All For You specializes in Open adoptions. There is a large amount of information on what an Open adoption is. Along with this information is a wide variety of opinions on what an Open adoption is. For our purposes we will define Open adoption as any adoption plan that includes the birth parents and adoptive parents having some kind of relationship with each other. To better explain our definition we will start with what a Closed adoption is.
Closed adoption:
The adoptive parents and birth parents receive only non-identifying information about each other. They do not meet or ever talk to each other. The birth parent does not want to receive pictures and updates on the child after he/she is placed.
Closed adoption is very rare in this day. Even with this type of adoption, All For You requires that adoptive parents provide the agency with pictures and updates on your child at least every three months the first year and every year thereafter. We will keep these pictures and updates in your file, should you decide later that you would like to receive them.
Open adoption can be described by various levels of openness.
Least Open:
The adoptive parents and birth parents receive non-identifying information about each other and may talk to each other by phone and/or email before the child is born. The adoptive parents never meet each other personally. The birth parent receives pictures and updates through the agency after the baby is placed in an adoptive home.
Minimally Open:
All of the above and the adoptive parents and birth parents meet at the hospital when the baby is born.
More Open:
All of the above and the adoptive parent and the birth parents meet before the baby is born on one or more occasions. Often the birth parents and adoptive parents share their time together while the baby is in the hospital and prior to discharge.
Even More Open:
All of the above and the adoptive parents and birth parents continue the relationship for a short time after the baby is placed with the adoptive family. However the relationship eventually becomes one where the adoptive parents send updates and pictures to the agency for the birth mother.
Very Open:
All of the above and the adoptive parents share their identifying information and plan to stay in touch with each other without the agency being involved. This level of openness often includes both families meeting either yearly or at special times in the child’s life to visit each other.
All For You wants to make sure that you know what all of your options are regarding Open Adoption. There is no one right plan or wrong plan in Open adoption. The plan should be based on what you as the birth parent can feel comfortable with. Likewise All For You will help you find an adoptive family that will not only just agree to your wishes but an adoptive family that wants the same thing in an Open adoption that you want. An agency or a birth parent cannot legally force an adoptive parent to continue with an Open adoption. Therefore it is very important that you are matched with an adoptive family that will “embrace” your wishes and not just agree with them to have the chance to adopt your child.
If you want to learn more about “Very Open Adoption” and visitation with your child after he/she is placed in an adoptive home, let us know and we will give you more literature to read to help you decide what kind of adoptive placement is best for you and your child.