Open Adoption

Unfortunately, fertility treatments are not successful for every couple. If you and your partner have decided to end fertility treatments, you may be considering other options to help add to your family. Adoption is a wonderful way of providing a child with a loving and happy home. Open adoption is becoming increasingly popular amongst adoptive parents and birth parents. It allows for unique relationships to be established between you, your adopted child, and his birthparents. So if you are considering adoption, think about the possibilities provided by open adoption.

What is Open Adoption?
Open adoption is fast becoming one of the most popular types of adoption available in North America. It allows the birth parents and the adoptive parents to establish a closer relationship than that provided by a closed domestic adoption. The birth parents are able to choose the adoptive family based on their own judgment and criteria while the adoptive parents are allowed access to personal information, including the family and medical history of the birth parents. Open adoption typically involves an ongoing relationship between the birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptive child, which may include telephone calls, emails, or family visits.

History of Open Adoption
Open adoption is a fairly recent development. Before open adoptions, closed adoptions were the only choice for birth and adoptive parents’. Closed adoptions began in 1917, when it was decided that all documents regarding birth parents should be sealed. This meant that adoptive parents knew very little information about their adoptive child’s social or medical past. However, closed adoptions worked to respect the privacy of many birth parents in a time when adoption was not fully accepted.

Between 1940 and 1970, closed adoption was the norm. However, as adoption became more accepted, birth parents and adoptive parents began to wonder if closed adoption was truly benefiting adoptive children. Many adoptive parents wanted their children to know where they came from, and many birth parents wanted to be able to share this information with their children. As a result, open adoptions began in the 1980s.

Degrees of Openness
Not all open adoptions are created equal. There are varying degrees of openness from adoption to adoption, and it is important to consider this before entering into an open adoption. Typically, there are two types of open adoptions:

• Fully Open Adoption: A fully open adoption typically involves an ongoing personal relationship between the birth parents and the adoptive parents. The birth parents personally select the adoptive parents and have face-to-face contact with them prior to the adoption. A complete exchange of personal information takes place in a fully open adoption, including contact information. The birth parents retain a relationship with the child and the adoptive parents after the adoption takes place.
• Semi-Open Adoption: A semi-open, or modified, adoption differs from an open adoption in that the birth parents do not play as active a role. Birth parents may choose the adoptive parents or they may allow an agency to choose for them, based on certain criteria. The birth parents may or may not meet with the adoptive parents prior to adoption. After adoption, the birth parents may ask to receive pictures or letters about their child, but will likely not be involved in personal visits.

The Role of the Adoptive Parents
As adoptive parents in an open adoption, you are the legal guardian of your adoptive child. Even though you are participating in an open adoption, the birth parents have relinquished all legal parental rights to their child. However, in an open adoption, you take on the responsibility for maintaining an open relationship with your adoptive child’s birth parents, as agreed upon in your adoption contract.

The Role of The Birth Parents
The role of the birth parents in an open adoption is typically decided on by both the adoptive and birth parents. Together, they will discuss how often a birth parent should stay in contact, and through what means this contact should be made. In a fully open adoption, birth parents may stay in contact through:

• personal visits
• telephone calls
• letters and pictures

In a semi-open adoption, birth parents may only stay in touch through their adoption agency.

The Open Adoption Process
Open adoption is typically pursued through one of two avenues: independent adoption or agency adoption. Independent adoption involves using an adoption lawyer to help you legally adopt a child that you have located through your own personal means. An agency adoption is performed through an adoption agency. This agency distributes your file to birth parents, who can then select you to be adoptive parents. Agency adoptions are typically more expensive, but involve highly trained professionals who are familiar with the adoption laws in your area.

Why Choose Open Adoption?
There are many different reasons to choose open child adoption. Many of the most common reasons for looking to open adoption include:

• being able to maintain a close relationship with your adoptive child’s birth parents
• being able to provide your child with the opportunity to stay in contact with his birth parents.
• being able to have access to details about your adoptive child’s medical, personal, and family history.

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