On my post, Adoption Profiles: Can Your Pet Help You Adopt Faster?, Jenna, our birth-first mother blogger, left the following comment:

I think waiting adoptive families should show their pets. It would help an expectant mother who has allergies or a family history of allergies make an appropriate decision!

I never thought about this issue, but Jenna is absolutely correct. The risk of allergies is an important issue to consider when deciding to place a baby into a home with pets. Because allergies appear to have a hereditary link, expecting families' allergies need to be considered.

I am highly allergic to cats. So, if I were to place a baby for adoption, I would hesitate to place a baby into a household with cats because I know how my body reacts when I am around cats. My eyes get red, watery, and itchy, and my sinuses stop up. I can even have a little trouble breathing if I get around a large amount of cat dander. So, I would not want to risk placing my baby into a household that could trigger this allergy.

The same is true for households with dogs or even rabbits. Some people have very strong allergic reactions when exposed to the dander of particular animals, and those allergies could be passed along to the child.

It is much better for everyone involved if a child with a higher risk of developing a particular allergy is not placed into a household where that allergen will be present. This is doubly true when we are talking about pets because, in most cases, people with pets are attached to their pets. It is hard on everyone in the adoptive family if they have to part with the pet because the child develops an allergy to the pet.

Also, adopting a child who is allergic to your indoor pet can be costly because finding another home for the animal does not always fix the problem. A child with an allergy to an animal is allergic to the pet dander, which is attached to the fur that was shed throughout the house. To protect the child's health, the adoptive family might need to replace furniture and carpeting throughout the house to remove the allergens completely.

This entire ordeal can be avoided by including your pets in your adoption profile. By providing this information about your family, you can reduce the odds of having to find another home for your pets.

Photo credit: Lynda Bernhardt