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Durham Herald-Sun announces groundbreaking new research by CPC Fellow Philip N. Cohen about international and domestic adoption

Oct 30, 2009

Philip N. Cohen, faculty fellow at the Carolina Population Center and UNC associate professor of sociology, and Rose M. Kreider, Ph.D. of the U.S. Census Bureau, have published the first national study on disability rates among internationally adopted children.

The study, which appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics, found that children adopted from overseas have disability rates similar to those adopted from within the United States.

The Herald-Sun (Durham) published an announcement about the study, for which Cohen and Kreider examined data from the 2000 U.S. Census for about 82,220 internationally and 972,200 domestically adopted children with sensory, physical, mental and self-care disabilities.

“UNC study: Disability rates similar for internationally, domestically adopted children,” (The Herald-Sun, October 27, 2009).

An excerpt from the story:
Cohen, the parent of two daughters adopted from China, said he hoped the finding that international adoption by itself does not constitute a greater risk for disability than domestic adoption would dispel some stereotypes about international adoption.

“I hope it will help prevent alarmism about international adoption,” he said. “The information is important for health, education and social services professionals as well as adoptive parents, and it may help policy-makers assess the risks and challenges these children face and identify the resources necessary to address them.”

Read the entire announcement:
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-UNC+study-+Disability+rates+similar+for+internationally-+domestically+adopted+children%20&id=4150969-UNC+study-+Disability+rates+similar+for+internationally-+domestically+adopted+children

UNC issued a release about this project:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3047/73/

Scholarly source:
Kreider, Rose M., and Philip N. Cohen. 2009. Disability among Internationally Adopted Children in the United States. Pediatrics 124, no. 5: 1311-8.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-3206

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