Miami Herald - TUE December 29 1987
Renee Graham, Herald Staff Writer

Shortly after her birth at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, she was given up by a mother unable to care for her. There were no foster homes immediately willing to take her.

She was a healthy, normal newborn -- with AIDS antibodies in her blood. For the 13th time this year, HRS officials were faced with the problem of finding a home for an AIDS baby.

"Placing AIDS babies in a foster home is a problem," said Mary Bosco, an HRS supervisor in the Child, Youth and Family division. "We don't anticipate things getting any better."

As the AIDS crisis grows, so do the number of children born with the deadly disease or carrying HIV -- human immunodeficieny virus -- antibodies. In an increasing number of cases, the children's fathers are unknown, other relatives cannot be contacted and their mothers are often too sick to care for them.

These children usually end up as wards of the state, giving HRS officials the task of finding foster homes for babies infected with a disease that has numbed much of society into fearful indifference.

"It's hard enough for a family to contend with two or three healthy children, let alone a child who may become very ill," Bosco said. "It's hard to find a family that will do that."

HRS officials did find a home for the baby girl with AIDS antibodies. She is "doing great," said Sherrill Chanady of HRS' Central Licensing Unit, which places foster children in licensed homes.

Of the more than 47,000 diagnosed AIDS cases nationwide, nearly 700 are children under the age of 13, including 271 cases identified this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Statistics also state that by 1991 thousands of women, primarily intravenous drug users, will pass the disease to their children, resulting in more than 3,000 pediatric AIDS cases.

"We usually have scant information on the mothers," Bosco said. "We usually know that she was a street person, possibly a drug user or a prostitute. We're getting a lot of abandoned babies."

In Palm Beach County, the numbers are doubling and tripling each year. In 1985, there were two infant AIDS cases, four in 1986. This year, there have been 13.

Two of the children have died, four are ill, one has AIDS-related complex (ARC) and six have tested positive for the antibodies.

Of 288 foster homes in Palm Beach County, about four accept AIDS children, HRS officials said.

The agency has started recruiting directly for homes willing to assume responsibility for an AIDS child, Chanady said.

"Understandably, some people honestly tell us they're afraid to take in babies with AIDS," she said. "When we find suitable homes we try to license them as quickly as possible because we need them so badly."

One of the most publicized cases and placements last year concerned Sophonie, a 2-year-old as jovial and cheerful as her name. Born with AIDS, Sophonie was relinquished to state officials after her mother became too ill to care for her.

For three months, the playful youngster was the sweetheart of the pediatric intensive care unit of St. Mary's Hospital as HRS officials attempted for find her a home. Once the news of Sophonie's plight hit the newspapers and airwaves, hundreds called and wrote the agency offering their homes and hearts to the dying child.

"In Sophonie's cases we had a two-fold concern while looking for a foster home," Bosco said. "We were concerned for other children in a foster home who didn't have the disease and we were also concerned for Sophonie.'

"In her weakening condition," Bosco said, "she wouldn't have been able to fight off colds and ear infections the other children could have."

AIDS -- acquired immune deficiency syndrome -- attacks the body's immune system, leaving the body defenseless against even the simplest infections.

Sophonie was adopted in January 1986 by a Lake Park couple, whom she remained with through the last weeks of her life. She died Feb. 19, 1986.

"Sophonie had weeks of nurturing and attention," Bosco said. "Whatever time she had was good time."

But unlike Sophonie, who had the disease, some infants born with antibodies may not actually develop the disease. Through their first months of life, babies have the immune system of their mothers, so early AIDS testing may reveal antibodies that, technically, belong to the mother.

"What you can get from an early AIDS test is a false positive reading," said Jeff Tinstman of HRS' Central Licensing Unit. "Generally speaking, a baby who tested HIV positive after they were born may test negative as a 1-year-old."

About 30 percent to 40 percent of all babies who test HIV positive at birth, test negative later in life, 'Tinstman said. But even that optimistic figure is not helpful, he said, when trying to recruit foster parents.

"At the time of placement those numbers don't make a difference because you just don't know," he said. "For a family willing to take in this child that they'll fall in love with, it's not really a motivating factor that this child could be among that 30 percent."

HRS officials look for people who are, above all else, loving and caring. They also prefer people with some background in caring for sick children, though those without such training are still eligible for consideration, Chanady said.

Tinstman surmised that there could be as many as 150 AIDS babies in Palm Beach County by the end of 1988.

"The bottom line is that the problem isn't going away and we have to do something," Bosco said. "We need homes for these children. As it is we never have enough foster parents in any category, let alone children with such special needs."

Close-Up offers Herald readers an in-depth look at issues, people and places throughout Palm Beach County.
871229
MH871202

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1987. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1987. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .