The Adoption Health Service supports families throughout the adoption process by providing pre-parenting education, pre-adoptive counseling,review of medical information, and post adoptionsupport and medical services.
Our goal is to optimize health outcomes for internationally and domestically adopted children by providing comprehensive, high-quality care through a child-centered approach.
Our strengths
• Three decades of international experience with children.
• Second international adoption clinic established in US.
• Individualized adoption reviews conducted by a team of specialists.
• Pre-adoptive parenting classes for adoptive families.
• PARTners in-home post adoption follow-up program.
• Unlimited access to our specialist team through the adoption process.
• Extensive knowledge of adoption procedures in over 30 countries.
Since 1996, the Adoption Health Service has assisted in more than 2000 successful adoptions.
Our experts-- a multidisciplinary team of pediatricians, pediatric specialists, nurses, social workers and therapists--specialize in counseling families regarding the cultural and health implications of both domestic and international adoption. Our team identifies and treats health conditions that may impact adopted children, such as attachment disorders, fetal alcohol syndrome, developmental delays, malnutrition and a variety of infectious diseases.
Our physicians and staff have first-hand experience working with children from other countries, as well as extensive experience navigating the domestic foster care and child welfare system.
The Adoption Health Service, directed by Anna M. Mandalakas, MD, is a specialty clinic that works in collaboration with primary care providers and pediatricians. Our staff also works closely with physicians in more than 30 major pediatric divisions ranging from cardiology to urology. Specialists from Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, ranked the best children’s hospital in the Midwest, can help diagnose, manage and treat the many conditions that may be present when your child arrives home.
The Adoption Health Service is one of the many services under the umbrella of the Rainbow Center for Global Child Health (RCGCH). The RCGCH provides service, education and research to improve the health of children worldwide. Dr. Karen Olness, RCGCH founding director, has worked with internationally adopted children since 1974. Dr. Olness, an expert in developmental and behavioral pediatrics, has been involved with children from developing nations for more than 30 years. She also is the adoptive parent of two children, one from abroad.