The Hidden Risks Behind Adoption

Well I’m back from a holiday hibernation, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading (Tolstoy, Henry James, etc.) and I came across many articles on Adoption that I thought you might think were interesting.

In the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA. 2005;293:2501-2515) had an article “Behavior Problems and Mental Health REferrals of International Adoptees: A Metanalysis” that highlighted an interesting conclusion. “Children adopted from other countries were LESS likely than domestic (US) adoptees to experience behavioral problems or to be referred for mental-health treatment.”

Then there’s the following in a Chicago newspaper (http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=105391&src=4) that highlights just the opposite in what is a well researched article in that it highlights the rare pitfalls.

What is much more appropriate, however, is not the anecdotes but the facts and the positive approaches to making international adoptions work. Our own International Adoption Medicine Program at the University of Minnesota (www.med.umn.edu/peds/iac/ is a great example of positive and proactive approaches to creating a positive outcome.