Adoption and fostering of babies with Down syndrome: a cohort of 593 cases

Abstract

DS. A retrospective cohort of all living DS babies was constituted from two birth-defect registries (Paris : 1981-90, Marseilles area : 1984. Follow-up data was collected: characteristics of baby, birth parents and maternity units, age when given up for adoption and type of foster care. Results showed that 19.4% of infants with DS (115/593) were rejected by th parents. Multiple regression analysis indicated that foreign origin of the mother, area of residence, no associated major malformation, maternal age (15-24), and birth rank (>2) variables were significantly associated with a lower placement rate. Among the 115 abandoned infants with DS, 88 came from unknown parentage (76.5%). For half of them, adoptive placement (88/115) occurred before the age of six months. Socio-cultural attitudes play a great part in these family decisions. Equally, important is the manner in which professionals propose adoption as an alternative to these DS parents. They should be encouraged to consider all options before making a decision so that the best solution can be found for the interest of all.

Depression: its trajectory and correlates in mothers rearing children with intellectual disability

“…Nevertheless, the initial depression experienced by parents is not trivial, even when it is short‐lived. It can be the beginning of an existential crisis that results in important life consequences for the family and the child; for example, Dumaret et al. (1998) reported that almost 20% of the 593 infants born with Down's syndrome (DS) in a 10‐year period in France were permanently relinquished by their birth parents.…”

Family management of childhood chronic conditions: Does it make a difference if the child has an intellectual disability?

“…For the families in the CPC study, the timing of the child's diagnosis varied considerably, with some coming soon after birth and others many years later. Parents who learned of their child's diagnosis prenatally and chose to continue the pregnancy may already have inherently been shaped by their cultural views of accepting any child that is conceived as a welcomed member of their family (Dumaret et al, ; Hofferth, ; Julian‐Reynier et al, ; Kellogg et al, ).…”

Les fondements du pronostic en médecine prénatale : exemple de la trisomie 21

“…En France, la trisomie 21 a une faible acceptabilité sociale comme en témoigne le nombre croissant d'interruptions médi-cales de grossesses [17] et l'augmentation des abandons à la naissance, atteignant actuellement un enfant sur cinq [18]. Malgré cette perception négative de la trisomie 21 par les futurs parents, et même si tout ne doit pas être décliné en terme d'études scientifiques, il n'existe que très peu d'études évaluant la qualité de vie des individus atteints du syndrome de Down à une époque où la médecine est fondée sur des preuves.…”