A pre-adopt medical review helps to interpret the medical, social, and developmental information provided by your agency regarding a child you may want to pursue for adoption. These pieces of information can come in the form of documents, photos, and videos. Our physicians will evaluate all of the information available on the child. As a part of our comprehensive health care center, we have the ability to access subspecialist for added resources when looking a child's file. These could consist of experts in genetics, neurology, cardiology, and others. Once the comprehensive review is completed, she will provide counsel on known diagnoses as well as recommendations for additional information needed.
A review of your child s file is typically completed within 72 hours of receiving the complete file. Once completed, you will have a phone consultation with the physician to discuss findings and answer any questions. We also have a 24 hour expedited review option for an additional fee, should you need a report quickly.
In addition to the review, our On-Call and Prescription Services are included in the fee. Our nurse clinician will call in recommended prescriptions to your pharmacy for your child's use while in country. We will also provide you with our physician's "on-call" cell phone number that can be used while you are traveling abroad (messages left are typically returned within 24 hours).
Fee covers $450 Initial Pre-adoption Medical Review/$550 Expedited (24 hour) Review.
"Blind Referral" Reviews
There are some countries that provide little to no information on a child prior to your travel overseas. In these situations, it is still possible to have a pre-adoption medical review on the information you receive once in country. We recommend that you contact us early in the process to arrange for these services. The services and fees are the same as a traditional pre-adopt review.
Initiate Pre-Adoption Medical Review
Pre-Adopt Services Form
Initial Intake Form
There are three (3) types of post-adoption evaluations that are offered through our medical clinic:
Initial Assessment Visits (1 Session "Combined" Visit or 2 Session Visit)
The focus of the initial assessment visit will be to comprehensively examine your child identifying any medical, developmental, and emotional issues. These visits are typically scheduled to begin 1-2 weeks after your arrival home with your new child. Ideally, we would like to see you before your initial visit with your primary care pediatrician. We will collaborate with your pediatrician to prevent redundancy in assessment lab-work. If you are from out of state or travel more than 3 hours to our clinic, we can complete your initial assessment in one lengthy clinic visit (this is termed a "combined visit"). If you need a combined visit, please make arrangements through our office prior to coming to the clinic. Otherwise the initial assessment visit will be divided into two separate clinic visits.
Follow-Up Visit
Following your child s Initial Post-Adoption Evaluation with the IAC, our specialists will request to see you back at specific times depending on your family and child's unique needs.
The monthly, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 1 year, and annual follow up assessments include a review of medical/nutritional, developmental/educational, and emotional/behavioral issues for your child. The length of time between follow-up appointments will be determined by our specialists at each visit and will vary due to the child and family needs. At each follow up visit, you may see the doctor and family therapist as well as the developmental specialist, if applicable.
Interdisciplinary Consult
If your child has been home for 1 year or more and is having difficulties academically, emotionally or with behavior, you may want to have an Interdisciplinary Consultation completed. The focus of this visit is to sort out what developmental or emotional difficulties may be hindering your child from reaching his/her greatest potential.
You and your child will have a consultation time with 3 specialists: Pediatrician, Developmental Specialist, and the Family Therapist.
Phone Consults (MD, Family Therapist or Developmental Therapist)
In a situation where you are unable to attend a clinic visit or need immediate help, a phone consult is a good option for most families. Depending on your child s situation, you have the option to discuss medical issues with one of our doctors, behavioral/emotional issues with our family therapist, or developmental issues with our development specialist. These consults are all fee for service, there is no insurance billing.
Letter Services
There are a variety of situations that may warrant an official letter from our clinic, detailing adoption issues and providing education and advocacy for your child. If you are experiencing obstacles receiving developmental services, behavioral services, issues with care related to your child s school, and even some insurance coverage issues, these may be reasons to consider an official letter from our clinic to those entities where you are experiences issues. If your future child has clinically documented urgent medical issues requiring expedited medical attention, we can provide an official letter to you for an expedient adoption process. (Note- expedited adoption letters are only written for those who have used IAC for their pre-adoption medical review).
Community Education
Our desire is to help provide another level of support to adoptive families through community education regarding the unique needs and demands of adopted children. We work closely with adoption agencies (both local and national), adoption advocates, and support groups to help meet the needs of families who have adopted. We are available to offer educational talks to schools, churches, pediatric practices or community organizations. To request community education, contact our office at 205-638-6964 or email adoption@peds.uab.edu.
