ADHD and Adoption

I had a difficult time finding information about ADHD and the adopted child. I found a number of articles that used adopted children and their biological parents to show a genetic component in ADHD, but I was looking for information from a different perspective. I wanted information about the frequency of ADHD among adopted children and other general information along those lines. There is some information out there, but it wasn't exactly bountiful!

Adopted children are more likely than non-adopted children to have a variety of emotional and psychological problems. About two percent of children in the United States are adopted. Yet, according to a 1997 study of adopted children, 30% of adopted boys and 10% of adopted girls had ADHD. These numbers seem even more significant when you realize that only three to five percent of children living with a biological parent have ADHD.

Doesn't that seem odd? Why are adopted children more likely to have ADHD? There are a few theories, but the most prevalent are genetics and income level. First, I'll address the genetics. ADHD runs in families. Researchers aren't quite sure yet what the exact genetic component is, but most agree that there is a genetic component there. A biological parent who has ADHD may have problems that could make child rearing difficult or even impossible. Many people with ADHD have unstable relationships, substance abuse problems, and other difficulties.

Please don't assume that I'm saying people with ADHD can't be good parents! I am not saying that at all. There are many, many excellent parents who have ADHD. I am saying that the likelihood of having problems that would make child rearing difficult and possibly result in giving a child up for adoption are greater when you have ADHD.

The second theory is about income level. Adoptive families tend to have greater than average income. They are in a higher socioeconomic status than many of their non-adoptive peers and have better access to medical insurance and medical and psychiatric care. Their adoptive parents may also more readily have them tested because they aren't aware of the medical or psychiatric background of the biological parents. Whatever the reason, it seems more likely that adoptive children have access to diagnosis and treatment for their ADHD.

Whether your ADHD child is adopted or not, he or she needs special care. He needs to be taught how to cope in a world that doesn't understand him fully and that he doesn't fully understand.. Often, he needs medication to help him cope with the structure of our society, but always, he needs the love of his parents - whether they are his biological parents or not.

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