In recent years, studies have shown that internationally adopted children may be at risk for developing premature or precocious puberty. In fact, some experts speculate that they are almost 20 times more likely to do so than children born in the United States.
N. Korean women 'sold like livestock' in China
For North Korean women who run off to China, rules are rigged on both sides of the border. North Korea regards them as criminals for leaving. China refuses to recognize them as refugees, sending many back to face interrogation, hard labor and sometimes torture. Others stay on in stateless limbo, sold by brokers to Chinese men in need of fertile women and live-in labor.What does it mean to be Asian American?
It's easy to forget that the term "Asian American" is a young one -- just a hair over 40 years old, with its first recorded public usage occurring, not coincidentally, at UC Berkeley, the gravitational center of Sixties student activism. . . . Four decades later, however, it's worth considering how far the idea of Asian America has come, and how far it can go. Does Asian American identity still have meaning?
These boys deserve so much more than I can give them
Six years after adopting two boys, Michelle Brau was still unable to form a bond with them. Now they're in a new home. She may have suffered a condition many still don't understand: post-adoption depression.
3 comments:
Definitely had mixed feelings about the article about the woman who dissolved her adoption after six years and now feels like "herself" again. I can understand post-adoption depression, but this sounds like something else. Inability to attach to the new child (or children in this case) does not necessarily equal depression, but it's a great face-saver. Calling this the equivalent of post-partum depression is nuts. What is the fate of these poor kids?
I experienced post-adoption depression for a year after our first adoption. It was terrible and I felt extremely guilty that I had the baby I had dreamed of and could not be the mother I wanted to be. I was sure I had ruined her life, as well as mine and my husband's. My doctor put me on an antidepressant, but I could not stand the side effects and quit after a week. With the support of family and friends I was able to come out of it (it was a painfully slow recovery) and we have adopted again with no recurrence of the depression. The guilt never goes away, though, as I feel I was not as available to my daughter as I should have been that first year. She is rather emotionally fragile and I will always wonder if I contributed to that.
My point is that post-adoption depression is real and it messes with your mind. Like any other depression, you don't think too rationally when you're in the middle of it and you really need support from other people. I am very sad for the kids in the article, as they have lost out again.
I agree with osolomama. This woman doesn't feel like post-adoption depression. And to "feel like herself" after relinquishing her two children? We always put our kids first, if my spouse didn't want our children then HE'D have to go. I wish that father had stepped up to the plate, what an awful story.
Post a Comment