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December 1, 1999
------------------------ —----------------- — <Tfje florthmb (ßhseruer
New immunization rule for kids
U.S. adopting more babies abroad
CONTRIBUTED STORY
17 Percent of
Children Adopted
by American
Parents in 1996
Were Bom Abroad
T he A ssociated P ress
After lO yearsofm fertility treatments,
Susan H utler desperately w anted a
baby and finally turned to adoption.
But adopting an A m erican baby
seem ed filled w ith com plications, so
like thousands o f other w ould-be
parents, she looked abroad.
‘’W e co u ld h av e trie d to adopt
privately, w hich w ould m ean we
would have to find a birth m other who
was interested in giving her baby to
u s ,” said H utler, a W ash in g to n
attorney. ‘ ’ Y ou ’ re really kind o f in a
position o f having to com pete with
other prospective parents and then
convince them that you are in fact
w orthy to parent this child. F ran k ly ...
I ju st did not have the em otional
energy to go through th at.”
In July, H utler and her husband
brought hom e a 1-year-old girl from
Russia. ‘ ’I f s pretty quick and you are
guaranteed success,” she said.
M ore than 17 percent o f children
adopted by A m erican parents in 1996
were bom abroad, as the num ber o f
d o m e s tic a d o p tio n s fa ll an d
international adoptions skyrocket,
a c c o rd in g to a re p o rt re le a s e d
Tuesday by the N ational Council for
A doption.
F o r in fa n ts, c h ild re n u n d e r 2,
international adoptions account for
nearly a third o f the total, the report
said.
Meanwhile, between 1992 and 1996,
domestic infant adoptions fell by 11
percent, a decrease experts attribute
in part to fewer single mothers giving
babies up for adoption.
The council, a private group that
advocates adoptions, based its report
on a survey o f the states and data
fro m
th e
I m m ig ra tio n
an d
Naturalization Service. Adoption data
is notoriously hard to com e by, and
the new report is am ong the most
com prehensive to date, experts said.
The report looked at 54,496 adoptions
in 1996 involving U .S.-bom children
and found more than h alf came from
the foster care system. The overall
adoptions o f A m erican children
edged down from 55,706 in 1992,
according to the council, w hich did
similar surveys in 1982,1986and 1992.
At the same time, about 1 l.OOOchildren
were adopted from other countries in
1996, up from 6,500 in 1992, the report
said. By last year, the num ber o f
foreign adoptions topped 15,000.
In 1992, international adoptions
accounted for ju st 10.5 percent o f all
unrelated adoptions, those that do
not involve familymembers. By 1996,
that rose to 17.5 percent.
W hile there are m ore A m erican
children bom to unm arried parents
than ever before, more single mothers
are opting to keep their babies, leading
to a shortage o f infants available for
adoption, experts said.
for
T he P o r t ia n d O bseryer
Parents o f future seventh graders
(children in second through sixth
grade) recently received notification
o f the change in O reg o n school
im m unization laws. Beginning in the
fall o f 2000, seventh graders will need
three doses o f hepatitis B, a second
dose o f m easles containing vaccine
(usually M M R ), an d ch ick en p o x
(varicella) vaccine, if they have not
had chickenpox disease, to stay in
school.
It takes approxim ately six m onths and
three clinic visits to com plete these
doses so fam ilies are encouraged to
get an early start. Parents should
Long distance
calling for any budget.
77te Christmas tree in Pioneer Square stands tall and
beautiful to commemorate the beginning o f the Cristmas
season. It was erected Thanksgiving evening to a large
crowd o f onlookers and well wishers.
in liu d u d n i! Ejerl's Three Penny Plan'
out nuMl economical interstate evening
calling plan ever Call anywhere w itliin
the nm tiguous United States, between
7.00 p.m. and 6:59 a in., and pay only
three cents per minute.
contact their regular doctor, nurse or
health clinic. If that is not possible
they can plan to visit special school
immunization c linics which have been
sc h e d u le d in v a rio u s lo c a tio n s
aro u n d the P o rtla n d /M u ltn o m a h
County area.
D e c em b e r 2nd W h ita k e r M iddle
School, 5700 N .E. 3 9 ,h, 3-7 pm
D ecem ber 9lh H illsdale Com m unity/
Lane, 6948 SW Capital Hwy., 3-7 pm.
D ecem b er 16,h R ey n o ld s M iddle
School, 1200N E201 st A ve.,3-7pm .
January 4 lh R oosevelt H igh School,
6941 N. Central St., 3-7pm. January 6th
Parkrose H igh School, 12003 N.E.
Shaver St., 3-7 pm . B rentw ood
Darlington/L ane, 7200 S.E. 60ü' Ave.,
3-7pm.
CHANGE
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V is it w ww .shonninet
1-888-845-4128
This offer is good from October 15. 1999.
through December 31. 1999. After that
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inent period ends. EwWs Three fanny
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PHOTO by M ark W ashington
EXC
customers.
America’s kids facing obstacles
Poor schools, lack of
health care among
‘ten Critical threats’
T he A ssociated P ress
Teen pregnancy, abuse and neglect
at hom e, inadequate child care, poor
schools and lack o f health care are
a m o n g th e b ig g e s t d a n g e rs
th re a te n in g A m e ric a ’s ch ild ren ,
according to a new report.
T he report, " T e n C ritical Threats To
A m erica’s Children. W arning Signs
for the Next M illennium ,” also lists
such threats as su bstance abuse,
poverty, absent parents, crim e and
dangers in the environm ent.
The study is the w ork o f the N ational
S chool B o ard s A sso c ia tio n , the
National League ofCities, Hollywood,
Fla.-based Joe D iM ag g io C h ild ren 's
H ospital and Y outh C rim e W atch o f
America. It was released today at a
news conference in W ashington, D.C.
" T h e p ro b lem s c o n fro n tin g o u r
children truly are challenges to all o f
A m erica,” said Mary' Ellen M axwell,
president o f the N ational School
Boards Association. ‘ ’ E ither we meet
these challenges or they will becom e
obstacles to our future.”
Dr. A rnold Tanis, a fellow with the
A m erican A cadem y o f Pediatrics,
said, " W e w ant to see these issues
addressed, and one w ay to do it is
make people aw are o f them and begin
a national dialogue.”
The threats, w hich are not ranked,
w ere com piled through research and
in te rv ie w s w ith e x p e r ts , ch ild
a d v o c a c y o r g a n iz a tio n s
an d
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