Adoptions

Medical Examinations for Adopted Children

Each adopted child must be examined by an Embassy panel physician before an immigrant visa can be issued. Parents are responsible for making an appointment with one of the physicians listed. The physical examination required for children is not exhaustive. If you wish your child to have a specialized examination or testing, you may ask the Embassy panel physician for a referral to a specialist. The fee for the exam by the panel physician, which has been established in agreement with the Embassy in Skopje, is paid directly to the physician.

The medical examination process must be completed before the immigrant visa appointment. The medical examination and laboratory tests may only be done at the addresses given. Each applicant will be required to show his/her passport as identification at each step of the medical examination process. Medical examinations from other than the listed Embassy panel physicians are not accepted.

All applicants 15 years or older must have a full chest X-ray taken at one of the authorized laboratories, and a blood test for syphilis and HIV infection. Before leaving the X-ray lab, please make sure that the following information is imprinted on the X-ray itself: first and last name, passport number, date the X-ray was taken and the name of the X-ray lab. The chest X-ray must be taken to the U.S. Immigrant visa applicants under 15 do not need a chest X-ray or blood tests.

Applicants 15 years or older must bring the chest X-ray and the results of the blood tests with them to the doctor.

Results of the medical examination are valid for one year. All children aged 14 or younger must be accompanied by an adoptive parent or guardian. The panel physicians have the necessary forms in their offices. At the conclusion of the examination, the doctor completes several forms and hands them to the parents in a sealed envelope to be delivered to the Embassy at the time of the final interview.

Adoptive parents should keep several points in mind regarding the medical examination. Firstly, medical exams tend to be quick and somewhat cursory. They should be regarded as a general check-up of the child's health and not as an in-depth examination designed to find every possible medical problem. Secondly, medical facilities often lack Western-style equipment for diagnoses; this factor, along with the brevity of the physical exam, means that not every potential medical problem is definitively diagnosed. Finally, please remember that a more expensive examination is not necessarily a more thorough one. Physicians' hours and fees vary, as do the length and thoroughness of their examinations.

We encourage adoptive parents to be assertive in gathering information about their child's health condition. It is essential that you (and your spouse, if applicable) understand and acknowledge your child's medical condition (on the I-604 and on the Acknowledgement of Health Problems of Adopted Child).