When You Get a Referral

It's a good idea to take the medical report to a pediatrician. Most medicals come with some really strange diagnoses. Things that sound really BAD sometimes. Your agency usually has the decoder ring for these terms. Most of the terms are unknown to regular everyday American physicians. Find out exactly what you might be dealing with.

Most facilitators of adoption are not that great with cameras or video cameras. So a picture is NOT necessarily worth a thousand words. These children are smaller than they should be, some have puffy checks, dark circles under their eyes, spots on their faces, etc. They don't get the nutrition that they need and it shows in their faces and bodies. They're usually covered with bug bites or the anti-septic lotion their caregivers put on their bug bites. The lotion is green or blue color, usually. Remember that this child would look much better given proper nutrition, living conditions and the love and nurturing that they need. Click here to see some referral pictures, and the same child's "at home" picture.

Videos are usually taken in an office or day room within the orphanage. Usually in a room the child has not been in before. They are led into the room usually alone and scared. They don't really understand why they are there. Then, some stranger is waiting there and pointing a video camera at them. Most have never seen any form of a camera in their life. It can be a scary thing for them. You will not, necessarily be seeing the child in their natural state. The introverted ones sit quietly and the extroverts perform. The facilitators give them candy, whatever they can do to get the child to do something for the camera.  Some videos are very short 1-5 minutes and some are longer.