Open Adoption and Research
Research has historically been difficult to do with adoption due to confidentiality and closed, "secret" adoptions. So, study open adoptions,right? Well, that is also a challenge as no two adoptions are the same. Relationships and family circumstances are constantly changing. However, one study, Minnesota Texas Adoption Research Project, is the only longitudinal study to compare open adoption to other types of adoption. This research indicates that the following myths are false.The Myths About Open Adoption
Adoptive parents and birth parents in open adoptions are constantly confused about their parental rights. It's difficult to tell where one parent stops and the other begins.- False. Adoptive parents and birth parents within open adoptions are usually fully aware of their responsibilities and rights. This is a relationship that is constantly evolving and needs lots of open communication to flourish.
- False. Birth mothers and fathers working within an open adoption do not attempt to regain custody of their children. Seriously, how often do you hear of kidnapped adopted children on the news?
- False. Children in open adoptions understand the parental roles of their birth and adoptive families. This is easier for the children when the adults in their lives are open and honest with them.
- False. Research shows that an adopted teen's sense of identity and how preoccupied he is with adoption is not related to the level of openness in his adoption.
- False. Openness in adoption does not seem to influence the adoptee's self-esteem negatively.
- False. Adoptive parents in open adoption often feel that they have control and a GREATER sense of permanence in their relationship with their child.
- False. Most adoptive parents within an open adoption relationship with the birth family do not feel that they have any less right to parent their child.
- False. Birth mothers in open and ongoing mediated adoptions do NOT have more problems with grief resolution. In fact, research shows that they did better with grief resolution than those birth mothers in closed adoptions. However, research also shows that an abrupt stop in contact did cause birth mothers more difficulty in grief resolution.
Question: What Are the Differences in the Level of Contact in Open
Adoptions?
Contact within an adoption falls along a continuum with open communication at
one end and no contact at the other. (See Graphic) Contact can be made
directly between the adoptive parents and birth family or through a mediator,
like an agency caseworker or lawyer. In confidential or closed adoptions, no
identifying information is exchanged. The amount of contact can be negotiated
and renegotiated as the relationship and time goes forward. Some contact can be
as frequent as several times a month to every few years.
Answer:
Closed Adoption
An adoption that has no contact with the birth/first family of the adopted child. It also includes total confidentiality and sealed adoption records.
Semi-open Adoption
An adoption in which a child's birth parents and pre-adoptive parents may exchange primarily non-identifying information. After the child is placed in the adoptive home, contact with the birth family may involve letters or pictures or other communications sent through the mediator of the adoption agency or the attorney who assisted in the adoption.
Open Adoption
An adoption that has some degree of contact between the birth/first family and the adoptive family. Contact can range from letters and phone calls to visits. Contact can occur with the families moderating it themselves or with adoption agency as a go-between.
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Until the 19th century almost all adoptions were handled informally. If a young woman was pregnant and wanted to place her child, she did, with whomever she wanted. Usually it was done with the advice and consent of her parents, and generally, the child was placed with a family member or someone from her local town. There were no agencies, counselors, attorneys, or facilitators. No legal papers were ever filed, the government didn't get involved, and no one but the birth mother and her parents were ever consulted as to the welfare of the child.
In the late 19th century, closed adoption was born. The Victorian era had arrived to the detriment of our children. Children considered illegitimate were locked up and hidden away. Birth mothers became the scourge of society. They were labeled misfits, outcasts, bad girls, and were secretly whisked away to give birth to their children in nunnery's and secret hospitals across the nation. Such women were considered immoral, disallowing them the freedom of choice given to them and their families in the past.
Agencies soon had complete power over the child, and birth mothers had little, if any, rights to their newborn babies. Infants were torn from their mother's arms and taken to orphanages where adoptive families picked out babies and children with no known background or medical history. During the 19th century, this was purely a reflection of societal change. Laws making adoption secret were not passed until the late 1940's and 50's. Most baby- boomers grew up with the idea that a closed adoption is normal. In fact, it isn't normal, and, it isn't right.
The moral backlash in the 60's and 70's, brought about by society's rigid standards, began the push towards open adoption. Unmarried women giving birth were no longer considered bad, and they began to demand the right to pick who might parent their children. As the children of the closed adoption era grew older, they, in turn, began to demand the right to their personal histories.
By the 80's and 90's, the change from closed adoption evolved into what is now considered open adoption, something that is much healthier for both the birth mother and the child. The federal government and the states began to hear the children of closed adoption and to understand and appreciate their plight. Laws are still changing today as adopted children, birth mothers, and adoptive parents demand the rights that belong to them.
