[adoptkoreablog]

FYI - For those of you who are in the process of adopting from Korea, here is a link to an article on the Mongolian spot. The Mongolian spot is not a disease, it is a discoloration in the buttocks area of many Asian babies that is often mistaken for a bruise.

http://korea.adoptionblogs.com/weblo...-the-article-1

Mo

[dcookie]

Mo, I really enjoy your blog. :-)

[kelleymac]

Hi there, dropping in from the Guatemala forum. Actually, Mongolian spots can occur on African, Hispanic and Asian people and can occur anywhere on the body. They are most common on the trunk and buttocks.

Our son from Guatemala has one on his "plumbers crack" and also a very faint one between his eyes on the bridge of his nose. If your pediatrician and/or daycare provider aren't familiar with them, it's a good idea to mention them when the child comes home as they can be easily mistaken for bruises.

Best,
Kelley

[Shoshana]

UGG! Kelley! Thanks for teaching me a new phrase (Not!). That's the location of Xiomara's spot. LOL!

[MamaTo6]

M's too. We dont know M's true heritage because the alleged bdad wont do Dna or answer any questions. But we know he has a mongolian spot on he backside. Actually his spot has faded and is almost gone. He will be 2 next month.

[cr653]

my little cutie (born in guatemala)
has the same mongolian spot on her little tush!

fortunately i had heard mention of these,
and when i went for my visit our agency rep. told me to make sure i knew what it was.

cris.

[lisam00]

My daughter Ava, born in Guatemala, has a large mongolian spot too. It runs along her back and onto her bottom. When we were in Florida a few months ago, we were at the pool and Ava had on a cute little two piece swimsuit. A lady said "oh my gosh, how did she get that bruise??". When I said "oh, it's a mongolian spot" the lady looked at me like I was insane. After a little explanation, she said "wow, can't believe I never heard of that".

God bless,
Lisa

[Darci]

My 2 yr old son (cc and ??) has one mongolian spot in his crack.

My 5 month old native american daughter is covered with them. All over her back, butt, and one funny one that wraps around her ankle so it looks like she's been tied up. I made sure to have her ped. document them the first time I took her in to see her.

[nsanders]

Our son from Taiwan has 2 spots on his ankle that could look like fingerprints. He also has them on his tush. We did the same thing with the pediatrician and also have a printout to show any babysitters, etc.

[ahfdragonfly]

Thanks for the link Mo, your blog is the best!

Millie

[niandca]

Originally Posted by kelleymac

If your pediatrician and/or daycare provider aren't familiar with them, it's a good idea to mention them when the child comes home as they can be easily mistaken for bruises.

This is So true. I once took my Cambodian fs to eye doctor. As Dr is looking in baby's eyes, he starts asking me if baby had fallen off bed, table or down the stairs recently..had I dropped him? Then he tells nurse to take baby's clothes off and starts looking at his body asking me about the "bruises"..I didn't know what they were called, but I knew pedi had taken pictures at first visit because she TOLD me this would happen!
He called pedi & she assured him that marks were not bruises, but he said the baby's eye was bleeding & maybe these bruises were not the same ones.

I had to drive 30 minutes to pedi's office so she could check baby again, then drive another 40 minutes to big city children's hospital to have his eyes checked out by specialist. Turns out "bleeding" was actually Mongolian spot IN HIS EYE!
I cannot tell you the anquish I suffered due to this idiot telling me he was going to "turn me in for abuse". Maybe he was doing what he thought was right, but for gosh sake's, his practice was in the middle of huge Asian community!

[Babybmine]

My little girl (Guatemala) also has one on her little tush and a small fingerprint one on her left arm. I get looks when she is a swimming suit also but have never been approched. My ped also notated this in their files.
Thanks for the link
carla

[dnahewitt]

My son also has mongolian spots, but I was made aware of what they were prior to adopting, since my bothers were born with them as well. My son has his on his buttocks as well as his shoulder which he has a perfect round dark blue spot that looks like a tatoo. We had them documented at our first visit to the DR, but an a recent visit to the ER we still had to explain what they were to an EMT taking medical history.

[Momof2boysinOH]

Also must add Mediterranean people can have Mongolian spots as well! My dh is Portuguese and I'm Spanish/Colombian. Our younger bio son has a Mongolian spot on his little tushy.

[nancyinoh]

I also found articles on Mongolian spots, and handed them out to our boys' babysitters, caregivers at church, etc. Many people haven't heard of them, you are right. My one son's are very dark, and haven't faded at all. He is four. He was in the ER for possible concussion, and the resident started asking me how he got those terrible bruises! I explained that they were mongolian spots, and what they were. THe staff doc came in, and cleared everything up! |
It's better to point them out and educate before people start getting suspicious of you as a possible abuser!