There’s no such thing as a silly question.

Because a family shouldn't have to live near a major children's hospital to get thoughtful, unhurried endocrine care. Dr. Toni Kim founded LIFE after nearly two decades in hospital and academic pediatric endocrinology, where she watched families wait months for brief visits and saw children told to wait and see. As families began traveling from other states to be seen, LIFE grew to meet them and became the first national concierge pediatric endocrinology practice.

Concierge pediatric endocrinology is specialty care for children’s growth, puberty, hormones, and metabolism, delivered by a board-certified physician with the time to truly know your child.

Your family has a dedicated pediatric endocrinologist, not a rotating schedule of providers. Visits are unhurried. Questions are answered by the physician who knows your child. Progress is followed closely between appointments, not left until the next one. And care reaches beyond the prescription, to the nutrition, sleep, and daily life that shape how a child grows.

It isn’t the traditional clinic made faster. It’s pediatric endocrinology rebuilt around the child.

Three things: time, access, and a wider lens. Our physicians review your child's full growth history, not just today's measurement. Families reach their physician directly by phone, text, or email, not through a call center. And every plan considers nutrition, sleep, activity, and environment alongside medication, so we act on what's driving a concern instead of waiting to see whether it resolves on its own. More Data. More Clarity. Better Outcomes.

Dr. Toni Kim, LIFE's founder, is a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist who has spent nearly two decades focused on growth and puberty. She trained at Children's Hospital Colorado and the Barbara Davis Center, served as chief resident at New York Medical College, taught as an assistant professor of pediatrics, and practiced at Dell Children's in Austin before founding LIFE. What sets her apart is how she practices: she pairs precise treatment, including growth hormone, aromatase inhibitors, and GnRH analogs, with a careful look at nutrition, sleep, and environment, and she tests rather than assumes. Many families have followed her across states over the course of her career.

Integrative endocrinology treats a child's hormones in the context of their whole life. It combines the full range of conventional endocrine medicine, including growth hormone, aromatase inhibitors, GnRH analogs, and GLP-1 therapy, with close attention to nutrition, sleep, activity, metabolic health, and environmental exposures such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The aim is to find and address what is driving a child's symptoms, not only to treat the symptom itself.

LIFE was founded to bring integrative endocrinology to children, in a field that has long treated growth, puberty, and metabolism mainly with prescriptions and follow-up intervals. Dr. Toni Kim built LIFE's model around one conviction: a child's hormones respond to everything in their life, so their care should account for everything in their life. Today every LIFE physician practices this way, in every office and every telemedicine visit.

The Science of Growth, The Art of Excellence.

LIFE's physicians care for children and teens with:

• Growth concerns and short stature, including growth hormone deficiency
• Early and delayed puberty
• Thyroid conditions
• Type 1 diabetes
• Adrenal insufficiency and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
• Weight, insulin resistance, and metabolic health
• PCOS (PMOS)
• POTS and MCAS, through our metabolic health and inflammation program

By your child's needs, not by whoever has the next opening. Each LIFE physician has areas of particular focus, such as growth and puberty, metabolic health, or bone health. Our care team matches your child with the physician whose focus fits and who sees patients near you. If you'd like to see a specific physician, tell us when you call.

Yes. Many families come to LIFE after being told to wait, or after a diagnosis that didn't feel complete. We review your child's full history, records, and prior testing, and give you a clear plan, whether it confirms the advice you've received or changes it. As many of our families say, "we are the Taj Mahal of second opinions."

Yes. We understand that many aspects of your child’s care can be handled remotely, and try to do as much as possible to streamline care. This includes connecting over video chat, email, text, and phone calls whenever possible. 

LIFE has offices in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Nashville, and sees families by telemedicine across the country. See every office and telemedicine state on our Locations page. If your family lives somewhere else, call us; many families travel to an office for their first visit.

Yes. Your child's physician stays your point of contact wherever you are, by phone, text, or email. We can coordinate local labs and help with prescriptions while you're away. Video visits depend on the state your child is in at the time of the visit, so let us know your plans and we'll schedule around them.

We care so much about your child’s growth and development that we want to make sure that we have addressed every aspect of your child’s life related to that. This takes time; time that you can only experience with concierge care.

Directly, by phone, text, or email. You reach your child's LIFE physician, not a call center. Direct access is part of membership, so questions don't have to wait for the next appointment.

Concierge means your child’s care is built around your family, not around a schedule, a waiting room, or an insurance formula.

It means unhurried time with a physician who knows your child. It means reaching that physician directly, by phone, text, or email, not through a call center. It means the details are taken care of, from coordinating with your pediatrician and school to working with your insurer on labs and medications. And it means a plan shaped by what your child needs, not by what a plan will authorize.

LIFE is out of network with insurance by design. Insurance often still covers lab tests, imaging, and many medications we prescribe. We also provide superbills, itemized receipts that some insurance companies, health savings accounts, and flexible spending accounts will reimburse.

Yes, with your permission. We coordinate with your child's pediatrician, other specialists, and school whenever it helps your child. When your child needs another specialist, we recommend physicians we trust and share your child's history with them, so care continues without starting over.

You don’t have to wait to get answers. An evaluation, including labs, a bone age, and a careful look at your child’s growth data and history, shows where your child is headed and which options may help. If everything is normal, you’ll know with confidence. If something isn’t, some treatments work best within a limited window, especially as puberty approaches.

Not always. We believe in educating patients and their families in every option and opportunity that will offer a benefit for a child. These options include lifestyle changes, supplements, and medications. We love working with your family to find the right combination of what is available that best fits your child's needs while meeting your family's goals. 

Yes. Our physicians evaluate metabolic health, including insulin resistance and the hormones that affect weight, and build a plan around nutrition, activity, sleep, and, when appropriate, medications such as GLP-1 therapy. The Confident Body Program offers a structured path for families who want one, but it isn't required. You can come in for an evaluation or weight-loss support on its own.

First, Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room, then contact your LIFE physician. Your physician can share your child's history and treatment plan with the emergency team and will follow up with your family after discharge.

LIFE is out of network with all insurance plans, and membership and visit fees are paid directly. This is deliberate: it lets your child's care follow what they need rather than what a plan will authorize. Insurance often still covers lab tests, imaging, and many medications we prescribe, and our team will help you work with your insurer on those.

Often, yes. We provide superbills, itemized receipts you can submit to your insurance company for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Some health savings and flexible spending accounts also cover our fees; check with your plan for details.

In the Patient Portal (Athena), you can find them in the Medical Forms section.