Health History Q-

[crazycanuck]

Hi there,

I trust you ladies will be able to help me with this q. I'm adopted & would only like to find out my health history-that's it. I'm still not sure if need to find out my health history but keep getting asked by dr's and I wonder if i should pursue it.

My question to you is the following-Is anyone else out there adopted & has found thier health history?

I'm not pursuing anything else.

Thanks for your support ladies.

ps-I'm happy to adopt someone from TE & bring them to the warmth of Perth...

[Pedal Wench]

Nothing to add to your quest, but it brought up this funny story.

I do have a high family history with breast cancer. So, every time I have a suspicious lump, it gets surgically removed, always with the same doctor. I guess I've had 5 removed so far (all have been benign ) So, I've become quite close to my surgeon. He always comes out after the surgery to give whoever drove with me his opinion on how the lump looked. Last time I had the surgery, my mom and sister came with me. When the doctor came out, I got to say, "Hi Doc, I would like to introduce you to my family history!" We all thought it was funny. I guess you had to be there.

[Mr. Bloom]

CC: I am adopted and have the same concerns. I've not acted out on finding the history, simply because in the US, "contact" comes with getting the answers. That is, I go to court, get records opened, get a name, do a search, maybe find them, and then...contact them .

I have an adopted cousin in Massachuesetts who did this with emotionally challenging outcomes. I think given the chance, she would not do it again. Personally, I don't need the drama.

[matagi]

Whilst it is useful to know your family medical history as a guide to possible risk factors, etc, it is not essential. After all, what would you do if your entire family had been wiped out when you were a small child - you would be in the same position of not knowing and not having anyone to ask.

As Mr Silver says, you need to be clear on the implications of starting this search because the emotional impact could be quite profound. Are you Australian, or have you moved to Perth from another part of the world? The laws regarding adoption records varies a little from country to country. As I understand it, in most if not all states in Australia, if the other party has requested no contact, you will not get access to any information from your adoption records.

[crazycanuck]

Thanks for your replies. Each makes sense & reassures me that I don't really need to know what I don't know!

MrSilver-my brother found his & it's really pissed off my mom.

I'm from Alberta, Canada & have a rather vague idea about how the freedom of information act works in terms of adoption records. I'm not about to pay alot of money to find out bunk either.

Ok, just another idea that passed through my head one day, I shall put it to rest now.

c

[LBTC]

In my family (I wished I was adopted, but wasn't), we didn't speak of such things. Even if I had wanted to know what medical issues were out there, no one would have told me.

As an adult, I choose to not communicate with my family for a lot of reasons. My doctors have never seemed terribly concerned that I can't identify potential health risk factors.

I guess with my medical identity, I've chosen to be my own person, just as with the rest of my identity.

You can do this on your own. We'll be here to help!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[mimitabby]

Hi there,

I trust you ladies will be able to help me with this q. I'm adopted & would only like to find out my health history-that's it. I'm still not sure if need to find out my health history but keep getting asked by dr's and I wonder if i should pursue it.

My question to you is the following-Is anyone else out there adopted & has found thier health history?

I'm not pursuing anything else.

Thanks for your support ladies.

ps-I'm happy to adopt someone from TE & bring them to the warmth of Perth...

my best girlfriend did this. She actually talked to her adopted parents about this and they were cool with it. She tracked down her birth mother. She found about health problems but also an interesting insight to some of the personality conflicts she'd been having with her own daughter.
Although others here are correct in saying this is a big deal emotionally in ways you can't imagine, I think the knowledge you gain is profound.
Meeting blood relatives is such an amazing thing. You never know what you're going to find. I met my grandfather's brother after my grandfather had died. The two men never met. When this great uncle laughed, he had THE SAME LAUGH. he also had green eyes like my sister, so we quit saying "where did the green eyes come from?"
back to my girlfriend, about the uncomfortable discoveries; the birth mom didn't have a clue on how to find the birth father (who has, after all, 50% of your genes) so my friend STILL will never know 1/2 of her genetic heritage..

good luck! If you want to try, contact me off line if you'd like and I'll tell you about another of my friends that did this with success, and my sister in law who opened pandora's box and found the son she gave up for adoption!

[maillotpois]

I'm adopted and about 3 years ago I found my birth mom.

12 years or so ago, when I got married and was thinking about having kids, I did some research, got additional records from the adoption agency and found my mom's name (unusual name and given to me by "accident" in not very well redacted copies of reports from the adoption agency - they're not supposed to give the name out but apparently these sorts of "accidents" happen all the time). So I sent out letters to anyone of that name that I could find. One of the letters found its way to my mom, but she didn't do anything about it. Since I was thinking of having a baby at the time I was very interested in the whole health history aspect of it.

Then 3 years ago I got a call from this woman who apparently searches through adoption registries and does research all on her own to try to find peoples' birth parents. She does this as a hobby because her own husband found his parents late in life and she finds the work rewarding (she asks for NO money). So she called me and said she'd found my mom and she made the initial call to her. My mom had SO much guilt about giving me up that she had a hard time with the intial contact - but in the long run she has been really grateful for it and this has given her some peace about a decision she made a long time ago when her options were not great.

After our initial contact, we talked on and off for about a year and then my daughter and I drove down and met her 2 years ago. I have since met a half sister and her family, which has been fun. She and I are a lot alike. The three of us (mom, sister and me) all have the same hands - large, well defined.

It's been really interesting.

I have talked about it with my adopted mom and she is a little "cool" about it, but she and I have a somewhat difficult relationship anyway.

I did learn some things about health history. But I still have half of my biological background missing - have not located my (loser) father. Not trying too hard either!

For me just having more background information from the adoption agency was really helpful.