But there are still issues with open adoption that need to be addressed. Birth mothers are not legally entitled to have contact with the children they place for adoption. The Ongoing Contact Agreement is simply an agreement between two parties, the birth parent and the adoptive parents, to allow informal ongoing contact. If the adoptive parents choose to change their phone number, move across country, or ignore letters from the birth mother, they can legally do so. In this author's opinion, when an adoption is finalized, the ongoing contact plan should be a legally binding contract.
Furthermore, each state has its own set of rules and laws regarding adoption. Some states have made facilitators illegal even though they are the proponents of open adoption. As far as the federal government goes, they too have their own sets of laws regarding adoption. The adoption laws in the United States are as clear as mud. Adoptive parents must have the consent of the sending state as well as the receiving state before they can bring their children home, and birth mothers have varying time restraints as to when they have the right to reclaim, depending on where they live.
It is time to do something to change the adoption laws of this country. Both open and closed adoptions need to be legally allowed and respected by all. All states and the federal government need to engage in open dialogue to bring the adoption laws up to a single standard, thereby decreasing the worry, stress, and pain, of the adoption community.
An adoption that has no contact with the birth/first family of the adopted child. It also includes total confidentiality and sealed adoption records.
Semi-open Adoption
An adoption in which a child's birth parents and pre-adoptive parents may exchange primarily non-identifying information. After the child is placed in the adoptive home, contact with the birth family may involve letters or pictures or other communications sent through the mediator of the adoption agency or the attorney who assisted in the adoption.
Open Adoption
An adoption that has some degree of contact between the birth/first family and the adoptive family. Contact can range from letters and phone calls to visits. Contact can occur with the families moderating it themselves or with adoption agency as a go-between.
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Until the 19th century almost all adoptions were handled informally. If a young woman was pregnant and wanted to place her child, she did, with whomever she wanted. Usually it was done with the advice and consent of her parents, and generally, the child was placed with a family member or someone from her local town. There were no agencies, counselors, attorneys, or facilitators. No legal papers were ever filed, the government didn't get involved, and no one but the birth mother and her parents were ever consulted as to the welfare of the child.
In the late 19th century, closed adoption was born. The Victorian era had arrived to the detriment of our children. Children considered illegitimate were locked up and hidden away. Birth mothers became the scourge of society. They were labeled misfits, outcasts, bad girls, and were secretly whisked away to give birth to their children in nunnery's and secret hospitals across the nation. Such women were considered immoral, disallowing them the freedom of choice given to them and their families in the past.
Agencies soon had complete power over the child, and birth mothers had little, if any, rights to their newborn babies. Infants were torn from their mother's arms and taken to orphanages where adoptive families picked out babies and children with no known background or medical history. During the 19th century, this was purely a reflection of societal change. Laws making adoption secret were not passed until the late 1940's and 50's. Most baby- boomers grew up with the idea that a closed adoption is normal. In fact, it isn't normal, and, it isn't right.
The moral backlash in the 60's and 70's, brought about by society's rigid standards, began the push towards open adoption. Unmarried women giving birth were no longer considered bad, and they began to demand the right to pick who might parent their children. As the children of the closed adoption era grew older, they, in turn, began to demand the right to their personal histories.
By the 80's and 90's, the change from closed adoption evolved into what is now considered open adoption, something that is much healthier for both the birth mother and the child. The federal government and the states began to hear the children of closed adoption and to understand and appreciate their plight. Laws are still changing today as adopted children, birth mothers, and adoptive parents demand the rights that belong to them.
But there are still issues with open adoption that need to be addressed. Birth mothers are not legally entitled to have contact with the children they place for adoption. The Ongoing Contact Agreement is simply an agreement between two parties, the birth parent and the adoptive parents, to allow informal ongoing contact. If the adoptive parents choose to change their phone number, move across country, or ignore letters from the birth mother, they can legally do so. In this author's opinion, when an adoption is finalized, the ongoing contact plan should be a legally binding contract.
Furthermore, each state has its own set of rules and laws regarding adoption. Some states have made facilitators illegal even though they are the proponents of open adoption. As far as the federal government goes, they too have their own sets of laws regarding adoption. The adoption laws in the United States are as clear as mud. Adoptive parents must have the consent of the sending state as well as the receiving state before they can bring their children home, and birth mothers have varying time restraints as to when they have the right to reclaim, depending on where they live.
It is time to do something to change the adoption laws of this country. Both open and closed adoptions need to be legally allowed and respected by all. All states and the federal government need to engage in open dialogue to bring the adoption laws up to a single standard, thereby decreasing the worry, stress, and pain, of the adoption community.
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