Many prospective adopters fear that thechild they adopt has “hidden” disabilities or health problems that they only discover later. The data from the report produced by Juliette Halifax, demographer in a childhood research center in Picardy show that this fear is unfounded and that it is quite different in reality.
The case of disabilities or disabling illnesses remains “rare”, reports Le Figaro which reveals the main lines of the text. “Of the 400 families questioned, 27% declared that their adopted child had a health problem, unknown in two out of three cases, on his arrival”, specifies the newspaper. The illnesses are fortunately not serious and mostly concern mild infections such as scabies or ringworm.
The more serious pathologies (hepatitis A, syphilis, malaria) are almost always reported to the adoptive parents upstream, recalls the document. 85% of parents who adopt in France are thus informed of their child’s health problems.
School difficulties
More frequent and less easily quantifiable are psychological disorders in adopted children. Adoption implies a change of country and environment which can logically disturb the child. The report estimates that 15% of adoptees experience problems such as sleep disturbances, anxiety, aggression, anger or hyperactivity.
If age plays a major role in the adaptation of the adopted child (young people adapt more easily), school difficulties frequently appear, at least in the first months. “It is essentially around schooling that the difficulties crystallize”, underlines Juliette Halifax. These concentration and learning difficulties can be anticipated with preparation before the start of the school year.
