MyFertilityGuide

What is Open Adoption?

The term 'open adoption' defines a special relationship between the birth parents and the adoptive parents of an adopted child. Specifically, it refers to an open sharing of information amongst the parents about the child and with the child and may include visits and other forms of contact. The time period in which this contact occurs may be before, during or after the adoption has taken place and may last a lifetime.

Open adoption encompasses a wide spectrum of definitions. It can be as minimal as each set of parents knowing each other's identity. The birth parents may help choose the adoptive parents and the adoptive parents will have access to genetic medical information to use on the child's behalf. It can mean that should the child like to meet his or her birth parents one day, the information will be legally available to them.

On the other hand, openness can mean an active relationship between the birth parents and the adoptive parents throughout the life of the child. A middle ground might be the birth parents meeting the adoptive parents and visiting their home before the child is placed but minimal contact afterward. The degree of openness between the sets of parents depends upon everyone's comfort level and desire for contact as agreed upon from the outset of the adoption process.

What is the History of Open Adoption in the United States?

Informally, open adoption has always been in practice but only in the last quarter of a century have open adoptions become a well known and common practice with legal protection and guidelines. The Minnesota Act of 1917 ruled that adoption records and birth certificates must be kept sealed and private and by the 1950s almost every state had created similar laws in an effort to protect the right of anonymity for the birth parents. This anonymity was shown to result in psychological and emotional issues for the adoptees by the mid-70s and it was then that the laws began to evolve to allow—and even encourage—open adoption.

What are the Benefits of Open Adoption?

Researchers are increasingly coming to the agreement that open adoption can be a positive thing for everyone involved. No matter how the adoptive and birth parents agree to go about it, the adopted child benefits from the ability to ask questions while the birth parents can actively see how their decision benefited the child and the adopted parents can rest assured that they are not at risk of losing their child to the birth parents.