Please explain how medical histories work?

Medical histories change through the years. Having no contact with anyone on either side restricts anyway to update what is learned as the years go on. That is common sense.

At sixteen, when I surrendered my oldest son, the only medical history I was aware of and informed his aparents about was asthma (which he did inherit from his father.) Ironically, the health information for our family began to change drastically in our late twenties and on into our thirties.

My husband's father died from a heart attack at the age of 50 and it was then that they linked the heart problems inherited through the family because my husband's grandfather also died from a heart attack at age 52.

At 28 I was diagnosed with hypothyroid which is also inherited in many cases and within the last few years my husband's mother and older brother were both diagnosed with diabetes. My husband himself, just a month ago, went into the ER and spent two days in Intensive Care because he too had not only formed diabetes (type one) but his body was in the process of shutting down because of the dangerous affects of high blood sugar levels.

Because my son's aparents closed his adoption when he was only five, he would have never known any of these things if we had not reunited. He would have known only about asthma and nothing further and very well could have grown older and faced the risk of losing his life to either a heart attack or untreated diabetes.

You are 100% right. You can not have accurate health records in a closed adoption. It simply is not possible.

ETA: My husband pointed out another side to the medical history - my mom., myself and all my children (including my oldest son) walk on our toes. We thought it was normal to have stress on our calves walking up the stairs and that every one went through it. It wasn't until almost fifteen years after surrendering my son that we learned (because my youngest son had to have surgery on both his ankles at the same time) that it is actually a genetic condition where the achiles tendon is too tight and causes complication in walking and stress on walking on your heels. I always thought it was just a quirk for myself and my family but for my oldest son, whose aparents didn't know about this condition or see it as even a "quirk" he grew up being yelled at constantly to walk on his heels and told by his adad that only "fags" walked like he did.

It wasn't medical info that could have saved his life. But it was definitely something that might have made his aparents understand a bit more why he was walking on his toes without throwing insults at him for doing so.

No one can ever have a complete medical history unless they know their ancestors history. Nevermore, if you dont stay in touch with your current extended family your not ever going to have a complete medical history.

"Now if you are within the child bearing years what kinds of medical history can you pass along with a child?"

An incomplete history. Secondly, we still live in a world where disorders like depression, anxiety are seen as weaknesses and as such are rarely disclosed. Third, it's not until someone gets cancer or a some serious disease before people start querying about their medical history. Thats when you find out that uncle Johnie died .. so did great uncle ray.. and so did aunti fay... but in a closed adoption that information is rarely updated on those records.

"Is 29 old enough for a medical history to be complete?

Will ALL of your medical malfunctions manifest themselves by the time you're 50?"

Nope and Nope. You could be 75 before anything serious happens. Even then a 75 year old may not be aware of any extended family being seriously ill.

"Can a complete medical history be obtained in a closed adoption?"

No. It can't even be achieved with non-adoptees. You can only know what is known at any point in time. But that is only dependent on that known being fully disclosed. Of course there are going to be some nice people out there who do the right thing and update the child records continuously, but in reality it rarely happens.

Of course it is understood that you will live longer and continue to develop whatever medical issues come your way. The medical history to pass onto an agency working with you to surrender the child for adoption involves your family's history as you know it. They are particularly interested in diseases that are genetically linked. By the time this child is grown, there will be much more known about genetics and medicine, and perhaps the child can submit a DNA sample and have all the info required. You are a brave and noble person to do this.

Well, a medical history can be considered "complete", meaning that up to this point in time, everything is accurate. So, a 29 year old can list all known medical allergies, surgeries, medical conditions, family history of medical conditions (etc) and it can be complete and accurate *at that point in time*. But then, that same 29 year old can develop breast cancer in another 20 years, etc. Or her father could have developed diabetes. Medical history changes every time something happens.

As far as a closed adoption goes, I thought that meant that the adoptive parents had NO information at all on the biological family, and vice-versa. I think by virtue of having medical information makes it a semi-open adoption? I could be wrong.

