The Pediatric Guide in International Adoption It is an excellent work of the Coordination of Associations in Defense of Adoption and Reception (CORA). His extensive work is extended with this new revised document which, being an instrument aimed at health professionals, is a basic reference for concerned adoptive parents.
A quarter of children who come to Spain from international adoption have health problems, most of them easily curable. Among the most frequent are the slight delay in the development of weight and height, anemia, banal dermatological problems, feeding or sleeping problems, lack of vaccines or infestations by parasites.
Almost all of these problems are treated and solved by the primary care pediatrician and only a small part of them need tests or visits with specialists.
Approximately 2 percent of children suffer from more serious problems such as malnutrition or severe size deficits, endocrine disorders, hepatitis, chronic infections or malformations. However, it should be noted that in most cases these special circumstances are known at the time of adoption and accepted by the parents.
Perhaps what has caught my attention the most is that it is pointed out that these children have been able to suffer emotional abandonment and that the lack of attachment leads them to mistakenly think that they are children with mild autism, when, in reality, they are simply sad children. There may be some problems of adaptation, behavior or poor emotional expression, but they are solved with time and affection.
In this Guide of Pediatrics in International Adoption All the agents involved in the correct attention to these children can find information of enormous utility although, as I have already indicated, it is a document addressed to health professionals.
