Continued...

Ok... last in the medical questions came from “3+4” who asked, “Erin,
I just really want to know more about the whole process regarding the HIV status - getting her on your insurance, what doctors you have to see right away, (How to prove to my husband that it ISN'T endangering our other children). I know you've already shared a lot, but more links with information and more details about what it means when you come home (I know not every detail is our business) but that's really what I want to know more about.”

Well, the insurance was easy. It is federal law that insurance companies have to treat adopted children just like children born biologically, and be added to the policy without considering any conditions as “preexisting”. There are some ways that some insurance companies can get around this…like if you pay for private insurance and are not in a group plan, etc. BUT, even still, in MOST cases, this is how it should be.

Now I know several families who have had to fight their insurance companies to do the right thing and add the newly adopted child “no questions asked” as they are supposed to. Knowing the law, your rights and your policy, definitely helps.

If you are unsure, I would recommend looking into your insurance plan and just inquire about how adopted children are added. A child with HIV should not be treated any differently than any other adopted child, and you do not have to tell your insurance company that the child is HIV+. Our plan requires that they be added within 30 days of the adoption to have the “no preexisting conditions” apply, so we had to add Belane way back in August right after our court date.

We submitted a copy of the adoption papers and her new birth certificate, and never mentioned or were asked about her HIV or any other health questions. She was fully covered under our plan from her court date.

With a child with HIV, part of the dang-blasted HIV waiver requires you to promise to have the child seen by a doctor within 30 days of arrival in the US, and it has to be by the doctor, who is familiar with treating people with HIV, that signed the waiver. After that, you are free to have your child treated by any doctor you’d like.

Most parents seem to take their kids to Pediatric Infectious Disease specialists. There are doctors that specialize in Pediatric HIV (Belane’s doc does). There are HIV clinics. And some parents take their kids to family doctors with experience in treating HIV. There are quite a few options, depending on where you live and how complicated your child’s situation is.

In regards to providing info, it is tough to find good info on the web, as A LOT of it is very outdated. If you start doing a web search for HIV and kids, it is easy to freak yourself out pretty quickly. I will add a few good links here, and I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who is considering adopting a child with HIV, that you call a children’s hospital and ask to talk to a Ped. Infectious Disease specialist. I know lots of families who have done this, and almost all of them have had very good luck finding someone to talk to who was very encouraging and provided up to date medical info. Public health offices can also be good resources, as are other parents.

There is a Yahoo group for adoptive parents of kids with HIV, or who are considering adopting a child with HIV. That web address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hivadoption/ It is an awesome group and there is lots of good info to be found from experienced parents.

Here are some more links

http://www.pedaids.org/

http://www.adopthiv.com/ (check out the resources link on this site)

http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Mental/Archive/Family/Q171200.html (this one is great, and specifically address adoption from Ethiopia)

http://www.bringingdestahome.blogspot.com/ (this blog has not been updated in months, but it does have some good info in the archives about adopting an HIV+ child.)

http://www.ahopeforchildren.org/ It is awesome to read these newsletters and see how quickly the future has changed for these kids because of the medications.

http://www.chancesbychoice.org/ These guys are awesome. And if you dare, check out the “available children” page. All of the kids listed as “Africa” are in Ethiopia. They all have code names, but I know who most of them are. You couldn’t go wrong with any of them.

I hope I have covered the medical questions. I will definitely share our experiences as we go. And, if reading some of this has caused more questions in your minds, feel free to ask them. (I know how that goes!) :)