Part 1 is here.

Here is the rest of my 2002 email on why I was open to adopting a child with Hepatitis.


Here is quote about Hepatitis treatment. [I checked and this link doesn't exist anymore.]

Early diagnosis and treatment are crucially important. While there is no guaranteed cure for chronic hepatitis B or C, a significant percentage of people who are treated improve.

From:
http://www.hepatitisinnovations.com/treat/index.html

Personally I thought it was worth the risk. I know that it can be treated. And I know that it is serious. I place hep in the same category as diabetes. You have to stay on top of the disease.


From the world health organization:

Young children who become infected with HBV are the most likely to develop chronic infection. About 90% of infants infected during the first year of life and 30% to 50% of children infected between 1 to 4 years of age develop chronic infection. The risk of death from HBV-related liver cancer or cirrhosis is approximately 25% for persons who become chronically infected during childhood.

See this link for more information.

These are the rates in untreated people. And this is why it is so important that early treatment is done. I will admit I liked the idea of helping a child who would not receive the proper medical care.


Here is a statement from the CDC before INTRON and other medical treatments.

Transmission of hep b from pregnant mother to baby ranges from 10% to 85%. It depends on the type of antigen involved.

From: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00033405.htm

Anyway, I balanced the possibility of false diagnoses against true. And I decided that I could deal with a true diagnose. There is so much more help for hep people then there was 10 years ago, 5 years ago.

Hope this helped you.

About about TB? Treatment is fairly easy. Well.. the medicine is tastes horrible. The most important thing is to test the child for TB when you get home. All children need to be tested for TB.