In the International Adoption Clinic we provide services before, during and after adoption to help you build a healthy future for your child.

The International Adoption Clinic at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital serves the families of children adopted from outside the United States. We work in conjunction with your child’s primary care physician to help assess and manage medical needs commonly seen in children from other countries.

As you plan for international adoption, we will work with you to assess your child’s medical history, photos or video before they arrive in the United States, help you interpret the information contained in translated documents, and discuss your child’s possible future medical needs with you.

We also offer a comprehensive physical exam, developmental screening, testing for vaccine immunity, and testing for infections after your child arrives in the United States.

The International Adoption Clinic team works directly with other physicians at Johns Hopkins All Children’s, so you and your child have access to physicians in a variety of specialties depending on your child’s medical needs. The Johns Hopkins All Children’s General Pediatric clinic also provides primary care services, including a range of outpatient services such as routine checkups and immunizations.

Pre-adoption medical records review

When reviewing medical records before your child arrives in the United States, it’s important to remember that pre-adoption evaluations of medical and photographic records may not provide a comprehensive view of a child’s possible future medical or developmental conditions.

Such records can help us identify obvious physical or laboratory features that suggest possible medical or developmental conditions. However, records may be poor quality, limited, or contain inaccuracies. Translations of medical documents may also contain terms that are unfamiliar to many American physicians.

When you send documents by mail or email, please indicate your preferred phone numbers in your message. The clinic physician will consult with you by phone.

Post-adoption medical evaluation

Once your child arrives in the United States, we provide comprehensive physical exams and additional services including:

• Laboratory screening tests for infectious diseases and vaccine responses.
• Evaluation of growth status.
• Developmental screening of communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving and personal-social skills. You will be mailed a questionnaire to be completed before the visit.
• Immunization counseling.
• Referral to other pediatric specialists, as needed.

We recommend that the clinic visit be postponed until your child has been with you for at least one to two weeks to allow him or her some time for adjustment.

We also offer follow-up care after your initial visit for developmental and behavioral concerns. Services include:

• Comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessment.
• Review of behavior, sleep, feeding and developmental concerns in a socio-cultural context.
• Monitoring of development over time and neurodevelopmental testing as needed.

Follow-up care

After your child’s initial appointment, we will treat him or her for any specific infections determined during a visit. Patients typically return every six months for follow-up and reassessment as needed, or more frequently if specific needs require closer follow-up.

Your child’s primary care physician will remain the main provider of medical care for your child, and we will send any recommendations directly to your child’s primary care physician.

Referral and payment

For a standard pre-adoption medical records review, the charge is $237 payable by check to All Children’s Specialty Physicians or by credit card. For complex or rush review, the charge is $400.

For clinical evaluations of children after adoption, we accept third-party payments from most insurance and managed care companies. Some insurers require a referral authorization from your child’s primary care physician to be seen by a specialist.

We accept referrals to the clinic from physicians and self-referral by families. All recommendations are forwarded in written form to the child’s primary care physician.