The authors of a report that has been billed as the most extensive national data ever collected on adopted children and their families in the United States have concluded that most adopted are doing pretty good.

A Nov. 30 article by Joseph Shapiro of NPR provided the following insights into the report:

The vast majority of adopted children are in good health and fare well on measures of social and emotional well being. Eighty-five percent of them are reported by their parents to be in excellent or very good health. And 88 percent of adopted children age 6 and older show positive social behaviors.

That's contrary to the "negative stories that capture media attention," about adoption, says the study's co-author, Sharon Vandivere, a researcher for Child Trends, a nonpartisan Washington research group.

Called "Adoption USA," the report was written by researchers at Child Trends and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It was based on questions in the first-ever National Survey of Adoptive Parents, a federal survey of 2,000 families that had adopted children through foster care, private domestic adoption or international adoption.

Labels: research, welfare, health

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A new directive from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has angered proponents of international adoption. The directive requires all immigrants from Ethiopia and China who are over the age of two to be tested for tuberculosis.

According to an Aug. 10 Associated Press article, "adoption advocates say the required testing procedures  and treatment in the case of positive tests  could cause delays ranging from several weeks to 12 months for obtaining a visa to bring adopted children back to the U.S."

A petition is being circulated among several major adoption organizations, asking the CDC to exempt adopted children from its TB test requirement. Many argue that children who test positive would receive better medical treatment in the United States than they would in their countries of origin.

Labels: international, health

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Researchers with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have determined that vaccination records of children who were born in China, Russia, and Guatemala may not be accurate -- and, as a result, parents who have adopted children from these nations should consider having their children tested by a pediatrician to establish their true immunization status.

According to an article on Canada's CBCNews website, the Case Western researchers reached their conclusions after analyzing data on 465 children who were processed through an international adoption clinic between 2001 and 2006:

Children who are adopted from China, Russia and Guatemala may not be protected against polio, measles and other diseases even though their records suggest they are, say researchers who checked for evidence of immunity. ...

"Immunization records should not be accepted as evidence of protective immunity," the study's authors concluded. "Parents should be well informed and supported to choose between re-vaccination or vaccination, based on serologic [blood] testing."

The Case Western study was published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Labels: international, adoption_agencies, health, vaccination

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

A Missouri man whose adoption request was recently denied has been granted a second hearing in Kansas City. Gary Stocklaufer, who weighed 550 pounds at the time of the first adoption request, claims his request was denied because he was obese.

"But Stocklaufer underwent gastric bypass surgery in Dallas in August to lose weight. Since the surgery, Stocklaufer has shed nearly 200 pounds."

Adoption experts say that denial due to obesity is becoming more common in adoption cases. Though the judge in the case hasn't made his final ruling, this is believed to be the first time a couple seeking adoption has resorted to surgery.

The rates of childhood obesity are rising at an alarming pace. Parents need to learn how to help their children stay healthy. Visit MyOverweightChild to learn more.

Labels: health, court

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Margaret Fleming adopted her first HIV+ child in 1997. After visiting an AIDS orphanage in 2002, she was inspired to found Chances by Choice, the nation's only nonprofit foundation exclusively devoted to placing HIV+ children with adoptive families.

"The organization acts as liaison between source agencies that identify children with HIV abroad and families in the United States looking to adopt. So far, 27 kids in Asia, Africa and Central America have received approval from their governments to be adopted..."

A positive HIV test at birth isn't necessarily a death sentence. Thanks to the fact that medical reserachers have made significant advances in recent years, many HIV+ people are living long and full lives.

Labels: HIV, health, AIDS

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A recent study lead by Dr. Anna Mandalakas of the Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Ohio found that TB infections among international adoptees have risen dramatically in the last 20 years. The rate of infection was also found to increase steadily as children got older.

"TB rates among the children in the American study ranged from nearly 15 percent in adoptees from Eastern Europe, 14 percent from Russian and 12 percent from Korea to between 12.5 percent and 11 percent in India, China and South America, 8.3 percent in Central America and the Caribbean and 2.8 percent in Southeast Asia."

