Openness in Adoption

In an open adoption, contact among birth parents, adoptive parents, and often the adopted child allows these family members to communicate and stay connected. This interaction may range from infrequent contact to mediated contact through a third party, email, or a P.O. box, to ongoing communication with shared identifying information. This section includes resources and information on openness options available to birth and adoptive parents.

Open Adoption
Creating a Family
Offers information about openness in adoption, including interviews with adoption professionals, blogs, and suggested books.

Openness in Adoption: Building Relationships Between Adoptive and Birth Families

Series Title	Factsheets for Families
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 357KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2013

Describes open adoption, which allows adoptive parents, and often the adopted child, to interact with the child?s birth parents or family. To support adoptive families in considering and maintaining open adoption, this factsheet describes various levels of openness, potential benefits, important considerations, and tips for building and strengthening open relationships. Open adoption is becoming increasingly common, in part due to a growing recognition of the potential benefits of allowing an adopted child or youth to establish or maintain connections with his or her birth family.

Openness in Adoption: From Secrecy and Stigma to Knowledge and Connections
Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (2012)
Presents a report depicting how extensively adoption in the U.S. has changed over the last several decades - from a time when it was shrouded in so much secrecy that birth and adoptive families knew nothing about each other, to a new reality today in which the vast majority of infant adoptions are "open," meaning the two families have some level of ongoing relationship.

Postadoption Contact Agreements Between Birth and Adoptive Families

Series Title	State Statutes
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 567KB)
Year Published	2014

Presents State statutes on postadoption contact agreements, which are arrangements that allow contact between a child's adoptive family and members of the child's birth family or other persons with whom the child has an established relationship. Topics covered include the contents of agreements; parties to agreements; the court’s role; and enforcing, modifying, and terminating agreements.

Understanding Open Adoption
Carney (2013)
Adoptive Families Magazine
Provides an overview of the challenges of open adoption and findings in current research.

Working With Birth and Adoptive Families to Support Open Adoption

Series Title	Bulletins for Professionals
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 393KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2013

Describes open adoption and ways in which professionals can guide birth and adoptive families who are contemplating open adoption or who are already having postadoption contact. Open adoption allows adoptive parents, and often the adopted child, to interact directly with birth parents. Also known as ?fully disclosed,? this type of adoption can help children and parents minimize and resolve the change or loss of relationships. It also can help those involved to maintain and celebrate adopted children?s connections with all the important people in their lives.

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