Unfortunately, love doesn't always conquer all

Things are slowly changing. Attachment disorder is now a recognised clinical diagnosis. At the same time, some of the old ideas about adoption have shifted. "There used to be a notion that if you showed a child enough love, their problems would be solved," says Sheila Fearnley. "But these children are damaged, they can't receive love. They are so desperate to stay in control that they can't make themselves vulnerable."

Interestingly, some adoption agencies have reversed their old advice about love curing all, and now actually prepare prospective adopters for possible problems, including the fact that they, like the Edwards, may end up with a bill (up to pounds 60 a week) for their child's care costs. There is also a growing realisation that a child's earliest history is important; traditional ideas about most problems hinging on the lateness of the adoption being revised.

Two years ago, Sheila Fearnley and a colleague set up the Keys Attachment Centre in Lancashire, one of the few services in the country specifically to treat children with attachment disorders. Staff there use a range of therapies, including drama, play and drawing, to help work through a child's experience of "disconnection" caused by early abandonment.

Dr Jonathan Green, consultant psychiatrist at Booth Hall children's hospital, Manchester, says the problem of attachment disorder in adopted children has grown in recent years. "Over the past 20 years, the nature of kids coming through for adoption and fostering has changed a lot. The wide availability of abortion and the Pill means there are far fewer children in the system and far fewer with normal care histories. For some of them, normal parenting on its own is not enough."

Meanwhile, the Edwards visit Ruth in hospital each week. She is still their daughter and they firmly believe that her time with them made a difference for the better. Although the picture appears bleak, Christine Edwards is enthusiastic about adoption. "Every child deserves loving parents," she says. "I would never dissuade anyone from doing it." She and her husband believe the way forward is in better selection processes, more realistic parental preparation - and plenty of post-adoption support services.

Parent To Parent Information on Adoption Services (PPIAS), Lower Boddington, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 6YB.

Copyright 1996 Newspaper Publishing PLC
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.