Families with Children from China (F.C.C.)

"A passage to the heart"

This net resource is provided by Families with Children from China (FCC). FCC is a nondenominational organization of families who have adopted children from China. The purpose of FCC is provide a network of support for families who've adopted in China and to provide information to prospective parents. The purpose of this site is to consolidate the information that has been put together by the families of FCC, in order to make it easier for future parents to consider adopting from China. We also try to provide pointers to other adoption and China related resources available on the Web. Please read the legalisms.

Updated Information on Melamine

Sunday, November 09, 2008 11:57 AM
Subject: Melamine issue

Dear parents and adoption advocates:
I've been waiting to post on this topic until an official statement (forthcoming) is released by the American Academy of Pediatrics. At the same time, I'm receiving almost daily emails and calls, so I wanted to let people know what the official word is (so far) about children potentially exposed to melamine prior to adoption. Currently there is no consensus.

Some docs are advocating testing every child that ever lived in China, others are testing only children with symptoms. The AAP Section on Adoption and Foster Care, along with nephrologists who specialize in the care of kidneys, are looking at evidence based medicine to arrive at a consensus.

I've attached a website for the freshly minted statement created by the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (in conjunction with input from several national adoption specialists, the intl society of nephrologists; physicians & public health officials in China; WHO and CDC representatives). The statement may be accessed by looking at the ASPN website (http://www.aspneph.com/) and clicking on the melamine statement.

A few observations of the recommendations:
1. For ASYMPTOMATIC children who may have been exposed - they are suggesting no screening.
2. For SYMPTOMATIC children (see the article for a list of symptoms) - further assessment is suggested. Some docs are just doing blood and urine, others doing a renal ultrasound also.
3. They are suggesting focusing on children exposed to formula in 2007 & 2008
4. Interestingly... at least in animals... females seem to be less impacted than males.

I will share the statement from the AAP when available with these groups. This is not cut and dried, as various medical specialists are recommending different approaches. The bottom line: if your child has symptoms (as described in the table), then it makes more sense to pursue a workup. My suggestion is to call your child's health care provider, reference the website, and help the physician to learn more about this (as all of us are). Although I am far from an authority on this issue, you may share this email without my permission, with the caveat that a child's physician should make the final call on what is appropriate for each child.

Debbi Borchers, M.D.
Adoption pediatrician in Cincinnati area
Adoptive mom of three from China (last one adopted 2000, so I'm not doing anything for my three)

Alert: Melamine and Children Adopted From 2005 through 2008

Characteristics of Parenting Stress of Couples Who Have Adopted Internationally

The International Adoption Center at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children is currently conducting a research project to study parenting stress
following international adoption. Very few studies have sought to understand whether internationally adopted parents are experiencing stress both during and
after the adoption of their children. In addition, few studies have been done to compare the stress experienced by adoptive fathers and how this may compare to the
stress seen in adoptive mothers. In this anonymous on-line study husband and wife couples will separately answer basic demographic and stress questions online.
The answers will be coded and no identifying information is used when recording responses. You can find out more information about this study by
going to our web site at www.adoptionclinic.org. Posted 8/2008

Transnational Adoption and Changing Faces of American Families

Is transnational adoption changing the way we think about families and family formation in the United States?
Anthropologist Linda J. Seligmann at George Mason University is conducting a long-term project, whose participants include families
whose children are adopted from China. Further details of the research can be found at: http://mason.gmu.edu/~lseligm2/index.html.
Seligmann is embarking on the 2nd stage of her project. The first part was dedicated to learning about the perspectives and experiences of parents.
The second part takes the form of an on-line survey for children, ages 9 and older, who have been adopted from China. If you think your
child would like to participate, please contact her at: lseligm2@gmu.edu. She will provide you with more details of the survey. Posted 8/2008

Bone Marrow Donors Needed for Children from China:

At this time we do not know of any specific children waiting for a marrow transplant. However, it is inevitable that
this need will arise in the future. If you are Chinese and over 18 years old, please consider signing up to be
a bone marrow donor. You could save a childs life. See http://www.marrow.org/ for more information.

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