FAMILIES & PROFESSIONALS DAY | 10 JULY 2026
The ICAR9 Organising Committee is pleased to announce an additional conference day, taking place on 10 July 2026, dedicated to adoptive families and professionals.
On this day, the lived experiences, needs and challenges of adoptees and adoptive families will serve as the starting point for reflection and discussion on how professional practice and scientific knowledge can best respond to these realities. It is designed as a shared space for dialogue between families and professionals from a range of different disciplines involved in adoption, including social work, health, education and justice.
We are actively designing this Families & Professionals Day to create a meaningful space where adoption experts can listen to and respond to adoptive parents, while also highlighting adoption successes and positive outcomes.
The Families & Professionals Day is an integral part of the ICAR9 – International Conference on Adoption Research. Therefore, it will take place at the same venue: Congress Centre of the Super Bock Arena in the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, Porto.
PROGRAMME
The Lived Experience of Adoption
Scientific Evidence in Addressing Adoption Challenges
08:00 – 08:45 am | ICAR9 Post-Conference Opening
Check-in and Welcome Coffee
08:45 – 09:30 am | Opening Session
09:30 – 11:00 am
“Medical and Developmental Care for Adopted Children: Easing the Transition into the Adoptive Family and Ensuring Life-long Health and Well-being”
Dana Johnson, University of Minnesota, USA
11:00 – 11:30 am | Coffee Break
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
*Title available soon.
Matt Woolgar, King’s College London, UK
12:30 pm – 02:00 pm | Lunch Break
02:00 – 03:30 pm
“Openness in Adoption: How Can We Better Help Adoptees Understand Their Identity and Stay in Touch with People Who Matter to Them?“
Beth Neil, University of Massachussets, USA
03:30 – 05:00 pm
“Partnership, Practice, and Belonging: Supporting Adopted Children at School.”
Andrew Brown, University of Oxford, UK
05:00 – 05:30 pm | Coffee Break
05:30 – 06:30 pm | Playback Theatre Presentation
06:30 – 07:30 pm | Sunset and Farewell