Research reported by the San Jose Mercury News reveals that neglect in infancy can alter the brain for life. Parental care makes such a lasting impression that a child can experience lifelong consequences for growth and mental ability according to how much affection or neglect he or she receives. Children raised without being regularly hugged and caressed were found by the study to have abnormally high levels of stress hormones. The research, carried out on laboratory animals, found that maternal separation causes cells in the brain of offspring to die, up to twice the rate as those animals kept with their mothers. While scientists have known for years that behavioral problems such as a child being withdrawn, apathetic, slow to learn and prone to chronic illness can be caused by maternal deprivation, this research shows for the first time the actual biochemical consequences of emotional neglect on the developing brain.

Makes me wonder how much of our tax money they spent figuring this out. Quite a no-brainer, if you ask me.

My mother saw the effects of this first hand recently on a trip to Romania, where she visited an orphanage. There, they keep the children in cribs, 30 in a room. No playthings, no pictures on the walls, and the only physical contact that they get is their 2x day diaper change, done assembly line fashion. They are fed a bottle until two months, then fed gruel twice a day. They are never held or touched unless someone (like my mom and her group) comes there to spend time with the children. She reported finding that none of the four year old kids could walk or talk when they arrived, and they operated at about a 2 year old level mentally. They are kept this way until the age of EIGHT! At which point they are moved to the "big kid" orphanage, and thrown in with kids up to 18 years old. Many are brutalized there, and recieve little schooling. As if that isn't sad enough, the government in Romania refuses to allow anyone to adopt these babies, for some reason they feel that would be an affront to their national pride. It's a sad world we live in, yet our own children are so blessed...

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), February 15, 2002

Answers

HUG ME !

-- woodsbilly (coleenl@penn.com), February 15, 2002.

This makes me so sad. Hard to believe that children are still treated this way. I have friends who adopted a chinese infant girl; she was found on the side of the road in China. They were told that this is quite common, particularly with baby girls. Also sad is the plight of the African AIDS orphans, which number in the hundreds of thousands. There are grandmothers over there raising a dozen kids (or more) in poverty, the parents having died of AIDS. I wish there would be a reformation in adoption laws and processes. We certainly don't have the time or money to travel across the planet and plow through all the red tape that international adoptions require, but if such children were easier to adopt we'd do it in a minute.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), February 15, 2002.

Yeah, so would we. I think lots of folks would if it didn't require $40,000, most of which goes to the stupid lawyers.

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), February 15, 2002.

Yeah, we would take those babies in a minute.....just no possible way we could afford to pay those fees :(((

Tracy

-- Tracy (zebella@mindspring.com), February 15, 2002.

Babies? Did someone say babies!? I would love to adopt another child! We checked into it and the fees are ASTRONOMICAL! Sooooo sad! Wish that there was a way!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 15, 2002.

Heck, we'd take an older child, knowing the babies are in high demand. We'd even take a sibling pair or group. But it'll never happen. I hate beaurocracy!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), February 15, 2002.

I've volunteered at adoption agencys, and MOST have financial help, from free counseling, to free lawyer services.

many states also help out w/ fees/costs if you adopt a 'high needs child'-ie. a child over 6 mths. old!

even airlines offer reduced ticket for adopted childrens' transport.

so call up a church or private agency and set up an apointment. get on their list,fill out paperwork, get your background check done.

you may be disappointed & waste a day , but then again you might make a childs' life!

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), February 16, 2002.

Not all international adoptions need to cost that much. We adopted independently, without an agency from both Ukraine, and Russia, although at the moment, it looks like Russia is going to stop allowing independents. We adopted our son John in October of 2000 from Ukraine, and the total cost was around $12,000. That is for expenses only, no giant profit for anyone, and includes our airfare, accomodation, and meals. It is NOT that difficult to do. And the adoption of a second child does NOT double the fees, generally works out to only about $2-3000 more depending on airfare.

-- Joyce Dingman (FriendsPatterns@juno.com), February 16, 2002.

We, too, would LOVE to take a bunch of these kids! It just breaks my heart to know that even in this day and age, children are treated this way! I mean, it's not like we don't know any better, right? But we don't have that kind of money either. I am an endo woman, who managed to have a "miracle" child, but @ 41, am unlikely at best to do it again. I would take a house full, if I could. It couldn't be tougher than how they're living now, and we have 360 acres, so space isn't an issue. We want to adopt, but ther is such a long waiting list, and SO-O-O many restrictions, that we don't know if we'll qualify til we're 70!!! I am a Parent educator, and my husband is a local trucker, so he's home every night, but because our home isn't "big" enough, apparently the love we have to share, or our intentions, don't count. Funny how the bureacracy works, hey? When LOVE dosn't count, there sure is a problem. Oh, well, we'll persist anyway, as we know we will qualify, without question, it's just a matter of when they get around to us. Thanks for letting me ramble. Judy

-- Judy Hill (hillsacres@sk.sympatico.ca), February 17, 2002.