A decline in foreign adoptions since restrictions imposed by Russia and China is prompting greater interest in U.S.-born kids, including those in foster care.

A USA Today survey of a dozen large adoption agencies found an increase from 2006 to 2007 in inquiries, home studies or placements of U.S.-born children.

"The pendulum has shifted," says Joan Jaeger of The Cradle, an Illinois agency. Its home studies for domestic adoptions rose from 90 to 109 while those for international adoptions fell from 95 to 70.

"It's really sad. Some Americans have spent a lot of money" trying to adopt abroad, says Barbara Holtan of AdoptUsKids, a federal effort to promote adoptions from foster care. She says more people are calling her office. "Maybe the silver lining here is that children in foster care will get more consideration."

Inquiries about adopting from foster care rose 47 percent in the past year, says Rita Soronen of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which advocates adoption of kids in foster care.

Bethany Christian Services in Michigan says inquiries about foster care increased from 4,244 to 5,083, and adoptions rose from 342 to 402. The World Association for Children and Parents, a Seattle agency, says such adoptions doubled from 20 in 2005 to 40 last year.

The U.S. government does not track all domestic adoptions, only those from foster care. Its most recent figure, 52,000, is for 2005. That year, 115,000 of the 514,000 children in foster care were eligible for adoption.

The State Department tracks foreign adoptions through visas issued to orphans. The number of foreign children adopted by Americans fell in 2007, for the third consecutive year, to 19,411 after tripling from 1990 to 2004. Adoptions from Guatemala, Vietnam and Ethiopia increased, but those from China fell 16 percent and from Russia 37 percent.

"It's a shame," says Tom DiFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children's Services. He says many of the world's 143 million orphans are not finding homes.

On the other hand, Michele Bond, deputy assistant secretary of state, says domestic adoptions are increasing in China, Russia and South Korea.