{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:02:36Z","timestamp":1760148156686,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,5]],"date-time":"2023-04-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680652800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fondos FEDER","award":["CM20\/00128"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CM20\/00128"]}]},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain","award":["CM20\/00128"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CM20\/00128"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>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\u201339], 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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children10040690","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,5]],"date-time":"2023-04-05T05:42:44Z","timestamp":1680673364000},"page":"690","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["International Adoption of Children with Special Needs in Spain"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9560-9104","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alicia","family":"Hernanz Lobo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department, Gregorio Mara\u00f1\u00f3n University Hospital, 28007 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Gregorio Mara\u00f1\u00f3n Research Health Institute (IiSGM), Translational Research in Pediatric Infectious Diseases (RITIP), 28007 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFECC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medicine Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3324-6520","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arantxa","family":"Berzosa S\u00e1nchez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFECC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medicine Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Cl\u00ednico San Carlos Hospital, Cl\u00ednico San Carlos Research Health Institute (IdISSC), 28040 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luc\u00eda","family":"Escolano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, La Paz University Hospital, 28046 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"P\u00e9rez Mu\u00f1oz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Torrejon Hospital, 28850 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nathalia","family":"Gerig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, La Paz University Hospital, 28046 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5301-0945","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tal\u00eda","family":"Sainz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFECC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Paediatrics, La Paz University Hospital, Paseo de la Castellana, 261, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Hospital and La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), Translational Research in Pediatric Infectious Diseases (RITIP), 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medicine Faculty, Aut\u00f3noma University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda Jose","family":"Mellado Pe\u00f1a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFECC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Paediatrics, La Paz University Hospital, Paseo de la Castellana, 261, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Hospital and La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), Translational Research in Pediatric Infectious Diseases (RITIP), 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medicine Faculty, Aut\u00f3noma University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Milagros","family":"Garc\u00eda L\u00f3pez Hortelano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFECC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Paediatrics, La Paz University Hospital, Paseo de la Castellana, 261, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Hospital and La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), Translational Research in Pediatric Infectious Diseases (RITIP), 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medicine Faculty, Aut\u00f3noma University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare (2021, March 30). 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