Agent Orange and birth defects. Photo Gallery by Kokomo Photography at pbase.com

Viet Nam and the heart of the mango. | Le Tam and the cost of war. | Me Kong Delta | Agent Orange and birth defects.

Agent Orange and birth defects.

Agent Orange is a defoliant that was heavily used during the war. The US
Government has accepted responsibility domestically and has been compensating
US veterans exposed to Agent Orange that have children born with birth defects.

Vietnam has among the highest number of birth defects per capita in the world.
Many Americans, Vietnamese, and others donate private funds to the orphanages
that care for these children.

Donations can be made to:
PHU MY ORPHANAGE
153 XO VIET NGHE TINH STREET
BINH THANH DISTRICT, HOCHIMINH CITY
VIETNAM
TEL: + 011 84 8 899 6563

Large head syndrome.	Retardation.	Severe bone malformation.
Spina Bifida	Uncontrollable muscle spasms.	Spina bifida and hyperactivity.

post a comment

Guest		12-Nov-2006 07:48
Hello David my name is Lynne and I am a former employee of DowElanco, part of the DowChemical Group. I worked there for 5 years from may 1993 to December 1997 as a Research and Development Secretary. I believe that, along with downsizing of the company at the time and the consequent rearranging of secretarial duties, I was made redundant because I gave birth to a child with a severe, life-threatening congenital heart defect. at 4 months she failed to thrive. it turned out she had a severe congenital heart defect and was in congestive heart failure. we were rushed up to Greenlane Hospital. within a week she was operated on. in a nutshell, Leila's heart is severely deformed. she has an oversized left heart chamber and a small, ineffective right heart chamber. her main artery and aorta are in the wrong place, she has mitral stenosis and she a hole in her atria. after surgery, they compensated for this with Fontan and bi-directional Glen procedures. she had her first op as a baby which I mentioned previously, then another one at 3 and a half to complete the treatment. since then, she has been on warfarin on a daily basis to help stop blood clots forming on the artificial shunts the surgeons inserted to redirect her blood flow. but when she was 6 years old, she suffered a stroke which affected the entire right side of her body. the stroke wiped the slate clean as it were, and she had to learn to walk and talk and read and write all over again just like an infant. a blood clot in the left hemisphere of her brain caused the stroke, causing a brain injury and scar tissue which the neurologist at Starship Hospital described as"being the size of an orange". I have no proof that I was made redundant due to Leila's condition, but I am fortunate. i had another baby, a healthy baby boy two years later, Jamie Stuart. I could smell dioxin in the ladies toilet near my office every day for the 5 years i worked there. it seemed to linger in the farthest corners of the office building where there was little free air flow. I mentioned this to a senior member of staff, that and the fact that I could smell it on the beach near the factory when I walked the dog there. I was told the human nose can detect dioxin molecules in so many billions of billions of air molecules, far too weak to cause harm. some comfort eh? yours sincerely Lynne Robertson

Ryan Nguyen		11-Oct-2006 23:53
Hi Ira, I enjoyed your work immensely. A few general comments on this gallery and I hope you don't feel offended. While AO has been linked with birth defects other factors such as excessive use of chemicals in agriculture has been shown to correlate with the level of birth defects. AO was used in the war well over 30 years ago in certain regions of Vietnam, whilst unmonitored use of chemicals is still occuring. Birth defects also occur in regions where no AO was previous used. This simply doesn't add up. I think an extensive independent research is needed to warrant an unbias and scientific answer. Otherwise, to link birth defects with the use of AO is just one-sided bias argument based on the work of the propaganda committee of the Vietnamese Communist government.

George		09-Jun-2006 10:51
Thank you for the pictures!

jude		21-Mar-2006 00:48
again, touching and moving. I'm glad you went and brought us these gems back.

Fernando Rodriguez		17-Mar-2006 16:19
I agree Maciej...you must have more picture. This is an incredible serie. Too hard... Fernando

Maciej Dakowicz		10-Mar-2006 15:51
very good gallery Ira, good documentary work, I hope to see more. deserves many votes

Matias Asun		05-Mar-2006 21:20
War is... well... So stupid. Nice to see you around Ira.

Kristin from Utah		03-Mar-2006 12:14
In 2000 the number of birth defects world wide was 0.6%. In Vietnam it was 2.4%. My source is the Associated Press.

Roe..		03-Mar-2006 11:05
this is why I've kept you in my favorites list...the spirits of these children shine through their disabilitiy..Ira thank you for the address...

Ana Carloto		02-Mar-2006 11:57
A very special gallery Ira... Not many can take these photos in this way that do not take away the dignity of those portrayed. Congratulations for your sensibility and for your choice of not to ignoring this.

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