Over the past 20 years, the growing shortage of adoptable infants in the United States and Britain has forced a number of couples to look abroad. Inter-Country Adoption charts the experiences of eight couples who, between them, have adopted 11 children from South America, India and Sri Lanka.

The main emphasis of these firsthand accounts is on the events leading up to the decision to adopt from abroad and on the obstacles involved in dealing with the authorities in Britain and in the child's country of origin. The last two chapters are written by an academic social worker and a parliamentary campaigner who examine the legal and ethical considerations of inter-country adoption.