I have searched the internet for an organization that would enable adoptions of children with diabetes. I have heard great stories about families with diabetic children adopting other children with diabetes (I can’t imagine living in an orphanage or changing foster parents for a child with diabetes).
Does anyone know of an organization that works in this area?
My husband and I have 2 boys–one biological, the other adopted as an infant- both healthy—looked into foster care–somewhat extensively–but the timing is just not right. I hadn’t even considered diabetes as a possible medical condition. The focus was so much on neglect, abuse, attachment disorders, learning disabilities, cerebral palsey, autism - things that seem bigger than diabetes(at least to me anyway).
I agree with you, and would be interested in such an organization.
We have two daughters adopted from China. They are both considered special needs adoptions in China. We requested a diabetic child, but was told by our agency, who does lots of China adoptions, that they have never seen a diabetic referral. I was really surprised by that.
If it is true that the current growth in the incidence of Type 1 in the U.S. has been caused by raising children in much too clean an environment, so that their immune systems don’t get to play with the microorganisms they’ve been bred for and then turn on themselves in their early, learning period, it would make sense that in a place like China where 3rd world cleanliness standards prevail Type 1 would be much rarer.
There is quite a bit of evidence that something like this is going on. It is discussed in the book Good Germs, Bad Germs by Jessica Sachs.
Yes, I have heard that type 1 diabetes is not as common in less developed countries (though I sometime wonder if it is just not diagnosed). But the theory that Jenny described is plausible.
But I know in countries like Russia and Ukraine, there is a prevelence of type 1 diabetes in children-- and there it is treated as a major disability (the children are put in special programs in school or treated quite differently). I also read once on JDRF website about a family with a child with T1 that found out about a girl with T1 living in an orphanage in Russia-- they adopted her! I just think that it would be great to have some organization that just keeps track and could bring together children.
I think that it is true that rates are not growing as quickly in less advanced countries, but for the children that deal with diabetes in this situation, life is a lot tougher!
I realize this thread is old but curious if there were any updates on information found out about adopting? We too are interested in adopting a child/children with Type 1 but not sure where to start.
From my research on fostering and adopting, children with special needs have a much harder time getting placed, but the special needs are usually for more challenging (well, depending on your definition) special needs than diabetes.
Before I ever considered pregnancy being a feasible option for us, I always thought foster-adoption would be our path. In fact, now that we are pregnant, we’ve talked about still making that happen at some point. I like to visit adoptuskids.org and read the profiles, where you can see quite a number that are listed with special needs.
In my discussions with the social services folks locally who run the foster care program, they say many foster families specify preferences, so it is possible. It creates a lot of challenges for them, actually, because it makes it difficult to place kids that need good families, especially teens (who in our area tend to have to leave their school systems and go to other counties for placement).
If you’re open to foster/adoption of kids with special needs, you could make a big difference. There may not be as many who have diabetes, but the need for good families willing and able to take in kids with special needs is HUGE.