AMERICA and Japan top the charts for the highest rates of adoption—but with one big difference. Whereas the vast majority of adoptees in America are youngsters, in Japan children represent a tiny 2% of all adoptions. Men in their 20s and 30s make up the remaining 98%, or almost 90,000 adoptees in 2008 (up from fewer than 80,000 in 2000). Why are so many adults adopted in Japan?
