Need advice on possible tough situation!!

Thanks for the support everyone! Becky- the other stuff is weighing less on my mind. I feel like if she didn't have hep c we wouldn't be very worried with the other issues. We're just trying to decide whether we feel equiped to have a child with hepititis c or not. I was wondering too if anyone has BTDT experience with an emom with hep c? Or with a child with it?

We, too, were presented with a baby who had hep C. While it was a tough decision, we had to say "no". We have excellent medical coverage, but we worried if the baby would have been excluded from the insurance because it would have been considered a pre-existing condition. We also worried about possibly passing it on to someone else through an innocent cut, etc. Good luck with your decision.

I'll have to check into the insurance. The baby has not been born yet so he doesn't have hep c so I don't know how that would work. it's not a certain thing that she will pass on the virus to him. There is about a 4 percent chance. As far as accidental infection goes I've read that children are not contagious and therefore do not pose a transmition threat. I'm not sure at what age the virus becomes contagious though. I can't imagine how hard this would be if he were a baby born situation! This is hard enough just trying to decide if we want to be presented! I think they only have 2 or 3 families to present to her though because of the circumstances so we need to be prepared if we agree to be shown.

I don't see why children wouldn't be contagious. Other than it's often a sexually transmitted disease. However, blood is blood and a cut in any age could be a problem. [url=http://www.ehow.com/about_5097916_hepatitis-contagious.html]Is Hepatitis C Contagious? | eHow.com[/url] Transmission Hepatitis C is contagious, but it's not as easy to catch as a cold or the flu. It's usually spread through blood, and is usually spread by using dirty drug or tattoo needles. Hepatitis C can also be spread through sexual contact and through using someone else's toothbrush or razor, although these cases are comparatively rare. Mothers can also pass hepatitis C to their infants. You can't get hepatitis C through casual contact, like hugging or shaking hands, and you can't get it from a toilet or swimming pool, or by sharing glasses or eating utensils. [url=http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbhepc.htm]Hepatitis c[/url] What is hepatitis C and how is it transmitted? This type of hepatitis is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which infects approximately 36,000 persons each year in the United States. Although generally a mild condition, hepatitis C is much more likely than hepatitis B to lead to chronic liver disease. People infected with HCV can become chronic carriers of the virus, although they may have no symptoms. It is estimated that there are approximately 4 million HCV chronic carriers. Around 70 percent of all HCV carriers will develop chronic liver disease, regardless of whether they have symptoms. HCV is spread primarily by exposure to human blood. Approximately 80 percent of persons who share needles to inject drugs are infected with HCV. Persons who receive blood transfusions face some risk, although it is very low since testing of donated blood for HCV began in 1990. Hepatitis C has been transmitted between sex partners and among household members, but the degree of risk is believed to be low. HCV is not spread by food or water or casual contact, such as shaking hands or sharing a work space or bathroom facility.

This is what I was referencing: [url=http://special-needs.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/will-my-baby-have-hepatitis-c-virus]Will my Baby Have Hepatitis C Virus? — Parenting Children with Special Needs[/url] HCV is not shared with others by sneezing, hugging, coughing, food, water, sharing eating utensils, sharing drinks, casual contact nor is there risk of virus transmission from urine or stool. Hepatitis C infection isnt contagious in children therefore they pose no risk to others. It isnҒt necessary to restrict their routine activities, such as daycare attendance, participation in sports or school attendance, based on their HCV status, nor is it necessary to notify school authorities. The VA has established general dietary guidelines for those with HCV that may be helpful, but please review them with your doctor before implementing. Maintaining healthy lifestyles including moderate exercise, a good diet, and plenty of rest will help to maintain strength, energy, and well-being.

I'm PMing you. If anyone else is in this situation and would like some insight, drop me a PM too.

As the mother of an adopted baby who did contract Hep C from his mom, yes, I would take another one in a heartbeat. Hep C doesn't decrease quality of life, there is a ton of research going on for treatments and vaccines, and it takes about 20+ years at a minimum for any symptoms to emerge. Some people carry the virus their whole lives and never have any symptoms. If you saw my son on the outside, you'd never know there was anything wrong with him. If you were able to look inside, you'd never know there was anything wrong with him. The virus is just kind of hanging out there.

Wow! That is NOT correct. While it isn't transmitted through casual contact, if an infected child's blood was to enter into another child's bloodstream, that child absolutely could contract the illness. No, that said, the risk of transmission is actually very, very low because people with Hep C babies (and other babies with bloodborne illnesses) take precautions when their child is bleeding.

I realize I'm totally monopolizing this thread, but there is one thing I want to point out. Any birth mother could have HIV, Hep C, Hep B, or a slew of other illnesses. If they haven't been tested for it, there is no way to know. There are millions of people walking around with diseases like this who don't know they have them. When my son was placed with me, I didn't know his mom had Hep C. Weeks later, I saw the hospital birth records and it was on there. So, my "safe" baby turned out to have Hep C. It sucks, sure, but he is healthy and smart and well bonded and loving. There are a lot worse things that he could have developed between birth and 2 1/2.

I don't have time to read all the other replies. However, wanted to point out that just because emom is HepC positive doesn't mean the baby will be HepC Positive. However, the baby will have eMom's antibodies in their system for up to a year. So, you may not know for 9 months to a year if the baby is HepC positive or negative. That being said, I have talked to healthcare experts who have assured me the risk is quite low that it would be passed to the baby. Good luck with your decision.

We adopted a child whose bio mom was Hep C positive. We didn't know that our Ds was not HepC+ until his third negative blood test at age 18 months. We didn't know he was HepC possible until we brought him home (at 14 months old) and our PEDIATRICIAN caught it in the medical records at the first dr visit. So we had to play catch up and figure out what we needed to do. (Um, don't know what the cw was thinking? Or why it wasn't in the info we were given? But anyway....) We just took 'universal precautions' and were careful about blood contact. (He often had bloody diaper rashes that went with his food sensitivities/reflux stuff.) He ended up being negative, happily!!, so we didn't have to do much beyond being careful during the time we were waiting to do the final test. And yes, a child who is HepC+ is 'contagious', maybe not by coughing and that kind of thing, but by blood to blood contact so precautions should be in place.

You can actually test for Hep C at around 10 weeks old. There is a PCR test that tests for viral RNA and not antibodies.

Thanks to all of you who are posting. I believe hearing 'real-life' experiences is easier than just reading about it on a website!!

I agree with Becky! Thank you for all the information and btdt experience. Reading endless websites get so confusing but hearing your experiences make it so much easier to understand. Right now, I feel like I want to move forward, but DH is still uncertain. I'm sharing all of this info with him and we're just praying about it.

We fostered my niece and weren't told about the possibility either only because my sister told me, I knew and the birth report. It's crazy you can adopt a dog and by law they have to tell you the dog has heart worms, but take a child into your home with a very serious blood transmitted virus, and they aren't obligated to tell you, and I have other young children I have adopted. Her doctor hasn't actually tested her yet just her white blood cells are low, her platelet count is high, she sleeps a lot and gets tired after playing outside, like every kid does, but I feel it's a bit quicker than the other kids, but she just turned 2. She also most likely has autism like her 2 brothers and she isn't talking yet. But she is trying and she is smart and loving and still communicates in her own way. I started teaching her sign language when we got her at 3 weeks after going through her brother not being able to talk until he was 3. Back to my point it just amazes me the CM didn't tell us either yet the pound was legally obligated to tell us about heart worms in an animal and this is a human being.