From the Chicago Tribune:

Adolescents who were adopted as infants are significantly more likely to have a psychiatric disorder as those who were not adopted, a study released Monday has found.

While emphasizing that most of the adoptees in the study were psychologically healthy and faring well, the researchers said that as a group they faced a greater risk for two psychiatric conditions: attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.

… [Lead study author Margaret Keyes of the University of Minnesota] stressed that the study should not alarm adoptive parents. Being born male—adopted or not—also is a risk factor for disruptive behavior disorders, she noted, “but no one is overly concerned when they give birth to a son.”

The study was published in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Brownback and Kennedy do the right thing

By Wesley J. Smith in the Weekly Standard:

It is a bitter irony that even as we are enlarging our commitment to human equality in many areas, we are turning our backs on it in others. In particular, we may be about to eliminate from our society people with Down syndrome (DS) and other genetically caused disabilities.

With the development of prenatal genetic diagnosis, the drive toward eugenics has returned with a vengeance. Americans may heartily cheer participants in the Special Olympics, but we abort some 90 percent of all gestating infants diagnosed with genetic disabilities such as DS, dwarfism, and spina bifida.

… What Kennedy and Brownback hope to provide to parents of genetically disabled babies is the legal assurance that they will be provided information that is complete and informed — rather than counseling tainted by prejudice, ignorance, or fear. The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act may have a clunky name, but it is a noble and practical bill that deserves the support not only of those ideological opposites Kennedy and Brownback — but also of everybody in between.

From the Tri-City (Washington) Herald:

A bill making its way through Congress brings a rare chance for both sides of the abortion debate to come together in a humane way.

The bill, backed by Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., would create a national registry for families willing to adopt babies born with Down syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis or dwarfism. It would cost about $5 million.

… this is an effort well worth the time and money it will take to set it up.

… A national registry would give pregnant women who might not carry their babies to term another option: A warm and accepting home with parents who are willing to accept the extra responsibilities such children represent.

The headline on a story by Rob Hotakainen in the Wichita Eagle describes the Prenatally and Postnally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act as an “abortion bill.” The measure, co-sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), at left, and Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), would provide for accurate medical information to be offered to parents who receive a diagnosis of a disability either before birth or up to a year after the birth of a child.

Hotakainen describes the bill as one that “aims to reduce the number of abortions tied to genetic disorders.” He says Brownback views the bill as part of his campaign for “the culture of life,” and describes Brownback as saying that “children with special needs are viewed as being specially touched by God” in some cultures. Kennedy’s office declined to comment on the legislation, which passed a Senate committee recently. An excerpt:

“We’re just saying, instead of killing the children, let them live,” Brownback said … Currently, Brownback said, 90 percent of pregnancies are aborted when a genetic test shows that a fetus will develop into a child with Down syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis or dwarfism.

… “I’d like to see it come way down,” Brownback said. “I think these children are beautiful and sacred children, and they should be allowed the chance to live.”

(more…)

From the [New Orleans] Times Picayune:

Gilda Reed, Democratic candidate for Louisiana’s open 1st Congressional district seat, defies conventional wisdom. She is a survivor of childhood polio, and adopted a son with cerebral palsy after being told by doctors that he would “probably be a vegetable.” Her son is now a college graduate.

“Polio has taught me that you have to fight for what you have,” said Reed, who wears leg braces and gets around with help from a walker. “The word ‘can’t’ is a four-letter word at my house. I don’t want to hear it.”

Mary Sanchez, writing in the Kansas City Star, reflects on the recent Baghdad bombing in which two women with Down syndrome were apparently the unwitting carriers of the explosives.

As horrendous as this cowardly mission was, little room exists for righteous grandstanding. In the United States about 90 percent of babies with Down syndrome are aborted.

… Much more could be done to help women facing the birth of a disabled child, without stirring the swamp of the pro-/anti-abortion debate.

The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act would provide more support programs for parents, better information to expectant mothers and would create a national registry of families who want to adopt babies with Down syndrome and those with other conditions. The bill

(more…)

Extended feature by Carrie Antlfinger, Associated Press writer, in the Boston Globe and elsewhere.

Scott Southworth, a GI from Wisconsin, adopts Ala’a Eddeen, an Iraqi boy with cerebral palsy.

Not everything is perfect. Ala’a never encountered thunderstorms in Baghdad, and the flash-boom reminds him of bombs. He is starting to get over it, although he still weeps during violent storms.

But Ala’a — who picked out his own name, which means to be near God — knows he’s where he belongs. Southworth always says Ala’a picked him, not the other way around. They were brought together, Southworth believes, by a “web of miracles.”

Ala’a likes to sing Sarah McLachlan’s song, “Ordinary Miracle,” from “Charlotte’s Web,” one of his favorite movies. His head and body lean to one side as he sings off-key.

“It’s just another ordinary miracle today. Life is like a gift they say. Wrapped up for you everyday.”