Before you choose your adoption path, talk to an adoption pediatrician about risk factors and complications related to prenatal drug and alcohol use.
Understanding Medical Issues in International Adoption
Experts in international adoption medicine stress that the country of origin is less important than the individual child’s circumstances. Children with disastrous, life-long problems can be born to healthy couples in wealthy countries; perfectly healthy babies can emerge from chaos and poverty.
Can I Adopt a Healthy Child?
All parents, biological or adoptive, want perfect children, and all realistic parents understand that there is some risk in having children by any method.
The Facts About Reactive Attachment Disorder
Child psychiatrists believe that children lay down emotional patterns, beginning in infancy. A child who does not experience consistent affection may never learn to feel or express affection for others. This syndrome is called “attachment disorder” or “reactive attachment disorder” (RAD).
[Book Review] Love Me, Feed Me
An AF reader gives a short review of Katja Rowell’s comprehensive feeding guide.
Ask AF: When Kids Pick at Skin
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Breaking a Dependency on Bottles for Comfort
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Fighting for Health Coverage
Answers to your parenting questions.
Adoption Support Groups for Teens
An adoption support group can provide a safe and comfortable venue for your teen to explore adoption and his larger identity in a new, more complex way.
Finding a Pediatrician
If you know nothing about the birth family’s medical history, or your child’s medical records are incomplete, you’ll want a medical professional with first-rate diagnostic skills to focus on areas of possible concern.
Webinar Replay – “Imagining Your Future Child”
View the replay of the webinar “Imagining Your Future Child,” with Lauren Jiang, LMSW, to learn how to decide on the age, racial identity, and medical history of the child you will be best equipped to adopt and parent.
State Adoption Law Updates
What adoption laws changed in late 2015?
Kids in Foster Care Diagnosed with ADHD at Higher Rates
A new study examines attention deficit in children living in foster care.
New Health Care Guidelines Set for Foster Children
The AAP has released new guidelines for pediatricians to follow when treating children in foster care.
Talk to Me! — Treating Speech Delays in Adopted Children
Concerned about your child’s speech or language development? About 10 percent of all children have difficulties in this area. But early intervention can turn the most reluctant talker into a chatterbox.
Ask AF: Keeping a Child’s Immunizations on Track
Answers to your parenting questions.
“Pocket Rocks”
A mother shares the story of her daughter’s growth (who was once deemed “too small to fight for her needs”) at summer camp.
View the Baby Care for Adoptive Parents Webinar Replay
View the replay of a webinar with Nicole Mayer, RMA, RN, BSN to learn about baby care basics and hear answers to commonly asked questions from new parents.
“Overcoming Malnutrition with Pizza, Pasta, and ‘Dabo'”
How a cooking-impaired mom managed a happy Thanksgiving.
A Long, Healthy Life
We don’t know our child’s medical history. What can we do to keep her healthy regardless?