2026-06-08T12:24:16Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/request

oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1045982025-03-18T11:46:25Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Hernanz Lobo, Alicia author Berzosa Sánchez, Arantxa author Escolano, Lucía author Pérez Muñoz, Sara author Gerig, Nathalia author Sainz, Talía author Mellado Peña, María Jose author García López Hortelano, Milagros author 2023-04-05 International adoption has declined in recent years, although the adoption of children with special needs has arisen. We aim to describe our experience in the international adoption of children with special needs and to analyze the concordance between the pathologies included in pre-adoption reports and the diagnosis made upon arrival. We conducted a retrospective descriptive study including internationally adopted children with special needs evaluated at a reference Spanish unit between 2016 and 2019. Epidemiological and clinical variables were collected from medical records, and pre-adoption reports were compared to established diagnoses following their evaluation and complementary tests. Fifty-seven children were included: 36.8% females, a median age of 27 months [IQR:17–39], mostly coming from China (63.2%) and Vietnam (31.6%). The main pathologies described in the pre-adoption reports were congenital surgical malformations (40.3%), hematological (22.6%), and neurological (24.6%). The initial diagnosis that motivated the international adoption via special needs was confirmed in 79% of the children. After evaluation, 14% were diagnosed with weight and growth delay, and 17.5% with microcephaly, not previously reported. Infectious diseases were also prevalent (29.8%). According to our series, the pre-adoption reports of children with special needs appear accurate, with a low rate of new diagnoses. Pre-existing conditions were confirmed in almost 80% of cases. Hernanz Lobo, A.; Berzosa Sánchez, A.; Escolano, L.; Pérez Muñoz, S.; Gerig, N.; Sainz, T.; Mellado Peña, M.J.; García López Hortelano, M. International Adoption of Children with Special Needs in Spain. Children 2023, 10, 690. https://doi.org/10.3390/ children10040690 2227-9067 10.3390/children10040690 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/104598 https://doi.org/10.3390/children10040690 https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/4/690 International adoption of children with special needs in Spain