Open Adoptions

As you can all probably imagine, I've been doing quite a bit of research about adoption. =) I'm reading adoption books, visiting adoption forums, following adoption blogs... adoption, adoption, adoption! It has all been very, very eye opening.

I've gotten a sense that Jonathan and I are entering into adoption at a time of change. In general, there's a movement to make adoptions more "open." Here's what I've learned about "closed" adoptions vs. "open" adoptions.

The relationship an adoptive family has with a birth family can fall anywhere on the spectrum between closed and very open. A closed adoption means that the birth parents and adoptive parents have no further contact after the birth of the child. None. An open adoption, however, can mean many different things. At the very least, it means that the adoptive parents send pictures and updates to the adoption agency once or twice a year. The adoption agency then forwards the info to the birth family. But an open adoption can also consist of the exchange of contact information, e-mails, phone calls, visits... whatever feels comfortable to everybody involved.

The two sets of parents come to an agreement about what kind of contact they want in the future, how much, etc. These agreements are not usually legally binding, so everyone just hopes that each side holds up their end of the agreement.

So, that's what we've learned about closed vs. open adoptions in a (very small) nut shell. (I don't think I've ever written " in a nut shell" before. It looks weird. Is it "nutshell"? or "nut shell"?) More later on what we think could work best for us.

PS- If you come across any weirdo posts in this blog (i.e. the "ultrasound"!!!), make sure to check the signature at the bottom. Hundred bucks says it's usually the crazy husband.