[Movingon]

We just received our referral yesterday. I emailed all of her infrormation to one of our IA doctors. She replied back to us today and said her weight was way under the norm but her height was only slighty under the norm and her head was growing normal. And she said that this delayed development was due to being in an orphanage. But she said that she needed a better picture of the baby-close up, to tell if she has any FAS features. Is this normal? Have any of you had this happen?(I am sure you have). Where you able to get a new picture before you travelled? If not did you just go anyway? I have to wait until the 12th to speak with our other IA doc. We have travel dates for the 16 to Kirov.
Please IM me with any information you have that may help me and calm my fears.
Thanks.
Carla

[Micky Rose]

Please PM me and I would love to share my experience - I just got back from Kirov with 2 boys in February.

[kimber413]

This happens often, as the person taking the photo doesn't always tell them not to smile, or frequently the photo isn't close enough or clear enough (you need a photo where they aren't smiling in order to see some facial features of FAS). Most agencies won't have a problem with this unless it's something the specific region won't allow. Just ask your agency for a closer, full face, non-smiling photo of the child.

However, the facial features aren't always an indicator of FAS. What's most important is are they growing fairly normally, developing fairly normally (or as normally as can be expected for an institutionalized child), and any medical issues they may have.

Good luck, and congratulations on getting a referral!

[cathvash]

You may have to wait to get these yourself. The docs are looking for "peaks and valleys" in different areas of the face, so light coming slightly from the side is sometimes helpful. Do get the full non-smiling face - make sure the hair is pulled back. They will measure the corners of the eyes in relation to the face, and the location of the iris within the eye, so get a good shot of the child looking straight ahead. Make sure you get a shot of the ears in relation to the face, and if the child doesn't have much hair, get a picture of the shape of the head from the side. They will also benefit from a closeup of the hands/fingers, and pictures of the general shape and musculature of the child. ~6-8 good shots should do it...

-Sounds good except for the weight, and you can fix that! Congratulations on the referral and good luck!!

[amyfk]

HI carla

I hope you are well. We're still awaiting a referral. With oneof our two referrals I remember that we only got two photographs. Luckily the doctor was able to tell what she needed to for both babies from the photos, but she did admit that it wasnt a lot.

On another issue we wanted more information from the region. The agency we used was very helpful in trying to obtain it. Howver, the region wasnt forthcoming( I dont know why-what goes on in Russia).

I would, however, ask your agency to see if your region is flexible in giving you a few more photos. Especially if it can ease your mind. Also, if you have the extra $, you may want to have a doctor travel from Moscow to allay any fears you have by seeing the referrral up close.

I do wish you the best,
Amy K, NJ

[Kasey]

OUr son's head was noted to be pretty small before travel. OuIA doc said she would like more pics, but would not tell us to not travel based on the info we had, she said numbers are just one part of the pic and actually seeing the child and how they are developmentally is more important.
We were told we were not able to get more pics, our IA doc told us what pics to take over there, what to look for, what were acceptable delays and what were red flags (she gave us a worksheet). We did get a pic right before we traveled, actually the morning of.
We just took lots of pic of front, sides of back of his head and close up of face and hands.
Once we met him, we knew there was no way we were backing out, we did give all the pics to the IA doc in between trips just so we would be on top of things. His head was less than 3% when we came home, almost 2 years later he hangs between 10-15% and is completely on target developmentally.
If you bring a satellite type/international phone with you, you can call your IA doc from the orphanage--no one on our trip needed to do that.

Many times extra pics will come from families who have just traveled,s o you can check to see if any families sent extra photos?
Good luck

[his,mine&ours]

Dr. Bledsoe's website has a guide for taking a pic for FAS screening. Not sure if I can post the link, but I'll try. If it gets removed, PM me for it.


http://depts.washington.edu/fasdpn/p...UIDE012305.pdf