Parenting a Child With, or at Risk of Genetic Disorders

Prospective adopters and carers are often faced with the prospect of having to decide whether they can care for a child with a health need or condition they know little about and have no direct experience of. It can be difficult to know where to turn for reliable information. What lies behind the diagnoses and "labels" that many looked after children bring with them And what will it be like to live with them How will they benefit from family life This book title provides expert knowledge about genetic disorderscoupled with facts, figures and guidance presented in a straightforward and accessible style. Adopters and foster carers also describe what it is like to parent an affected child, "telling it like it is", sharing their parenting experiences and offering useful advice. This combination of expert information and first-hand experiences will help readers to gain knowledge, achieve understanding, and to make informed decisions. The first half of the book looks at the effects of genetics on human health, and explains how genetic disorders may pass through families. It goes on to look at what parents can do when a child, or a child s birth parents, have, or may have, a genetic disease, and explores the issues regarding genetic testing of adopted children. In the second half of the book, Dorothy Marsh and Sarah Lucas describe their experiences of parenting children with genetic disorders and how this affected day-to-day family life.