Common Fears Regarding Openness in Adoption

It is common for prospective adoptive families to initially have fears or concerns regarding openness (contact) with their child's birth family members. Often, learning more about the adoption agency, the open adoption process, and the family background of the child you are being considered for adoption will allay many of these fears. This section offers resources to help families make an educated decision regarding pre- and postadoption openness, based on their own circumstances and what will be best for their child. State and local examples are included.

Are You Wondering How to Respond to Contact From a Birth Relative? (PDF – 75 KB)
Benevolent Society, Post Adoption Resource Centre
Addresses common issues regarding postadoption contact.

Hospitious Adoption: How Hospitality Empowers Children and Transforms Adoption
Gritter (2009)
View Abstract
Describes hospitality as the next step after open adoption and promotes the approach of practicing goodwill, respect, and courage to make the process move smoothly. The book discusses how relationships between birth parents and adoptive parents can be supported and nurtured using hospitality and illustrates the steps with case studies.

The Impact of Current Laws on Negotiated Relinquishments
The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Explores key issues in open adoption practice.

Open Adoption Over the Years
Adoptive Families Magazine
Addresses how parents involved in open adoption ensure a good fit, work through challenges, and keep the relationship going as both families grow and change.

Open Adoption Works for Us
Adoptive Families Magazine
Recounts the experience of an adoptive mother who chose open adoption.

Understanding Open Adoption
Adoptive Families Magazine Adoption Guide
Provides an overview of the challenges of open adoption and the findings in current research.

Voices of Adoptees
New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children (NYSCCC)
Provides articles, comments, and responses from adoptees in transracial or transcultural families.

When Problems Occur with Birthparents
Family Education
An overview of some problematic issues in open adoption.

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State and local examples

Open Adoption & Mediated Contact Agreements (PDF - 262 KB)
New Mexico Court Improvement Project
Describes the advantages of open adoption and reviews the process for open adoption mediation in New Mexico. This brief also clarifies the roles for various participants in the adoption case, including the judge, permanency worker, attorneys, birth, foster, and adoptive parents, adopted child/youth, and others.

Realizing Open Adoption Dreams (The ROAD)
New York Council on Adoptable Children (2005)
Promotes permanence through adoption for older youth in foster care in New York City while also maintaining their existing relationships with birth family members and others who have significant meaning in their lives.

Sustaining Birth Family Connections Post Adoption
Casey Family Services Connections Count (2007)
Describes programs in Oregon, Michigan, and New York that support greater involvement of birth families in the lives of children and youth adopted from foster care.

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