PubMed · 13440457
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G WEISSER. 1957-06-01. [Adoption].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13440457/
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BACKGROUND: Although both assisted reproduction technologies (ART) and adoption services are designed to help childless couples, their legal status is overwhelmingly different. In particular, applicants for adoption services in Israel are required to undergo a meticulous background check, whereas ART has no such precondition. The present study evaluated the attitude of gynecologists in Israel towards this difference and their opinion of their own responsibility to children born by in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. METHODS: One hundred and eighty-one gynecologists were asked to complete a questionnaire covering their opinions on the acceptance of applicants for IVF programs compared to adopting couples and their professional responsibility to children born by IVF. RESULTS: Average age of the responders was 47.9+/-9.2 years; 75% were male; average number of own children was 2.6+/-1.3. Sixty-one percent believed that the use of IVF conferred a duty upon the physician to ensure the well-being of the future child, and 66% believed it important to somehow screen potential parents. Forty percent favored equalizing the preconditions for IVF candidates and adopting couples. Thirty-five percent supported changing the adoption laws to make the process easier, and 33% supported changing the IVF program to prevent unsuitable candidates from starting therapy. Among the latter, a strong marital bond was considered important by 17%, health status of the potential parents by 72%, and possession of a criminal record by 35%. Forty percent favored parental evaluation by a social worker, and 66%, by a psychological assessment. Only 24% thought that economic status was important. CONCLUSIONS: Most gynecologists in ART programs believe they have a duty to look out for the unborn child. Approximately one-third support the institution of changes in parental evaluation to facilitate the adoption process and to provide more restrictions in ART programs. Most believed that parental evaluation, preferably by a psychological assessment, is important prior to starting an IVF program.
Families of internationally adopted children face risks associated with travel if they pick up their children overseas. Unlike other travelers, they also face risks because of close contact with a child with uncertain infection and vaccination status. Tuberculosis organisms, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, and measles virus have been transmitted from adopted children to family and community members. Intestinal parasites, Bordetella pertussis, and other infectious disease agents can also be transmitted. Some of these infections may be inapparent or may not manifest in adopted children until many years after the adoption. Increased attention to preventive measures for family members and early diagnosis of infectious diseases in adopted children can reduce transmission of the organisms causing these infections. Those providing health care to families planning international adoption should know about standard pretravel advice, as well as the spectrum of possible infections in adopted children, so that they can protect the health of the travelers and family members and close friends who will welcome the new child into the home.
Adoption occurs frequently in colonial species where both the cost of parasitism and the opportunity for dependent young to find a foster family are typically high. Because ectoparasites show highly aggregated distributions among colony members, we tested two central predictions of the novel hypothesis that adoption is driven by selection on young to reduce ectoparasite load: first, that nest-based ectoparasites cause offspring to seek adoption, and second, that an individual's parasite load will be reduced after it has been adopted. In agreement with these predictions, experimentally infested Alpine swift Apus melba offspring sought adoption significantly more often and at an earlier stage than young kept free of ectoparasitic louse-flies. Second, the parasite load of experimentally infested young was reduced after adoption via a redistribution of ectoparasites among the foster family members. Our findings emphasize what we believe to be a novel role for parasites in the evolution of adoption and, by extension, in the emergence of social interactions.