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Placing children across the world in loving families

For more than 25 years, Coram IAC (Intercountry Adoption Centre) has been helping families navigate adopting from across the world.

As the UK’s leading international adoption agency, Coram IAC supports prospective adopters to adopt a child into the UK where the relevant government has agreed it is in the child’s best interest. We also use our specialist knowledge to provide services to UK professionals working in the field of intercountry adoption.

How we help place children with families

Our approach is to develop strong working relationships with other countries. This ensures that vulnerable children’s needs and wishes stay central during the adoption process. It also helps prospective adopters, who benefit from our knowledge of procedures and practices while in the adopting country and when returning to the UK.

We share our expertise with local authorities, regional adoption agencies and government departments. In 2023, 144 local authorities were signed up with us to deliver their intercountry adoption services, making us the UK’s preferred provider for this.

We have been recognised three times in a row by Ofsted as an ‘outstanding’ agency for our work preparing and supporting prospective intercountry adopters. This includes families seeking heritage placements or the ability to adopt related children living abroad. If that sounds like you, we are here to help.

"We found IAC to be a great help during the days of navigating our way through our intercountry adoption journey. We have stayed in touch and have no doubt that later on down the line they will be a great source of support for our little one on her journey too."
Mrs KB
Mrs KB from Hertfordshire adopted from India with the help of Coram IAC

2,500

enquiries each year, dealing with around 40 countries per month

40

the average number of children joining their adoptive families each year through Coram IAC; one-third are kinship/related adoptions

95%

of the families we work with are from the global majority

Coram CEO Dr Carol Homden with Coram IAC MD Irene Levine
"If you choose to apply through Coram IAC we will do our best to assist you and be here to support you and your child through their journey. Our services are judged to be outstanding and we are sure you will experience that for yourselves."
Irene Levine, Coram IAC Managing Director

Supporting professionals to deliver intercountry adoption

When local authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) sign up with Coram IAC to manage intercountry adoption, it ensures a smoother process for children and families and reduces costs by avoiding the need to train and support staff to deliver a service which can be challenging and complex to manage.

We also work with individual social workers and solicitors requiring support. Our Advice Line can be accessed by all adoption professionals and we frequently receive phone calls or emails from social workers, their managers, adoption lawyers and Children’s Guardians.

"The agency is staffed by an experienced and inspirational staff team. All of them have professional experience and expertise in different areas of working with children and adoption. Workers form respectful, positive and friendly relationships with prospective adopters, children and with other agency professionals."
Ofsted
In 2014, 2017 and 2020, Ofsted awarded Coram IAC outstanding adoption agency status

Interested to find out more about intercountry adoption?

Discover how we place children across the world in loving families

Visit the Coram IAC website