Why adoption is so easy in America

As Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his wife adopt a second son from the US, Cassandra Jardine compares the simplicity of the process over there with the frustration of trying to give a needy child a home in Britain

There are certain American websites currently offering mouth-watering incentives to would-be buyers. "Delivery within four months", "Discounts of up to $19,000", they proclaim.

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If it were cars they were selling this would not seem odd, but it's babies that are for sale – bright, smiling newborns to tempt the childless into parting with about £20,000.

There is no shame in treating babies like any other purchase in America, where the adoption industry is largely privatised and run by firms that promise to bring together pregnant women and adoptive families, deal with all the legal niceties and ensure there are no hitches along the way.

Right now, there is something of an ongoing sales push: November is National Adoption Awareness Month, which aims to get more Americans to choose adoption, both as buyers and as sellers. The rash of Hollywood stars who adopt has reduced what little social stigma was attached to adoption.

From Elizabeth Taylor and Julie Andrews a few decades ago, through to Diane Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman more recently, adoption is seen as a logical choice for those who can't have children, don't have a partner or who are reluctant to take time off from their careers.

"To me it's curious that adoption is kind of exotic in the UK," says Tina, a single professional in her late forties, living in New York, who adopted a baby a year ago. "In the US, it's not a big deal at all."

Unlike Britain, where babies have been in short supply since contraception and single parenthood became widespread and acceptable in the 1970s, there has never been a shortage of babies to adopt in America.

There, abortion is not an option in many states and the inadequacies of the welfare system make bringing up a child almost impossible for single parents without a regular income. All prospective adoptive parents have to do is register with an agency – preferably one operating in the southern states, where more babies are available – and write such a mouth-watering description of the home on offer that the mother-to-be will pick them to give her child a new and brighter future.

When it's made so easy over there, it is scarcely surprising that Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his American-born wife Louise have chosen to take this route, rather than endure the frustrations of attempting to adopt within Britain.

Here, it can prove a soul-destroying experience, especially if you are – like the Milibands – white, middle-class and over 40.

Three years ago they adopted their first son, Isaac, from America amid unwarranted suspicions that they had been fast-tracked in obtaining the home study that is required before a child can be brought to Britain. When they wanted a sibling, it was only natural to return to the United States to find Jacob.

The system there is especially attractive to parents who want to bond with a child from birth. Birth mother and adopters are paired up early in the pregnancy, with the advantage to the mother that she gets her "expenses" paid by the adopters, almost as if she was a surrogate carrying a donated sperm and/or egg.

The adopters, in return, hope the pregnant woman will live a lifestyle that protects the unborn child – although there are plenty of stories about women who take the money and behave irresponsibly.

The other agonising worry for the adopters is whether the birth mother will exercise her right to keep her child after the birth. It is no surprise that this issue figures in the most frequently asked questions on the adoption websites. The agencies promise to do ''all we can to protect you from disruption". The only thing they don't offer is a money-back guarantee.

Given the demand for, and scarcity of, very young babies to adopt in Britain, it is surprising that more people here do not head West to fulfil their dreams of a family. The Milibands are among a tiny number – some 20 to 30 a year – of British couples who adopt from America.