Julie Carbery and her husband were flying blind when they boarded a plane bound for China to adopt daughter Carly two years ago. The Highland Park couple, then living in Atlanta with their two other children, had already scaled their way through mountains of applications and screenings and outlasted the lengthy waiting time.
But now that it was time to pick up their baby girl and bring her home, the family felt more than a little adrift. Carbery fretted over notes in Carly’s medical records that indicated the infant had undergone surgery for a hernia.
Before leaving for China, Carbery connected with a Chicago physician who had experience caring for children adopted overseas. She sent photos of Carly’s operation to him, as well as to her own pediatrician in Atlanta. Both doctors offered advice, although they had few details to go on. And, the family found it difficult to weave together opinions from afar. Once home they discovered that Carly’s hernia had ruptured, making it necessary for her to undergo surgery.
Carly is now a healthy, normal 3-year-old. But memories of the adoption itself remain a confusing, frustrating tangle for the family – a hurdle they’re relieved is now in the past.
An easier way
If the Carberys were adopting today, they could utilize a new lifeline: adoptive medicine programs. Designed to pick up where adoption agencies leave off, about a dozen of these initiatives are cropping up at U.S. hospitals such as Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Now parents can tap into an experienced consortium of experts to help guide them through the medical minefield of international adoptions.
While adoption agencies supply checklists and background information on the child, putting the facts together – and then making sense of them – falls to the family. Adoptive medicine specialists help parents forecast from the records available prior to the adoption. They stand by on call to interpret new information and advise parents from halfway across the world. Finally, they lend a full range of pediatric services, including sub specialist consultations and access to other adoptive medicine specialists worldwide – anything that may ease a child’s transition to her new home.
“To have had an expert … to have taken the referral information, and to have met with her [the doctor] and talked with her by phone, and then to have Carly come in for an evaluation right when we came back to the United States – that would have been the right way to do things,” Carbery affirms.
What to expect
Specialists in this young, growing field are building resources through experience and a shared passion for supporting adoptive families. They network with other experts scattered across the globe, swapping trends and data and helping one another sort through especially challenging puzzles, such as interpreting a lab test printed in a language not spoken by the physician and using unknown measurement standards. They can also offer expertise at identifying issues specific to certain geographic regions.
Dr. Susan Dibs, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center and head of the new program at Children’s Medical Center, is herself the adoptive mother of a daughter from China. “It’s a little surprising that Dallas, which is a pretty large city, hasn’t had a service like this,” she offers. In fact, local physicians have warmly embraced the concept as a benefit for families in their practices.
Specialists familiar with internationally adopted children provide reassurance when it comes to common problems, such as developmental and growth delays. “We want parents not to be too alarmed,” Dibs explains. “You can see the child catch up just by placing the child in a good, solid home in a normal environment.”
Whether dealing with more serious medical issues such as a ruptured hernia or simply a delay in speech, it’s the collective experience and insight that make adoptive medicine such a unique resource to parents of children adopted from other countries. And, the services are generally covered by insurance like any other medical treatment; however, consultations beforehand will most likely be out-of-pocket expenses, since the child is not yet part of the family.
Still, Carbery recommends parents hook up with a knowledgeable team to tap into from anywhere in the world – especially before meeting their child. “You need an advocate and someone who’s knowledgeable and can plug you into the medical system right away,” she says.
Contact the Adoptive Medicine program at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas at 214/ 456-6788.
