Kathyuska Santiago

Mrs.Vega

English IV Research Paper

Growing up with a family would provide many things that the average

person take for granted. For instance, your social identity or simply your cultural

identity would be affected by not being provided with a family while you are

growing up. A parent-child relationship is important for the mental and physical

development of the child and the absence of this relationship could be

detrimental to their health. This type of separation can have a negative impact on

various aspects of the childs development, particularly in relation to their

psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive skills. (Researchconnect) Along with these

common issues most orphans experience ...thought problems, rebellious nature,

aggression and being withdrawn. (Researchconnect) The first orphanage in North

America was opened by Roman Catholic nuns in 1729, after Indians killed all the

adult settlers in Natchez, Mississippi. By the 1830s the United States had 23

orphanages. Exactly twenty years later, in 1850s New York State alone had 27

orphanages. The children that are placed in these orphanages around the world

become a ward of the particular state. The purpose of an orphanage is to dedicate

love, care, education, and support to children who had lost one or both parents,

children who have parents who are unable or unwilling to take care of them, for

children that are being abused, children being abandoned, and children that are

generally neglected by their biological parents or guardians. Children are totally

dependent on caretakers to provide safety in their environment. When they do

not, they grow up believing that the world is an unsafe place, that people are not

to be trusted, and that they do not deserve positive attention.

The United Nations International Childrens emergency Fund, which is

generally known as the (U.N.I.C.E.F) is an organization established on 11

December 1946 by the United Nations to provide the emergency needs of

children in post-war in Europe and China. Currently this organization provide

these emergency needs to children internationally, and according to information

provided by the (U.N.I.C.E.F) there exist more than 210 million children living in

orphanages around the world. Of these orphaned children, more than 86 million

orphans are living in India, more than 10 million are living throughout Mexico,

more than 3.5 million orphaned children live in Asia, more than 5.5 orphaned

children are presently living in Africa. Others statistics show that more than 1.5

million orphans living throughout Eastern Europe. Nearly 400,00 orphans living
throughout Latin America, and more than 135,000 orphaned children enrolled

within the U.S. foster care systems. (Researchconnect)

As a result of these tremendous and frightening numbers, it is believed to

have more than 35,000 children die all around the world due to hunger and

malnutrition due to being orphans and having to be around unsanitary conditions.

A few years ago while studying the oral health of school children in Kerala, India,

one of the schools I visited was obvious from just observing these children and

through dental examinations that the health of these orphaned children was a lot

worse than children from non-orphanage schools in my study. (Researchconnect)

As a result of these issues, orphaned children generally have poor oral

health; poor mental health; are malnourished; have low immunity; are prone to

medical conditions such as HIV, Cardiomyopathy which is a chronic disease of the

heart muscle, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome... which is caused by excessive

consumption of alcohol by the mother during pregnancy, which causes the child

to have problems with mental and in some cases physical development

particularly of the skull and face of the child, Hepatitis C... which is a form of

viral hepatitis transmitted in infected blood causing chronic liver disease, Otitis

Media which is inflammation of any part the ear and Congenital Adrenal

Hyperplasia which is the enzyme that produces two important adrenal steroid
hormones, cortisol and aldosterone is deficient. Every child, boy or girl, that is an

orphan is prone to get these medical problems, but when it comes to the girls in

particular ...are at risk which includes having sex at an earlier age or even

getting raped in or out of these orphanages. ...pregnancy and the risk of

contracting HIV/AIDS. (Researchconnect) Also, research proves that children in

Romanian orphanages found that due to global neglect (when deprivation

occurs in more than one domain of child development, such as language, touch,

and family support) the brain size of orphaned 3-year-olds was significantly

smaller when compared to that of normal child of the same age. This quote from

researchconnect shows that in order for a child to grow physically and mentally

healthy, they should be along with their biological family in a stable healthy

environment as a normal child and not as an abandoned orphan.

 In recent years, the term orphans and orphanages has changed to

adoptions and homes. Today, there are three primary forms of domestic

adoption: a child may be adopted through the foster care system, as an infant in a

private adoption or as a relative or stepchild of the adoptive parents. Relative or

stepparent adoptions are the most common form of domestic adoption today. In

these arrangements, a stepparent or relative becomes the legal parent for his or

her spouses or relatives child. Despite the legal adoption being within the family

or not, it is still required to have a hearing before a judge in which the relationship

between the adoptive parent and adopted child is legally ratified.

