New to the Group

I can't tell you about St Mary's, but there are several around here who can. If you are fluent and not faint of heart, I'd look into independent adoption too.FAS - I saw dozens and dozens of children of all ages birth - 7 and none of them had any physical characteristics of FAS.When we received our referral, that was one of zillions of questions we asked, "Are there any physical features that may point to FAS?" "Are there any mental/emotional indicators that may point to FAS?"While I think we are wise to read up on it, I don't think Poland is teeming with high numbers of FAS children, and agencies seem to be getting a little better about being honest about referrals, and who/what is coming your way.

I think it depends on what age you consider an infant. Even if you are Polish, I believe if you are adopting as an American citizen the child must have been avl to a Polish citizen for 1 year minimum. In the past year I've seen several children adopted that are under 18months, but none under 12mo. Ask the agency that you are going to use or considering using, for referrals for families that brought home children the age you are requesting. As far as FAS...we received two referrals and both of them specifically documented the information they had on the birthparents when it came to alcohol. For one (the one we chose) where there was the possibilty of FAS, they documented a lack of both facial features and personality attributed to FAS. They also provided updated head measurements, etc. They were very upfront with the medical information they had. Even now when I am having direct translations of our daughters documents the gist of what we were told has remained pretty accurate. Hope that helps.