Though a child can be infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis may not develop an active disease, the study's authors still recommend that adopted children be tested. Children often become infected if they spend their early years in an orphanage.

Labels: international, health, tuberculosis

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Researchers at the University of Alberta are suggesting that all children adopted from countries outside North America be screened for tuberculosis. Their recent study found that, in the Canadian province of Alberta, 40 percent of children who were diagnosed with TB were international adoptees.

"Most international adoptees are younger than five years of age and frequently come from resource-poor countries where tuberculosis is common and pre-natal screenings for infectious diseases are rare, say Richard Long, MD, professor in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Alberta and lead author of the study."

Long reminds people that the Mantoux tuberculin skin test should be used, and children treated accordingly if the test results are positive. Read more at Huliq.com.

Military boarding schools offer a structured environment, but rarely do they offer a therapeutic component that so many troubled teens require. Find an alternative at 4-Military-School-Alternatives.com.

Labels: international, health, disease

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When parenting teens or any child with emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues, parents tend to look at what needs to be fixed. "My child is unable to self regulate so maybe she needs therapy..." Or, "My teen has anger management issues and needs to work through that." Or, "Now that my son has been diagnosed as bipolar, where will we find a child psychiatrist?"

Sometimes parents, teachers, and even service providers forget that the ultimate goal is to develop socially well adjusted and emotionally stable kids. Occasionally, it's beneficial to step back from the process of improving behaviors and fixing the problems, to contemplating the hoped-for results.

What's on your list of what a well-adjusted child or teen should be like? Are they attached to parents and family? Do they have solid friendships? Do they stay in school? Will they find a job they love?

A new perspective will not change the difficulties, but it does provide an opportunity to refocus on the hopeful positive outcomes, rather than the drudgery of addressing challenging issues.

Labels: health, mental_health

Posted By: Staff Writer 1 Comment

The Tennessee woman who put her adopted son on a plane back to Russia isn’t the first parent to have trouble with an adopted child. Chip and Julie Harshaw had also adopted a son from Russia. At first, he seemed like a great kid, but before long he was displaying extreme and dangerous aggressive behavior.

“He has threatened their 5-year-old biological daughter with a steak knife and a two-by-four, and held her underwater in a pool… Therapeutic programs have ejected Roman for kicking, biting, hitting…” (Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin)

Roman was eventually diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and brain damage. His IQ is just 53, and it’s unlikely that he’ll ever be able to live independently. The Harshaws have sued the agency that facilitated their adoption of Roman, claiming the agency failed to fully disclose his condition. The Harshaw’s troubles raise questions about the degree to which adoption agencies disclose physical and mental health issues in children.

 

Labels: international, Russia, health, hard-to-place youth

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

It's no secret that -- regardless of how hard their parents work to establish a safe and loving home -- adopted children can experience a wide range of stresses and pressures.

Now, research indicates that a difficult childhood contributes to the development of heart disease and other health problems, according to a new study from the University of Pittsburgh. (This research applied to all children, not just those in adoptive families.)

• Psychiatrist Karen Matthews studied 212 teenagers, ages 12 to 14 years old from various economic backgrounds.
• All were healthy at the time of the study.
• However, several years later, the children from lower socioeconomic levels were more likely to have stiff arteries and high blood pressure, as well as thickening of their carotid artery walls.

In her second study, Dr. Mathews asked 201 children ages 8 to 10 or 15 to 17 years to respond to stress tasks and to judge situations in terms of danger.

• Children from the lower economic levels were more likely to find danger in ambiguous situations that could be interpreted as safe.
• They had higher blood pressure, faster heart rates, and higher scores on anger and hostility.

"Many diseases first diagnosed in midlife can be traced back to childhood," Dr. Mathews said in a presentation of her study before the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
 

Labels: health, stress

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