III. More About the Children Available for Adoption, Page 7
Children with Genetic Disorders, or Who May Carry Defective Genes
Congenital handicaps raise the possibility that the child may carry defective genes that could pass the condition on. When older, you may need to get genetic counselling or advice to help your child decide about birth control.
Many genetic disorders can be passed on without affecting the carrier. Children can carry the genes for the fatal Tay-Sachs disease or thalassemia. Others of the hundreds of such conditions include cystic fibrosis, cleft lip and palate, sickle-cell anaemia, and a predisposition to schizophrenia. Some children will develop genetic conditions later in life; others will be completely unaffected but can pass the defective genes on to their own children. If the child’s birth family is known to be afflicted by a genetic or partially genetic condition, such as Huntington’s chorea, Alzheimer’s disease or schizophrenia, which only shows itself later in life, you will want to consider insisting on genetic testing before placement, if for no other reason than to be prepared, but be prepared for a flat refusal by the agency.
If you are tempted to rule out children with genetic disorders or who might be carriers, remember that everyone carries disabling or fatal genes. If you had your own children there’s no guarantee that they would not be born handicapped or carrying bad genes, because you yourself are without doubt carrying them yourself. No matter how thoroughly the agency may test its children there is no way they will be able to test for anything like all of the many hereditary diseases there are. If you are unable to accept the possibility of a child with a hereditary condition that could manifest itself later in life, you might as well give up the idea of adopting. The same really holds true for any physical or mental handicaps. You may have perfectly good reasons why you cannot consider a child with a particular range of problems, but if you cannot accept the idea of any handicaps at all, you may be too fussy. The day after the adoption order is made, your new, perfect, baby may be diagnosed with a handicapping or terminal disease, become permanently disabled in a road accident, or fall off a roof and break her neck. What would you do then?
Winston’s family suffers from bi-polar disorder, or manic-depressive illness. We knew about it when we adopted him, but we were hoping he’d managed to avoid the genes. As a little boy he was a lovely child, happily sharing his sweets, giving hugs and kisses to his little sisters. But now, at seven, he’s starting to slip into mental illness, and there is nothing we can do about it. His emotional state has become erratic, with frantic hyperactive ups and angry, irritable, sobbing downs with extended tantrums, and periods of calm in between.
© Roger Ridley Fenton
