Open or Closed Adoption - Which Option Is Best?

Now that you have made sure that you arehis or her biological parents. Some families choose this
financially ready to adopt, that you have the rightoption to ensure that there are no further struggles
motives and information and are familiar with thewith the adoption of the child. Their justification is
types of adoption, you are ready to know about thethat it would be harder for both families to deal with
open and closed adoption. This is a very significantvisits and information and gifts being sent.
choice in the adoption process. This has to do withThere is however, a middle ground. Semi-open
the amount of contact, if any, the child will have withadoption allows the child to receive gifts and letters
his or her biological parents.from the biological parents but does not permit visits.
Full open adoption refers to when the child has theThis is a common way that many families tend to go
option of having a personal relationship with his or herabout the adoption process. It allows the child to feel
biological family. This specifically refers to the childas though they know where they are from and who
having direct contact with the birth parents. Whetherthey really are, without having to deal with the
you choose this option or not, you will be involvedemotional stress, the financial strain of traveling to
with the child's birth family in some way. Thevisit the other family and the sense of confusion the
biological family of your child makes up much of whochild may feel being part of a blended family, with
your child is. The option of open adoption allows youtwo sets of parents.
to further know the child that you have adopted, byYou must keep in mind that what you decide is not
allowing you to know the child's birth familyabout you. You are not to make a decision that
personally. In this case, the adoptive parents and thewould make the adults involved more comfortable.
birth parents need to see the contract that theyThe decision that you make should focus around the
agree upon as a covenant that they made for theneeds and the wants of the child involved. You need
child's sake. This type of adoption gives a child ato know about the parents of the child, prior to
sense of wholeness and allows that two families toadopting to know whether allowing the child to have
become, in many ways, one blended family. It allowscontact with the parent is in the child's best interest.
both families to get to know the child as a whole.Again, it is important that you talk with families that
The other side of things is the closed adoption. Thishave experienced both open ended and closed
form of adoption allows the child no contact at alladoptions to see what their opinion are, before
with his or her birth parents. The child may not knowmaking a final decision.
the name or location or any other information about