Breastfeeding

I have heard that it is legal in some states and illegal in others. I had two friends at church that also fostered or fostered and adopted. They both spoke openly with me that they breastfed some of their foster babies. In most of the cases DHS was not aware of it...but the doctors were. In one case, my friend had permission from DHS because the baby was a premie and very special needs and would die without breastmilk. Infact...this baby was so special needs that she stopped breathing several times a day or night and had to recieve CPR/resque breathing from the fostermom on a daily basis. She fought for the rights of this baby and had her admitted to the hospital (against doctors wishes...basically they gave this baby no hope and sent her home to die) she was able to get her admitted to the hospital and had to spend 2 months in the NICU....before returning to this fmom. In my case I was adopting a newborn from fostercare and I choose to breastfeed her....I did not speak with DHS about it for several reasons....I found out afterwards from this forum...that it is illegal in some states(I'm not sure if my state is or not)...and that could have jeapordized her placement with us...if DHS did find out about it they could have removed her from our home if they really wanted to. Luckily, I had no problems and we finalized her adoption at six months old. So, yes....lots of people think about it or do it....but not everyone does it openly or with the approval of DHS. To be safe i would try and find out what the laws are for your state and get approval by DHS first. I've heard that some states are big on breastfeeding and you can even put it on your profile/application that you would like babies that need to be fed breastmilk.....so.... if this is what you'd really like to do..I'd say talk with your local DHS and see if you can get any info...for your state.

Thanks for answering my question. I thought that some people had thought about it for one the health of the baby but two because of the bond that we get with the baby that we nurse. Your candidness was very much appreciated! I was also wondering if you had ever thought about the risk of transmittion of certain diseases from an infected baby? Misti

Here is an adoptive breastfeeding site that has more information if you're still interested. [url="http://www.fourfriends.com/abrw/index.html"]http://www.fourfriends.com/abrw/index.html[/url]

The only two diseases"i know of" that can be transmitted through breastfeeding is Hep C and Aids. Yes, that can be a big risk....since we essentially know nothing about the foster kids when they come into care. I guess you would have to do several things. First off....make sure you aren't infected(which I'm sure your not). Secondly get permission from your state to breastfeed foster infants. Thirdly, get as much info as possible about the child and have an aids/hep test done before nursing.(the problem with this is that a child whose mother had aids may show up positive on the tests...I think you have to wait lke a year and a half before knowing wether that child really is infected...or with hep is that they may show up negative but....actually have the disease.....when re-tested later....so Testing isn't really all that re-assuring either). Fourth, be willing to take that risk....that you may get some disease from your foster child...or express milk and give it to the child through a bottle. In my case, I didn't even think about disease transmission....In my mind.."this was my baby"(baby was placed for adoption at birth..through fostercare) ....I had not heard of the birthmother having any diseases and didn't even give it a second thought. But, since then I've learned a lot through these forums and other sites. If you were planning on fostering many children and nursing them....then...I would think your odds of catching something would sky-rocket.....but realistically...with these kids in your home anyways(aside from nursing) your chances would increase...I would think(I mean....kids get hurt...they bleed, they teeth, they cough, sneeze, throw-up, poop, pee....there are a bunch of bodily fluids in motion...especially babies) sorry i don't mean to be gross!!! I've had 38 foster kids come into my home in the last 3 1/2 years....My family's gotten a severe staff infection(me) from one of the foster boys I had. Stomach viruses, Lice, ringworm, hand foot mouth disease, the flu, etc. etc. When you invite these kids into your home you never know what they may have....it's a big risk....you just have to figure out if you are willing to take that risk. One foster baby I had(possibly had...Herpes...and Hep C...of course i didn't know that when I said yes......but found out later....and spent weeks worrying and wearing gloves when i changed him...until I found out it was just a staph infection(which could also be transmittable to me or the other kids in my home). Personally I think it would be too scary to just nurse "blindly" all these children that may come into your home. I think I'd have to have them tested first and find out as much as i can about the situation first. That being said....I believe strongly in breastmilk....and wish that all foster children did have that available to them....through donor banks or whatever....I do believe breastmilk is best....and that it is healthier for them...(even though most of my foster babies did well on formula) several of my babies I've had to switch formula over and over just to find one that they could handle and gain weight and not puk it up(as much anyways). Does anyone know...what states are legal or illegal anyways??? How would you find out....without really coming out and actually asking someone from your State DHS? Is their a list somewhere...or something?

I asked my CW that I will be working with after classes are over and such and she said that in order to nurse a child whose parents haven't had their rights relinquished, I would have to ask the birth parents. She said that their is nothing on the books here in Missouri saying that it is illegal or anything but she said it is not likely that a parent would say yes. Also, after hearing what you had to say. I think it would be best for my families sake if I didn't nurse any foster children unless I was sure that I was going to adopt. Thanks for all of the insight. I can't risk the life of myself or possibly my own child by nursing blindly. I wish it were possible for you to run tests that you knew were right. Thanks again, Misti