For many people, filling out paperwork about their family's health history is a routine part of a medical visit. For adopted people like Ramya Gruneisen, it's impossible. "We don't have any information about my biological mom or dad, so there's quite literally nothing to go off of," said Gruneisen, who was born in India and adopted by a couple in St.
Louis. At times, she's just drawn a line straight through columns of family history questions. She doesn't even have to read them.
"It's not like we can contact birth parents and request medical records," said Gruneisen, a public health worker who speaks and writes regularly about adoption. Lack of such knowledge is a common situation for adopted people, one that's layered in legal, medical and personal matters. But Gruneisen and other experts say that adoptees, adoptive parents and health professionals can take steps to help the situation – starting with acknowledging that there is a situation.
"The challenge is that once a child is adopted, there's this notion that everything that happened before the adoption doesn't exist or it's been erased. And that's just not the case," said Dr. Elaine E.
Schulte, vice chair of academic affairs and faculty development at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx borough of New York City. Many health organizations, including the American Heart Association and American Medical Association, emphasize the importance of family history. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention en.