Post Adoption Depression

Depression besets adoptive mother soon after baby’s arrival [The Washington Post 1/7/13 by Amy Rogers Nazarov] tells the story of a Korea adoptive parent who struggled with the very real and common condition of Post Adoption Depression.

“A March study of 300 mothers by Purdue University researchers found that post-adoption depression syndrome, or PAD, afflicts between 18 and 26 percent of adoptive mothers in the first year after an infant or child is placed with them. With approximately 120,000 children being adopted annually in the United States, the Purdue report suggests that tens of thousands of adoptive mothers may be suffering from depression.”

A list of resources can be found at ChildWelfare.gov here and in this NY Times post. This is something that social workers should discuss in a homestudy and share resources about.

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