I can only answer in terms of my adoption. My parents were given a medical history at the time of adoption. It did not have info about my biological father as he was not told about the adoption. And yes, the info would be ridiculously out of date very quickly seeing as my biological mom was 16 at the time.

However, the agency they went through does allow you to request updated medical histories whenever you want. So, assuming that they were still able to find my biological mother and she would agree to update the info, it is feasible that the medical history could have been updated periodically. However it still would have been missing half of the information since they didn't list my bio-dad anywhere on the adoption records.

ETA: And I agree with Devon. It would be great if agencies and such would have a service where bio-parents could notify them of important medical changes and the agency would notify the adoptee rather than just waiting for someone to ask for it.

It wouldn't be complete during childbearing years. I would like to see some kind of registry where first parents could add things as they come up and have the family of the child notified. I have had 2 close calls so far where knowing medical history could have been VERY helpful. Both times the doctors asked if the issues "ran in my family" and I had no clue. None. Being that my first mother was 14 (from what my a-parents tell me) she wouldn't have a clue as to adult-onset ailments. Even her own mother was probably still under 45.

I think there should be an option for first parents to have open update-able records. This way they can keep things up to date, and the adoptee can check to see if anything major might be in store for them in the future.

This alone makes me call for open adoptions whenever possible. All else aside.

Well, no. In a closed adoption, you can't possibly be aware of new developments as time goes on. The best you can hope for is some semblance of information gathered "thus far", but, especially for cardiac problems and endocrine issues, there generally will not be any manifestation of those issues until the 30's,40's or 50's.

I was relieved to know my first family's medical history when we re-united. Nothing serious, but it was nice to know that I wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop on some major congenital issue.

ETA: I also really like what Can'tStopLinnyG said about requiring natural parents whose children were apprehended via children's services to check in with medical updates. Unfortunately, I think it's a pipe dream. We can hardly keep track of my daughter's first mom, just for the sake of knowing where she is later. I am having to be constantly vigilant just to make sure she is still in the same city I was last aware of.

Medical histories are a joke as far as closed adoptions go. The history is as old as the adoptee is.

Even for myself, my medical history is much different now than when I had my children. I was diagnosed with a rare (but GENETIC) cancer when I was 34. My N Father did not get that cancer until he was 56. My n grandfather also died from the same cancer, and that was 10 years before my n Dad did. I also have diabetes and heart disease in my n family. These issues should be made known so an adoptee and THEIR children can take preventative measures.

It does not matter HOW old the n Mom is. Medical history changes constantly.

Even if adoption is closed because of abuse or neglect, n parents should be required to submit health updates at least every few years.

I was 19 when I surrendered and my medical history wasn't complete nor was my family's. When I was reunited with my son I was able to update it for him but it's still evolving as medical problems can happen right up till the day you die as well as the same happening to family members.

At the time I surrendered my son, I was 18 and my parents were younger than 40. All healthy, all of us, and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. That was MY side of the equation. The father and I had never really discussed his family's medical history and the agency didn't contact them. Since it was illegal to put the name of the unmarried father on the BC, his information, off the top of my head, was the best that they got.

My son contacted me when he was 23 ( tried to at 18, but the agency lied to him....for 5 more years!) and by the time he contacted me, every single person in the generations above me had died from diseases that were often hereditary. The agency had not put one of the messages I had sent to them about medical conditions in his file....they put NOTHING in his file, including the consent to contact I had filed on his 16th birthday. Even his father had died about 3 months after he turned 18. He died a hideous death due to a brain tumor.

Medical history in adoption can only provide, at best, the mother's side of the story. It is illegal for a mother to provide information that is not available to her, and hers is the only information she has a right to.

For myself, I would not turn in any information sent to me by any government agency to update medical information. My medical information is mine and I give it to whom I please. I am more than happy to share whatever medical information I have with my son, verbally, but I will never complete some form and submit it to a government clerk to place in my file along with papers that I am not allowed to see. I am the only source for my medical information. That is as it should be, and is, legally.