I am writing to see if you would mind emailing YOUR Congressman with the information below...There is a current "law" that children being adopted into our country MUST have their immunizations before they LEAVE their country of origin.....even if they have already had the shots at their foster home or orphanage. As a pediatrician, I am a firm believer in immunizing children, but this is ridiculous! These children who are usually in a state of shock as they are placed with their new family are then required to undergo a physical 2-3 days before leaving China (which is good, to make sure there is no infection that could be spread on the plane), and then receive up to EIGHT shots at once! I would never give my boys that many at once....the pain, the soreness, the resultant fever.....AND, the shots are given so close to the time the children leave for home, they provide NO immunity for the trip home any way!
In the past, there was a bill passed that the adoptive parents (like me!) could take a waiver saying that the child would receive a physical exam within THREE weeks of their arrival in the US...including shots. Then, when an adoptive child came to see me, we drew the required blood including titers to see if the child HAD been vaccinated previously and if the vaccine worked. THEN we would initiate immunizing the child.
I am asking you to email your Congressman....so that they will vote on this bill soon. They reconvene briefly for Congress on Monday November 15. Please do so as soon as you can!
You can look up your Congressman here https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml and send it to him or her through this link!
The part below in blue you can cut and paste, and then the part in red you could add some personal tidbit....future adoptive grandparent, future adoptive friend, aunt, uncle, etc.
Please forward to anyone you can!
Thank you!
Eve
My personal note:
S.1376 : International Adoption Simplification Act
Sponsor: Senator Amy Klobuchar
A bill to restore immunization and sibling age exemptions for children adopted by US Citizens under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to allow thier admission to the United States.
7/21/2010--Passed Senate amended. International Adoption Simplification Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include in the definition of "child," and thus in the exemption from required admissions vaccination documentation, certain children who have been adopted in a foreign country that is a signatory to the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) or who are emigrating from such a country for U.S. adoption. Includes in such definition and exemption a child who is under the age of 18 at the time an immediate relative status petition is filed on his or her behalf, has been adopted abroad or is coming for U.S. adoption, and is the natural sibling of: (1) an adopted child from a Hague Convention signatory country; (2) a child adopted under the age of 16 who has lived with the adoptive parents for at least two years, or a child who has been abused; or (3) an orphan who was under the age of 16 at the time an immediate relative status petition was filed on his or her behalf. Makes such provisions effective on the date of enactment of this Act, except that such an alien sibling who has attained the age of 18 on or after April 1, 2008, shall be deemed to meet the age requirement if a petition for classification of the alien as an immediate relative is filed not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Congressman Blackburn,
I am a pediatrician and mother of three biologic boys. We are adopting a daughter from China and hope to travel in early summer 2010. As a pediatrician, I feel the present required immunizations are traumatic and useless to both the adopted child and to the "safety" of others. The child may have been previously immunized in China in either their orphanage or foster home. In the past, adoptive parents were allowed by our government to sign a waiver stating that the child would be evaluated by a US doctor within three weeks of arrival in the US. Now, the child receives immunizations in China approximately three to five days before departing for the US. Even if there was no pain or trauma inflicted on the child (which there is!), the time frame does not allow for the said immunizations to be effective before travel. So, we are pumping our children with immunizations (up to 8 at a TIME!!) that are painful and ineffective for the travel period, and they are also likely not up to the US standard for quality control. Please vote on this bill AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Give our adoptive children the same RIGHTS we give our biologic children!
Thank you for your time and consideration!
Sincerely,
Eve Boger, M.D.
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