[angelkisses0102]

Jess~

You are very wise to educate yourself on attachment. I will say that attachment issues are not limited to IA...although it is not often talked about in domestic newborn adoptions...it still happens much, much more than talked about at places such as these. In fact bio babies can have AD/RAD as well.

We adopted twice from Russia...DD was 10 months old and in a hell-hole...a very, very poor region and she was hospitalized for two serious health issues...she was malnourished...lots of red flags for attachment issues. She was considered a high risk referral. However, she never looked back once we carried her out of that baby hospital...her attachment went seamlessly (having major live-saving surgery shortly after coming home most likely played a role in it...but we will never know for certain.) DD just melted into our little family of three. I can honestly say we never had any issues those first four plus years home. We did attachment parent and I stayed home with her for six months...which did help I am certain. Once she was home about 5 years we had some issues with trauma bubbling up to the surface and she was recently diagnosed with ADHD (very common in PI kids it seems.) Overall...we have had less issues with her than most bio parents have...my guess anyway.

When DD was 2.5 we brought home her baby brother from a great orphanage in Russia...he had a great social background...and he was listed as a low risk referral. He was just 8 months one day old when placed in my arms forever. I'll save the AD details (unless you want them) but the next year was a living hell, the year after a living nightmare, and then finally at about 30 months home DS decided that he could actually trust us and began to attach. It was very, very tough...but in the end, it was so worth it. As our pastor stated this weekend...no problems = no miracles. And DS is a living, breathing miracle. Although I should mention my 'low risk' referral also had some pretty serious issues besides the AD...he has nystagmus, moderate to severe sensory processing disorder, he was significantly developmentally delayed, he has a severe speech impairment, feeding/swallowing issues and is now in a high-functioning special needs kindergarten class (and keeping up with his typically developing peers...says the proud mommy!)

If we had the money...we would adopt again in a heartbeat...in fact we would adopt a child from disruption (typically they have attachment issues) if the right situation presented itself.

Two great websites that will help you make an educated decision are...

A4everFamily.org - HOME
Attach-China

The book list for parents at the first site is excellent!

Good luck...and all the best!