The following information has been adapted from the Child Welfare Information Gateway (CWIG) fact-sheet entitled Openness
in Adoption.
What is open adoption?
An open, or fully disclosed, child adoption allows adoptive parents, and often the adopted child, to interact directly with birth parents. Family members interact in ways that feel most comfortable to them. Communication may include
letters, e-mails, telephone calls, or visits. The frequency of contact is negotiated and can range from every few years to several times a month or more. Contact often changes as a child grows and has more questions about his or her adoption or as families'
needs change. It is important to note that even in an open child adoption, the legal relationship between a birth parent and child is severed. The adoptive parents are the legal parents of an adopted child.
The goals of open adoption are:
- To minimize the child's loss of relationships.
- To maintain and celebrate the adopted child's connections with all the important people in his or her life.
- To allow the child to resolve losses with truth, rather than the fantasy adopted children often create when no information or contact with their birth family is available.
Is open adoption right for our family?
Open child adoption is just one of several openness options available to birth parents and families, ranging from confidential, to semi-open (or mediated), to fully open child adoption. In a semi-open or mediated child adoption, contact
between birth and adoptive families is made through a mediator (e.g., an agency caseworker or attorney) rather than directly. In a totally closed (confidential) child adoption no contact takes place and no identifying information is exchanged.
Making an open child adoption work requires flexibility and a commitment to ongoing relationships, despite their ups and downs. While this type of child adoption is not right for every birth mother and family, open child adoption can
work well if everyone wants it and if there is good communication, flexibility, commitment to the process, respect for all parties involved, and commitment to the child's needs above all.
Open adoption questions to be considered.
In an open child adoption, families need to consider when and how much to tell a child about his or her birth family, and then if and how to involve him or her in that relationship. An adoption professional can help you address some
of these issues. Some of the questions you may want to consider include:
- At what age should a child be included in contact with his or her birth family?
- What happens if one party decides to break off all contact?
- What will the birth parents' role be in the child's life?
- How will your child explain his or her relationship with birth relatives to his or her peers?
- How will you handle other adopted siblings who have different levels of openness in their adoptions?
Pros and Cons of open and closed adoption
Table of pros of each type of child adoption for the involved parties
Table of cons of each type of child adoption for the involved parties
Open adoption resources
There are many resources available to help you determine what level of openness might be best for you. The CWIG website includes the following websites:
Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project provides information on a longitudinal study of openness in child adoption
since 1985. The most recent wave included a total of 720 individuals: both parents in 190 adoptive families, at least one adopted child in 171 of the families, and 169 birth mothers.
Cooperative (Open) Adoption Laws provides laws for each State on open (sometimes called "cooperative")
child adoption, compiled by CWIG.
Insight: Open Adoption Resources and Support offers open child adoption resources for professionals and support for
child adoptive and birth parents considering open child adoption.
The CWIG also includes the following books as references:
"Children of Open Adoption" by Patricia Martinez Dorner and Kathleen Silber (1997, Independent Adoption Press). The topics in this book include the essential "ingredients" for successful
open child adoption and communication tips for talking about open child adoption with children of all ages.
"How to Open an Adoption" by Patricia Martinez Dorner (1998, R-Squared Press). This book gives guidance to child adoptive parents, birth parents, and child adoption professionals in how to navigate more inclusive relationships.
"Lifegivers: Framing the Birth Parent Experience in Open Adoption" by James L. Gritter (2000, CWLA Press). This book examines the ways birth parents are marginalized. The author makes the point that adopted children
are best served when birth parents and adoptive parents work together to ensure that birth parents remain in children's lives.
"The Open Adoption Experience" by Lois Ruskai Melina and Sharon Kaplan Roszia (1993, Harper Perennial). This complete guide for adoptive and birth parents touches on almost every aspect of open child adoption.
"The Spirit of Open Adoption" by Jim Gritter (1997, CWLA Press). This book gives a realistic look at the joys and pains of open child adoption for birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive parents.
"What is Open Adoption?" by Brenda Romanchik (1999, R-Squared Press). Written from the perspective of a birth mother in an open child adoption, this pocket guide provides concise information and resources. |