Accuracy of Medical ReportsQ: We have received a referral for a 26 month old boy with special needs from China. Our dilemma now is the information we have received regarding this boy’s physical and mental development is either old or incomplete or just plain vague.  How accurate are these reports? Are the Chinese just not into the details or could there be something else physically or mentally wrong with this boy other than the minor defect he has that the Chinese doesn’t want to tell us?

A: On our adoption charts, I have a section on “Adequacy of Medical Reports” for each country, including China. The medical reports for China tend to be brief, but are usually more detailed for children with special needs, although the increased detail is usually limited to medical and developmental information on the specific special need. I would strongly encourage you to have this report reviewed by an International Adoption doctor that has a lot of experience looking at medical reports from China. I include information on how to find such a doctor on the international adoption resource page. You can ask your agency for more information, but in my experience when adopting from China, they may not be able to get more detail for you.

Image credit: mag3737