Which statement about adoption disruptions is accurate?

• A. They never occur
• B. They occur in about 15% of cases
• C. They occur in all cases
• D. They are not common

Answer: (B)

Adoption disruptions refer to when a planned or finalized adoption does not endure, and the child ends up returning to foster care or being placed elsewhere. Research shows they do happen, but they are not universal. A commonly cited figure for foster care adoptions is about 15%, meaning roughly one in seven adoptions experiences disruption. This rate helps explain why careful matching and robust post-placement support are important in practice. The other statements are inaccurate: disruptions are not something that never occur, nor do they happen in every case, and saying they’re not common ignores that a meaningful minority of adoptions encounter disruption.