Children's Hospital Colorado
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The International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado

At Children’s Hospital Colorado, we treat the big things, the small things and everything in between.
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720-777-4963

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Since 1999, the International Adoption Clinic (IAC) has been helping parents navigate the exciting, life-changing process of expanding their families through international adoption. We are a specialized outpatient referral clinic providing pre-adoption medical consultation as well as evaluation and care of children after adoption. Our adoption medicine professionals provide services that are specifically tailored to the needs of families adopting a child from another country. We serve children and adolescents from birth to age 18.

Our personalized, multidisciplinary approach ensures that newly adopted children receive specialty medical consultation, psychological and neuropsychological assessment, and occupational therapy and physical therapy evaluations. Team members include a general pediatrician, pediatric nurse practitioner, clinical neuropsychologist, occupational therapist and physical therapist.

How to start the international adoption process

It's our goal to make the adoption process as enjoyable as possible for each family and child. With every adoption, we aim to:

  • Help parents make an informed decision and adopt a child who's a good fit for their family through careful, expert evaluation
  • Eliminate any surprises by identifying concerns, gaps and potential false information in the medical records provided by international adoption agencies
  • Prepare families for the anticipated needs of their child, and arrange specialty visits in advance
  • Alleviate the stress that comes with international adoption
  • Ease the transition process for the whole family
  • Ensure the quality and continuity of care by providing pediatricians with support, records, test results and recommendations all conducted through the particular lens of international adoption medicine

Adoption services we offer

We offer comprehensive adoption services – from pre-adoption assessments to post-adoption evaluations – to assist parents and support pediatricians and community providers. Our adoption services include:

  • Pre-adoption assessment of the medical records, photographs and videos of prospective adoptees (including consultation by email while abroad if concerns arise)
  • Comprehensive post-adoption evaluations addressing medical, developmental and behavioral issues in the weeks following adoption
  • Follow-up consultation or evaluation for medical, developmental or behavioral concerns as needed or as requested by parents or healthcare providers

Learn more about our adoption services and how we can help make your family whole.

Read about our adoption experts who will support your family on your international adoption journey.

Why choose the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Colorado?

Ours is the only clinic of its kind in Colorado, and we serve families throughout the Rocky Mountain region and across the country.

Our multidisciplinary clinic brings together medical and developmental specialists with decades of experience in international adoption medicine, global health issues, infectious diseases and the unique developmental and behavioral challenges faced by children who are adopted from abroad. Plus, we have access to world-class pediatric expertise as part of our location at Children's Colorado on Anschutz Medical Campus.

Our team members also have extensive personal experience with issues in international adoption; some have adopted children of their own from other countries and many have worked around the world with orphaned and abandoned children.

Our experience helps us to assess the medical, nutritional, developmental and behavioral issues specific to international adoptees, and to help you and your pediatrician provide the best care to your new child and to your family.

Helpful adoption resources

International Adoption Clinic forms:

Information about international adoption:

Preparing to travel for an international adoption:

Other international adoption resources:

  • Nutrition and feeding websites
  • Attachment and behavior recommended books
    • "The Connected Child" by Karyn Purvis, David Cross and Wendy Sunshine
    • "Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft" by Mary Hopkins-Best
    • "Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control: A Love-Based Approach to Helping Attachment-Challenged Children with Severe Behaviors" by Heather T. Forbes

Contact our international adoption experts

For more questions about adoption medicine or our international adoption services, please contact us via phone at 720-777-4963 or by email at International.Adoption@childrenscolorado.org.

Coming to the International Adoption Clinic

The International Adoption Clinic is located in the Multidisciplinary Clinic at Children's Colorado. The Multidisciplinary Clinic is located on the second floor of the East Tower of Children's Colorado on Anchutz Medical Campus.

Learn more about your visit to our adoption medicine clinic.