U.S. citizens adopted 17, 416 children from foreign countries in 2008, accounting for 13 percent of adoptions that year compared to approximately 136, 000 children in the United States, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau.

CNN: Families 'in limbo' after Russian adoption ban

They arrived at the Department of Health and Human Services, a giant cinder-block building that stands close to the United States Capitol, and found the mood on the sixth floor rather festive.

NEWYORKER: Romney��s Dilemma