THE ROLE OF THE PÆDIATRICIAN IN ADOPTION MEDICAL PRACTICE

At present less than 10% of adoption medical examinations of infants are carried out by pædiatricians. The preponderance of examinations by doctors less experienced in child health may result in unnecessary rejections, following unsuitable insurance-type examinations, particularly in view of the concept that unadoptibility is never absolute. It is the 10-20% of potentially adoptable infants with defects in their constitution or family history who demand the highest professional pædiatric judgment, in consultation with the prospective adopters, and, if necessary, with geneticists or psychiatrists. Pædiatricians can also help by providing training in pædiatrics, including developmental pædiatrics, for those without this knowledge who propose to undertake adoption examinations; by replacing the concept of an insurance-type examination with that of a full pædiatric and social assessment; and by advising adopters on the medical needs of the child whom they propose to adopt.