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Are you thinking about adopting a baby? Are you worried about what risk factors exist that you should know about? Join us to talk about these issues with Dr. Lindsay Terrell, a pediatrician at Duke University Medical Center and an Assistant Professor in their Department of Pediatrics. And James Fletcher Thompson, a South Carolina attorney with extensive experience in adoption. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Lack of prenatal care.
  • What is covered in prenatal care and how might a lack of prenatal care impact a baby?
• Prematurity
  • What causes a premature birth?
• Prenatal exposure
  • Alcohol
    • What are some red flags that a mom might have abused alcohol during her pregnancy?
    • Does the degree of impact differ depending on when in the pregnancy alcohol was consumed?
    • What are the long- and short-term impacts of alcohol consumption on a child exposed prenatally?
    • Creating a Family’s Prenatal Substance Exposure Workshop for Parents
  • Opioids 
    • List of opioid drugs in increasing degree of strength
      • Codeine.
      • Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Hycodan)
      • Morphine (MS Contin, Kadian)
      • Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percoset)
      • Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
      • Heroin
      • Fentanyl (Duragesic)
      • Methadone, Suboxone
    • Does the degree of impact differ depending on when in the pregnancy the opioid was used?
    • Does the degree of long-term impact differ depending on whether the baby was born dependent or with a diagnosis of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) or Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS)?
    • What are the long- and short-term impacts of opioid exposure on a child exposed prenatally?
  • Cocaine
  • Marijuana
  • Methamphetamine 
  • Polysubstance abuse 
  • Creating a Family has extensive resources to help parent a child exposed to opioids prenatally. 
• Sexually Transmitted Infections
  • What are the common STIs? 
  • What are the risks of each of them to the unborn child or newly born child?
• Mental Health Issues
  • What is the genetic connection for the following mental health disorders? How heritable are these mental illnesses?
    • Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias. 
    • Mood disorders: Depression, bipolar disorder 
    • Personality disorders (antisocial, borderline, narcissistic)
    • Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia
    • ADHD
• Legal Risk Factors
  • What are the most common legal risk factors when adopting an infant through private adoption?

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