If you are looking into adopting a child, there are a lot of steps involved and decisions to be made. One of the most important of these is the decision regarding the type of adoption you want. Here you will be presented with three types of adoption and the pros and cons of each of them.
1. Open Adoption
Having an open adoption means you want to keep close contact with the birthmother after placement. In some cases, this can mean sharing non-identifying information, and sometimes it means exchanging fully all the information between the adoptive parents and birth parents. The communication between the two might come in form of letters, emails, phone calls, sharing photographs, or even visitations.
An open adoption gives the adoptive parents a unique opportunity to get to know the birth parents and it also allows the birth parents to be a bigger part of their child’s life. This type of adoption also gives birth parents a peace of mind — they can see the family who will take care of the child.
2. Semi-open Adoption
A semi-open adoption means that the birth and adoptive parents share information, but not to the extent of a fully open adoption. Photographs and letters are often exchanged, but not much else beyond that. The advantage of open adoption is that both parties can keep in touch to some degree. This is a common option for birthmothers who feel that a fully open adoption would be too difficult but still want to have a place in their child’s life and keep up with their lives as they grow up.
3. Closed Adoption
This is the least common adoption type we deal with. This type of adoption is where the adoptive parents and birthparents never meet and know nothing or very little about each other. There is no contact at all after the adoption is finalized. Nowadays, most birthparents and adoptive parents want at least some form of continuing contact, but closed adoptions certainly do still happen.
Keep in mind that you should tailor the type of adoption to your interests, the interests of the birthmother and the interests of the child. Before making a decision, you should also be aware of the fact that the birthmother you are connected with might want a different type of adoption than the one which would suit you best, so it is best to keep an open mind and think thoroughly about what is best for everyone.
