Social Policy has improved the adoption procedure. Now the candidates have the opportunity to take the child into their family even before the final court decision. Restrictions that previously applied to the age, gender or number of children that could be adopted have also been abolished. This allowed the candidates to have wider access to information about children who are waiting for a family. Thus, the process became not only more open, but also flexible, taking into account the realities of war, when time and adaptation become critical.
Older children: an unsolved problem
Despite the positive dynamics, one painful disproportion remains in the statistics. Only 140 out of 1,270 adopted children are between the ages of 11 and 17. This is approximately 11% of the total. This indicator directly correlates with the intentions of candidates for adoption: only 13% of them expressed readiness to adopt a child older than 10 years into the family. But the overwhelming majority of such children are on the register: about 70% of all those waiting for adoption are teenagers.
This gap is not just a statistical imbalance. It is a symptom of a larger problem: social reluctance or fear to take responsibility for a child who already has an established personality, experience of loss and, often, trauma. But teenagers are the most vulnerable category that risks spending the rest of their childhood in the institutional system. And despite the simplification of procedures, it is in this category that there has not yet been a breach.
Adoption as a form of resistance and care
Against the backdrop of massive losses, orphanhood, and the breaking of family ties, adoption turns into a form of civil resistance to war. It is an act of care that restores the child’s right to love, stability and a future. In a country where explosions still interrupt children’s sleep, the family is not only a social unit, but a pillar of healing. And when adults consciously take responsibility for someone else’s child, it is also a response to the challenge thrown by the war into the very heart of society. These data are a signal that even in times of greatest trials, Ukrainians are able to protect not only the territory, but also their childhood.
