Adoptive parents should know a child’s full family medical history

Prospective adoptive parents should be allowed to see a child’s full family medical history, even when birth parents have not given their consent.

Though doctors are usually able to access most information, adoptive parents are usually left in the dark.

UK adoption law encourages disclosure of a child’s family health history to prospective parents, but birth parents will not always give their consent to this.

Now researchers from the University of Southampton and the British Association for Adoption and Fostering are pointing out that many of the children adopted every year will have complex emotional or developmental needs.

Published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, “Although cases will need to be judged on their individual details, we argue that in many cases it will be appropriate to share relevant medical information with prospective adopters, on the grounds that this benefits the current and future welfare of the child,” the authors conclude.