This week I have been writing about adoption medicine and common health issues in internationally adopted children. Today I am going to conclude this mini-series with some thoughts on adoption and health.

While many parents worry about the health of the child they may adopt, especially when it is an international adoption, it is important to know that most children come home to their new parents with only minor ailments, such as the things I have... more

In my last few posts I have been writing about recommended health screenings for newly internationally adopted children, and about the "yucky side" of adopting a new child internationally. I have given some general information on some of the most common creepy crawlies that new adoptive parents often have to deal with. As I have written, lice, scabies and ringworm are all fairly commonly found in newly arrived international... more

In my last post I started writing about some of the "icky stuff" that often comes along with international adoption. Lice, scabies, ringworm and Giardia and conditions that are common in internationally adopted children and can cause big headaches in parents.

Having a basic knowledge of these conditions and their treatments can help adoptive parents be prepared for the creepy crawlies.

Ringworm - Ringworm, despite it's name,... more

Everybody knows that there are aspects to parenting that are just "yucky" and unpleasant, but are also just part of the job, such as poopy diapers, middle of the night "throw-ups" and snotty noses.

Well, when you adopt a child internationally, there is often a whole new side of "yucky stuff" to deal with. This stuff is unpleasant and sometimes down right gross. Some of it can be a real pain in the rear to get rid of. But in the grand scheme of parenting, it is all pretty minor stuff, and stuff that you can get past with the right tools, especially... more

Health is often a big issue and a major concern when it comes to adoption, especially when a family is adopting a child internationally.

Depending on where you are adopting from, you may get a great deal of medical information on the child you are adopting, or you may get very limited and basic information. The information you get may be up to date and "on par" with U.S. standards, or it may be somewhat unreliable because of the conditions of where the care was given or the quality... more

In case you have not heard this yet, on Sunday in Alabama, a family that checked into an RV park was told that their two year-old son was not allowed to use the pool, showers or common areas of the park because he is HIV+.

Silvia and Dick Glover are foster parents to little Caleb, and are in the process of adopting him. Silvia mentioned in casual conversation with someone in the park office that the boy is HIV+, when they were discussing his adoption. Shortly thereafter, they were told he could not swim or use the showers or common areas of the... more

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Perspective adoptive parents should educate themselves on different health issues and conditions common in adopted children and get a good idea of what they feel they can or cannot handle, what risks they can and cannot take and then be open and honest with their social workers and adoption agency. On one hand no parent should ever feel pressure to adopt a child that they do not feel 100% comfortable in accepting and yet on the other hand, no child... more

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I would highly recommend all perspective adoptive families to have a conversation about what special needs they may or may not be willing to handle very early on in their adoption. While there are some parents who decide that they are only open to a “healthy” child, or one without any known health conditions or needs, there are also parents that purposefully choose to adopt children with known health conditions.

“Special needs” can be anything from... more

Today I am going to continue to address issues that are commonly barriers for people considering adoption, and are also often concerns for families that do move forward with their adoption plans.

I have already written about financial barriers as well as the worry of being able to love an adopted child the same way a parent loves a child born to them. Now I am going to tackle the health issue, as that is one that seems to pop up very early on in the “considering adoption process” and is a question that I get a lot.

I know that very early on in our first adoption... more

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So what does this have to do with transracial adoption? With more and more parents adopting from Ethiopia all of the time (and with malnutrition also being epidemic in many other countries that Americans are adopting from), it is important for adoptive parents to understand the affects of malnutrition and to be prepared for the possibility of stunted growth or learning disabilities in their child.

While many (if not most) children adopted internationally are small for their age at homecoming and tend to catch up fairly quickly, some remain small for their age,... more