Evaluating Risk Factors in International Adoption

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.

Are you considering adopting internationally. If so, you really should listen to this interview with the great Dr. Dana Johnson, MD, PhD. He is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Johnson founded the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs: How common in international adoption? How much and when in the pregnancy? What does the impact look like in an infant, preschooler, school-aged child, and older?
  • Alcohol
  • Opioids
  • Cocaine
  • Methamphetamine
  • Marijuana
  • Cigarettes
• Prenatal stress: Does maternal stress during pregnancy have a long-term impact on the child? Is this something that adoptive parents will know other than by assuming from reading the files?
• How heritable are mental illnesses?
  • Depression
  • Bi-polar
  • Schizophrenia
• How heritable are the following?
  • ADHD
  • Intelligence or academic success
• Attachment issues: How common with international adoption, and what are the recognizable symptoms of attachment struggles?
  • Disinhibited social engagement disorder. What is it, and how common?
  • How common is Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)?
• Impacts of neglect: How common is neglect in international adoption?
• Impact of institutionalization in international adoption.
• Impacts of physical abuse: How common in international adoption? How often do referrals report physical abuse?
• Impact of sexual abuse: How common in international adoption? How often do referrals report sexual abuse?
• Impact of lack of prenatal care.
• How common are the following:
  • Hepatitis B: Where is it most prevalent? Long-term prognosis?
  • Hepatitis C: Where is it most prevalent? Long-term prognosis?
  • HIV: Where is it most prevalent? Long-term prognosis?
  • Congenital Syphilis: Where is it most prevalent? Long-term prognosis?
  • Prematurity: Where is it most prevalent? Long-term prognosis?
  • Low Birth Weight: What is the long-term prognosis of a child who was born with low birth weight?
  • Cleft lip/palate: Where is it most prevalent? Long-term prognosis?
  • Congenital heart issues
  • Missing limbs/digits-amniotic band syndrome
  • Albinism
  • Dwarfism
• Most common special needs you are seeing.
• What is the risk to the child if the birth mother has/had tuberculosis?
• Other risk factors to be aware of.
• Tips for evaluating risk factors in international adoption. 
• How to find a clinic that specializes in evaluating international adoption referrals?

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building