Counseling in medical genetics / Sheldon C. Reed.

  • Reed, Sheldon C. (Sheldon Clark), 1910-2003.
Date:
[1955]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: Counseling in medical genetics / Sheldon C. Reed. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    MENTAL RETARDATION cause of the shortage of newly-born babies to be placed, the couple still are not likely to have their needs filled. There are many very desirable older children, as well as babies with a trace of Oriental or African blood avail¬ able for adoption. The physician should urge that these be accepted if the parents are not prejudiced. If adoptive parents have strong prejudices, they should not be expected to do a very good job of child raising anyway, so perhaps they should be left childless. The physician is inclined to think, in cases of sterility of one member of the couple or in cases where the genetic risk is great and adoption seems advisable, that once he has suggested the idea of adoption and the couple accept it, the problem is solved. It would be wonderful if the solution were so simple. Actually, little progress will have been made. There just are not enough children available to meet the adoption needs. There are probably about 50 couples wanting children for adoption to each available child. The agencies do not have this many on their waiting lists, however, for the simple reason that after they have failed to supply a couple on the list for some months or years, they merely scratch the name off the list, notifying the couple that not enough babies were available to begin to meet the demand. The childless couple find themselves in an almost unbearable position. Their desire for children has be¬ come magnified out of reasonable proportions. Con¬ sequently, they are willing to resort to almost anything to obtain a family of healthy children. Since the 94