Today’s guest blogger is Tyler Gustafson.
In 2010, the Chicago Tribune told the story of an adoption that speaks to the fears of many parents who are contemplating adoption. In the article Adoption Interrupted, a story is told of a loving family, the Gertzes, who seem to have all the right resources, and adopt a baby girl and how everything goes terribly wrong. The Gertzes adopted daughter Ellie frequently had uncontrollable temper tantrums from the slightest frustrations such as not having the right color of bowl to simply being told no.
The Gertzes started seeking help for Ellie when she was only nine months old. They enrolled in a “fussy baby” clinic to learn how to help their child. This led them through a slew of professionals that were unable to give the Gertzes the help they needed. Most professionals said it was just a phase, but when Ellie pushed her eight-month pregnant mother down the stairs, the Gertzes knew it more than that.
After this incident the Gertzes were determined to find more information about Ellie’s birth mother to find any explanation for her current behaviors. When the Gertzes started corresponding with the birth mother’s brother they made a staggering discovery. Ellie’s birth mother had been using drugs, including PCP and cocaine, while she was pregnant with Ellie. With this information Ellie was diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder at age three.
Over the next four years the Gertzes tried everything they could think of to help Ellie develop her impulse control. The Gertzes placed Ellie in a special education setting with extra support, but this did not seem to help. They also tried multiple anti-psychotic drugs, but to no avail. The Gertzes then placed Ellie in a therapeutic day school, but her behaviors only got worse. At this point the Gertzes were beginning to worry about their younger daughter who became the target for Ellie’s outbursts. Ellie frequently slammed her younger sister’s head against the wall and would often hit her repeatedly.
At this point Ellie’s psychologist recommend residential treatment. However the Gertzes were unable to find a treatment center that would accept a seven-year-old. Lori Gertz said, “I started to feel hopeless…like every door was closing in my face.” The Gertzes said they felt like the only option left was to give their daughter Ellie to a foster family trained in caring for children with FASD. Officially this is called third-party guardianship and is paid for by the Gertzes, but gives full control of the upbringing of Ellie to the foster family. The article ends by stating that Ellie is doing better with her foster family, but where she will be in the future is still unknown.
Showing a family that seems to have everything going for them (a loving family, good finances, etcetera) is still unable to provide all the support their daughter needs, proves there is something wrong with our support for adoptions. By doing so, the article helps to disprove the myth about adoption that, adoption always leads to permanency for children. This article shows that there still needs to be supports in place to help children and parents in adoptions. While it strengthens the need for more support it also feeds into the myth of adoption that adopted children are more trouble than birth children. However overall this article does help promote the need for more mental health support to children in adoption.
To read the full article visit http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-21/news/ct-met-disrupted-adoption-0921_1_adoption-ellie-new-jersey-woman/2