There aren't hard numbers on who is searching and how many, but many adoption agencies in the U.S. confirm that they've seen an uptick in international adoptees searching for their biological parents over the last decade or so. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

Gov. Mary Fallin vetoed a bill allowing adults to carry firearms without a license and signed a bill to let private agencies deny placing a child for adoption based on religious beliefs. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

A woman walks with orphans at an Addis Ababa orphanage in 2013. The number of Ethiopian children adopted by Americans fell from 2,511 in 2010 to 133 in 2016, according to the State Department. Ethiopia's parliament banned all foreign adoption in January. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption

Ethiopian lawmakers voted to ban overseas adoptions, amid concerns about mistreatment of children. Danita Delimont/Getty Images/Gallo Images hide caption

In 2016 Kristy, left, and Dana Dumont attempted to adopt a foster child but were rejected because they were a same-sex couple, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this week. Kristy Dumont hide caption

The Texas state House has passed an amendment prohibiting transgender students from using public school bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. A separate Legislature measure allowing religious exemptions for adoption and foster care is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. Tamir Kalifa/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

In their new ad, Vicks tells the story of an adopted girl and her mother figure, Gauri Sawant, a transgendered woman who was born a boy. Screengrab by NPR/Vicks India hide caption

In one of the few photos Anaya has from his time in foster care, he's pictured at age 4 in the backyard of one of his many foster homes. Courtesy of Noel Anaya hide caption

South Korean adoptee Adam Crapser poses with his 1-year-old daughter, Christal, in the family's living room in Vancouver, Wash., in 2015. Crapser, who was flown to the U.S. 37 years ago and adopted by an American couple at age 3, has been ordered deported back to South Korea. Gosia Wozniacka/AP hide caption

Nathan Tasker is transgender and adopted. He was surprised and delighted to meet other adopted transgender children at his camp in Maine. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption

Cleveland Clinic surgeons in February transplanted a uterus from a deceased donor into 26-year-old Lindsey McFarland, who was born without one. Though the experimental surgery was initially thought successful, a raging infection forced removal of the organ within weeks. Cleveland Clinic hide caption

Four couples have won their challenge of Mississippi's ban on same-sex adoption. Two of the plaintiffs, Susan Hrostowski (left) and Kathryn Garner, are seen here last summer with their teenage son, Hudson Garner. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption

Visitors walk outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 14. The court announced on Monday that it has unanimously reversed an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that denied parental rights to a lesbian adoptive mother who had split with her partner. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

The State Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., is seen in 2003. The state's top court ruled against the parental rights of a lesbian who adopted her partner's children in Georgia, and she's appealing that ruling to the Supreme Court. Dave Martin/AP hide caption

Nuns of the Missionaries of Charity pray last month at the Mother House, the Missionaries' head office, in Kolkata, India. Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Of the roughly 40 houses currently rented in Hope Meadows in Rantou, Ill., 10 are occupied by families who've adopted children from foster care. The rest are occupied by older adults who volunteer to help them. Ina Jaffe/NPR hide caption

Bill Jones with his son, Aaron. Courtesy of Bill Jones hide caption

Makutu Jabateh hugs her daughter, Mabana Konneh, 5, as the little girl returns home to her neighborhood in Jacobstown, Monrovia. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption