AFABC offers a full-day Cross-Cultural Adoption Workshop, which includes a presentation by a health professional on the potential medical issues in international adoption. AFABC's library contains many articles and books containing information on medical issues and our website has links to articles and a general internet search will be helpful. Adoption agencies working with families to bring their children home are also good resources for information. And of course, AFABC and your agency can connect you with other families that have adopted from the same country.

What is a Pre-Adoption Medical Assessment?

There are some health professionals specializing in international adoption medicine in Canada and the United States. Their services include:

• Pre-adoption medical review
• Arrival evaluation
• Long-term medical follow-up

These professionals work to identify areas of risk, suggest follow-up questions, and help families assess whether they have the resources to raise a child with the specific risk factors. These professionals can complete a risk assessment rather than a health assessment, helping families understand what their best and worst case scenarios might be and best strategies to support the child, should the decision be made to adopt. Using one of these professionals to review the proposal of your child is highly recommended. Your agency and/or AFABC and/or other adoptive families may be able to assist with names of professionals.

What medical tests will my child require?

In cooperation with the CDC and local health professional AFABC has created a medical brochure for families called Medical Tests for Internationally Adopted Children. It was created in response to family doctors, local health authorities and adoptive families encountering unusual and unexpected health challenges for children arriving from various countries. It is recommended that families bring the brochure with them when visiting their family doctor up on the arrival of their child adopted internationally.