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I hope that my overview of potential health issues was informative and that I did not scare anyone away from adopting. LOL My goal was to arm you with the facts as you work your way through the adoption application. I wish that I had access to an overview like this when I was going through the adoption process myself. I would have been in a much better place to make informed decisions about the risks that I was and was not willing to consider in a placement. Instead, my husband and I wound up “winging it,” saying yes, no, or maybe to different situations without having all of the facts.
As it turns out, our son was exposed to a substance in the womb that we had initially said we would not consider. We had not done our homework about the possible effects of this exposure – we just said no. Fortunately for us, circumstances worked out that our son’s birthmother was shown our profile anyhow. She chose us, we educated ourselves, and the rest is history. However, if it was not for an unexpected turn of events, she would not have been shown our profile, and I would not be my son’s mother today.
My son does have health issues from the prenatal exposure, the most serious being asthma. I do not “blame” his birthmother because she did not know that she was pregnant until late in the pregnancy. From the time that she found out that she was pregnant, she took steps to keep the baby as healthy as she could. Unfortunately, it was not enough to prevent him from developing asthma when he was three.
As a parent, you never know what health issues might arise. Even if you conceive a child and do everything “right” throughout the pregnancy, you can still give birth to a child with health issues. I have friends who took very good care of their bodies throughout their pregnancies whose children still developed health issues. Meanwhile, I know a woman who adopted a “crack baby” who had no health aftereffects from the drug exposure. When it comes to health, there are no guarantees.
Honestly assess your own limitations when filling out this part of the adoption application. For example, if you faint at the sight of blood, then adopting a child with hemophilia might not be the best match. But remember that, as a parent, you will need to rise to the occasion when a health issue develops in your child.
I researched the possible health issues that my son might develop, both online and with a pediatrician, but I did not learn about the possibility of asthma arising from the pregnancy. So, I did not know to look for it when my son started coughing persistently for weeks on end. After his asthma was diagnosed, I rose to the occasion. I could now give a seminar on asthma. That’s what parents do. If your child develops a health issue, you learn all you can about the issue, and you take care of your child.
Over on the Ethiopia Adoption blogs, there is a great post called Affording Health Care For Children with Special Needs. Be sure to read it if you plan to adopt a child with special needs. It includes good information about resources to help pay for necessary medical expenses that insurance does not cover.
