The rate will never reach zero, but we may expect that it will continue to decline as contraceptives improve and attitudes to out-of-wedlock birth become more accepting, and as younger generations increasingly reject abortion as an acceptable resolution of a pregnancy.

CNN: What if abortion became a non-issue?

Birth families were demanding a greater role in choosing an adoptive family for their babies, and birth mothers had more clout in the negotiating process as the stigma of having child out of wedlock eased.

WSJ: One Baby, Two Moms: a Rise in Open Adoptions