 Adoption comes with many advantages and disadvantages to all parties

involved. It can be viewed and experienced from a variety of different angles. It is

only natural that the advantages that come with it are varied as well. When a

child is placed in foster care or adoption systems, his or her parents rights have

been legally terminated, that child may be adopted. The choice to place your child

for adoption could be caused by a variety of different circumstances. For instance,

some of these circumstances could be unplanned pregnancies, financial struggles,

age, and even being a single mother. Although some woman do undergo adoption

as their main alternative, they, along with the child could benefit from it. These

women that choose to place their child in adoption are most likely to being able

to pursue a higher education or degree that allows her to achieve her life goals.

Also, adoption could even give the birth mother peace by just being aware that

her child is in a safe environment and is provided with a good lifestyle that most

likely she was not able to the child with herself, and also providing a wonderful

married couple a child which they had always wished for. These couples decire a

family but because of various reasons they are not able to. One of the most

common reasons couples consider adopting a child is because infertility stands in

there way. Infertility is the inability to conceive a baby after having constant

unprotect sex. Some women are able to conceive, but are not able to carry on a
pregnancy full term. Another reason why families choose to adopt is because of

certain serious health conditions will under any circumstances allow a woman to

give birth. Some of these health conditions will be heart disease and epilepsy.

Another reason for adopting could simply be because the couple adopting wants

to choose what sex their child to be. Some couples already have their own

children but choose to have another child of the different sex. For instance, a

couple already has a son, and now they want to have a daughter but instead of

conceiving another baby and having the risk of having another son, they choose

to go to an adoption center and adopt a girl. Another common reason a married

or unmarried couple chooses to adopt a child is because of not wanted to pass

down a certain genetic trait, disorder, or disease to their child. Some of these

disorders that the parent may be trying to prevent could be down syndrome,

cystic fibrosis, Hemophilia, autism, fragile X syndrome, sickle cell anemia, turner

syndrome, spinal muscular atrophy, thalassemia, and duchenne muscular

dystrophy. When I was growing up, all I really wanted to do was marry the man

of my dreams and start a family. I married the man of my dreams but the family

part was not able to be, at least not biologically the way most people plan. After

many failed pregnancies, we made the decision to adopt an infant. We knew we

both wanted to be parents and we knew we could love a child the same
regardless if we gave birth to him or her. (Featured article: The gift of all - our

son) Thus, major advantages for the child would be, having a loving and caring

family, physical and financial resources that most likely was not able to be

provided for them by their biological parents or family, and even a good

education that couldnt be proved before. Although love and care could be

provided to them by other families because of adoption centers, the

abandonment experiences and boundary violations are in no way indictments of a

child's innate goodness and values, they reveal the flawed thinking, false beliefs,

and impaired behaviors of those who hurt them. Still, the wounds are struck deep

in their young hearts and minds, instead of creating a positive state of mind for

themselves.
 Work cited:

Researchconnect, and Dana Young. Posts about Disadvantage on Research

Connect.Research Connect, Researchconnect, 30 Oct. 2013,

researchconnect.wordpress.com/tag/disadvantage/.

Orphanage . New World Encyclopedia , 3 Mar. 2015,

www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Orphanage.

Adopting a Child Benefits. Adoption Network, Adoption Network Law

Center , 2017, adoptionnetwork.com/benefits-of-adopting-a-child.

FAQ. About UNICEF, Unicef, 21 Apr. 2015,

www.unicef.org/about/who/index_faq.html.

Adoptions, Inc. American. American Adoptions- Do Orphans Still Exist in

America?Orphanages in America - Do They Still Exist?, America's Adoption

Agency, 2017,

www.americanadoptions.com/adoption/article_view/article_id/4489.

Genetic Diseases. Genetic Diseases, Genetic Disease Foundation , 2010,

www.geneticdiseasefoundation.org/genetic-diseases/.
 Little Match Children. The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 17 Oct.

2015,

www.economist.com/news/briefing/21674712-children-bear-disproportion

ate-share-hidden-cost-chinas-growth-little-match-children.

Black, Claudia. Understanding the Pain of Abandonment. Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 4 June 2010,

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-many-faces-addiction/201006/unders

tanding-the-pain-abandonment.

GoodTherapy.org. Fear of Abandonment Issues and Therapy Treatment,

www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/abandonment.