Where would I use a Trimega Adoption Test?

Supporting the Qualifying Determination

To determine a prospective adopter's suitability, social services and adoption agencies typically consider a range of factors including: age, financial stability, work life balance and health. Because substance abuse is at odds with the responsible parenting skills needed to ensure the wellbeing of the often vulnerable children being adopted, the ability to accurately measure the level of drug use is crucial.

Current illegal drug use almost always results in automatic disqualification, however, in the absence of a conviction, the identification of endemic drug use or excessive alcohol consumption in prospective adoptive parents has, historically, depended on the observational skills, intuition and judgment of individual social workers.

However, rapid advances in the science underpinning substance misuse testing mean that social workers and adoption agencies now have a sophisticated arsenal of proven tests at their disposal. Unlike their predecessors, techniques like hair alcohol and drug testing can map patterns of consumption over extended periods of time, supporting the decision making process about adoption.

Facilitating the Adoption Process

For many people the adoption journey can become protracted and stressful. Although necessary to ensure the child's welfare, the complex and difficult determinations over a prospective parent's ability to properly care for a child can prove both intense and emotive. While multiple factors influence overall adoption wait times, undertaking a comprehensive substance use test can help mitigate any specific concerns that might exist. This is particularly the case where an individual or family has a prior history of drug or other substance abuse.


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Mapping Adoption Risks: Peace of Mind

The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is the leading known preventable cause of mental and physical birth defects, causing a spectrum of disorders known collectively as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The symptoms vary in severity and consequently often escape early detection. Although the more severe physical symptoms - present in 10% of FASD cases(2) - are associated with chronic alcoholism, even occasional alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause a wide range of behavioural and mental problems that often become more acute in adolescence.

While it is virtually impossible to ascertain the degree of impairment at birth, with FASD an estimated 10% to 15% more common amongst adopted children(3), adoptive parents need to assess the financial, emotional and logistical challenges associated with raising a child with special needs.

A full disclosure of the child's family history, including alcohol consumption during pregnancy, is imperative, however, research suggests that the recent growth in alcohol consumption has resulted in a propensity to underestimate the quantity consumed. In short, the biological mother may be underestimating and underreporting consumption. Where these concerns exist, Trimega Laboratories can build a comprehensive picture of alcohol consumption over a six month period, informing and supporting the decision making process.

(2) Adoption UK
(3) US Department of Health and Human Services

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