When it comes to the health and medical care of an adopted child, there are some special issues and concerns adoptive parents may want to keep in mind before, during, and after the adoption is complete.
If your adoption will be open or semi-open adoption, it may be possible to get a lot of the family health history from your child‘s birthmother. In an open adoption, you may be able to go with the birth mother’s prenatal care, go with her to doctor visits, and be present for the birth.
With international adoptions, most families get a picture and sometimes a video of the child. Reliable and complete health and family history may not be available. Some families who adopt internationally feel it is worth making a trip to meet the child before deciding to adopt.
With older children in foster care, you may be able to get a sense of the child’s general health by reading the adoption profile information, and talking with the current foster family. Families adopting children from foster care should be given the full disclosure file, which includes any medical history, prior to having an adoptive child moved into your home.
No matter what method of adoption you choose, it’s a good idea to have as much medical information as possible, including:
- Age, ethnic background, education, occupation, height, weight, and medical conditions of the birth parents.
- Diseases or medical conditions that run in the child’s biological family.
- The health of the adopted child’s siblings.
Information about prenatal alcohol, smoking, or drug usage.
Information about prenatal use of any prescription or over-the-counter medications.- An indication or information of whether the birth mother had any sexually transmitted diseases that might affect the child’s health.
- Results of prenatal care tests done while birthmother was pregnant.
- Any complications during pregnancy, labor, or delivery should be part of a child’s medical history.
- The child’s weight, length, and head circumference measurements at and since birth.
- Any medical problems the child has had and any diagnosis of medical or mental health issues that have been made.
- Results of any medical tests the child has had.
- The child’s development in relation to standard age milestones, such as sitting up, walking, or talking.
- Results of any evaluations or testing done in the area of development.
- A description of personality and relationships with others information about the child’s care since birth.
- Any physical, sexual, or emotional abuse the child may have or has experienced.
When parents have gathered the information available about the child they are interested in adopting, they need to spend time and evaluate. Parents need to decide if, a given medical issues, the child may have are circumstances they are able to care for or if the situation is beyond the parents ability to meet. It’s a good idea to have a doctor interpret the child’s medical records. You may want to consult a doctor who has experience with adopted children with the same background as the one you want to adopt. This is especially true if you are adopting internationally or from the foster care system.
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