What Is Open Adoption? Meaning, Benefits & Challenges
What is open adoption? This is an adoption arrangement where both the adoptive family and birth family maintain a great level of contact or communication before and after the adoption. The level of openness can vary greatly from occasional updates and photos to phone calls or even face-to-face visits.
In today’s guide, I will show you how open adoption works, its possible benefits and challenges, and how you may arrange contact. What birth families and adoptive families must have in mind before choosing this type of adoption.
By the end of this guide, you will understand:
- What Open adoption means.
- How Open adoption works.
- Benefits of Open adoption.
- The possible challenges of open adoption
- How contact and an open adoption agreement may work.
If you are ready, let’s dive in.
The first question is:
What is Open Adoption?
Open adoption is the type of adoption where the parents or the birth mother and the adoptive parents share common contact and “identifying information” with each other. That is the common definition of Open adoption.
Open adoption does not work the same way for every family. While some families have frequent contact, the others may communicate only a few times in a year.
You should discuss the level of openness carefully before placement, as it may change over time, especially when family circumstances change, or the child’s needs change.
Sometimes, families may use a written post-adoption contact agreement to demonstrate the type of frequency of contact. Whether such agreements are enforced by law depends greatly on state law, so you must understand the rules that work where you want to adopt.
Question 2
How Does Open Adoption Work?
Open adoption works through an agreed-upon level of communication between the birth family and adoptive family. The level of contact can differ greatly depending on the families, the adoption arrangement, and applicable state laws.
In many domestic adoptions, prospective parents may have the opportunity to help choose an adoptive family. The families can also discuss the level of communication or contact they are willing to maintain before and after placement.
Successful open adoption usually depends on respectful communication, healthy boundaries, and a willingness to adjust as the child’s needs change.
Here are some important parts of how open adoption may work.
1) Both Families Agree On The Level Of Contact
The biological and the adoptive families can discuss and agree on the level of communication they are willing to maintain. Depending on their arrangement, contact may include photos, messages, phone calls, video calls, or face-to-face visits.
Both families should understand and agree on the level of openness expected before placement. Clear expectations and healthy boundaries can make the relationship easier to manage, although the contact may likely change when the child grows.
2) Expectant Parents May Help Choose the Adoptive Family
In many private domestic adoptions, the expectant family can review the intending families and also choose a family they feel comfortable with to adopt their child.
The main matching process depends on the adoption professional, the applicable laws, and other circumstances.
3) Contact May Continue After Adoption.
In an open adoption, the biological family and the prospective adoptive families may decide to continue their communication even after the adoption is finalized. The agreed levels of contact may include photos, letters, messages, phone or video calls, social media, or one-on-one visits.
The level of contact usually depends on what both families agreed is convenient for them and what is appropriate for the adoptee. According to Child Welfare Information Gateway, these arrangements may change in the future as the child’s needs and family circumstances change.
What Is an Open Adoption Agreement?
open adoption agreement, also known as a post-adoption contact agreement, describes the level and frequency of communication that adoptive and biological families, and sometimes other important people in the child’s life, agree to.
The agreement may include arrangements for photos, phone calls, letters, or in-person visits. The purpose is to give both families a clearer understanding of what contact may look like after placement.
The legal status of post-adoption contact agreements is different in many states. Certain agreements may be legally enforceable in some states when they meet specific requirements and are approved as part of the adoption process. In other situations, the agreement will help to guide both families without being legally enforceable.
Due to different rules, families should discuss the agreement with their adoption agencies, or an attorney that’s conversant with adoption laws in their state. The agreement may also need to be reviewed or adjusted as the child’s needs evolve.
Benefits of Open Adoption
Ongoing Connection for Birth Parents
Placing a child for adoption can involve overwhelming emotions, which may include loss, uncertainty, and grief. In an open adoption, the agreed levels of contact may allow biological parents to receive updates and remain connected to the child as to matures.
Depending on the agreement, the contact may include sending photos, messages, video calls, or in-person visits. Some birth parents only want to know that their child is properly cared for. However, open adoption does not remove the grief that usually comes with adoption.
Open adoption, however, allows them to be involved in the growing up of their child even when they have been adopted. Choosing a good adoptive family for their child gives them some levels of control over the process.
After the proper adoption has taken place, the birth parents and adoptive parents will schedule visits, send pictures, and make calls, which aids the child’s parents in overcoming the grief that follows their separation from the child.
Maintaining Important Family Connections
Open adoption can help an adopted child maintain some connection with their biological family when that contact is safe and appropriate. The level of connection is not always the same in all families and may change as the child grows.
Ongoing communication on the other side gives biological and adopting families the opportunity to share their family information, answer questions, and help the child understand their adoption story. Setting healthy boundaries and having respectful communication remains a priority to everyone involved.
Openness Can Help Families Build Trust
For some expectant parents considering adoption, understanding that they may still have contact after adoption helps them know what the future relationship could look like. Open adoption should be based on informed and clear expectations rather than pressure or promises about how fast the adoption process could be.
Adoptive Parents May Have More Family Information
Maintaining open communication with the birth family may give the adopting parent more access to necessary information regarding the child’s medical history, culture, and other important details.
However, open adoption is not a guarantee that every piece of family or medical details will be available. The level of information shared depends greatly on the circumstances of each adoption.
Adoptees May Have Greater Access to Their Story
For the adoptee, open adoption may give them opportunities to learn about their birth family, culture, and circumstances surrounding their adoption.
As they grow, having access to their family information may also make it easier to ask questions that will help them understand different parts of their identity and adoption story.
However, this doesn’t mean every adopted child will have the same experience or that open adoption will remove every question they will have about adoption.
Challenges of Open Adoption:
Open adoption can build meaningful connections while also bringing challenges. Families may need to deal with changing expectations, communication difficulties, and different ideas about the amount of contact available.
Sometimes, children may have questions or complex feelings concerning their relationships with both their biological and adoptive families. Age-appropriate explanation and supportive communication can help them understand these relationships effectively.
Changes in contact can also be emotionally difficult. If visits, calls, or other communication become less frequent or stop, the child or other family members may experience disappointment, confusion, or grief.
Birth and prospective families may as well have differing expectations about visits, communication, financial boundaries, or communication in the child’s life. Talking about these expectations on time and maintaining healthy boundaries can minimize misunderstanding.
When serious disagreements erupt, an adoption professional, counsellor, mediator, or attorney may be of good help depending on the issue.
For a deeper look at both sides, see our guide to the advantages and disadvantages of open adoption.
If changes in contact are becoming a serious concern, our article on whether adoptive parents can close an open adoption explains the issue in more detail.
Conclusion:
What is open adoption? It is an adoption arrangement that allows a good level of communication or contact between the biological and adopting families. It also sometimes provides ongoing family connections and access to necessary information. However, it also requires clear expectations and boundaries that keep the child’s needs at the top.
The best level of openness will not be the same for every family and is liable to change as the child matures. Before you choose an open adoption arrangement, ensure that you discuss your expectations carefully with everyone involved and seek advice from your adoption professional or an attorney when you have legal questions.
If you are still thinking about which level of openness may suit your family, read our guide to open vs. closed adoption.
