Open Adoption

Where to start for Information on Open Adoption:

• Check out the following Creating a Family radio shows:
  • April 17, 2013: Open Adoption: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (Listen Now)

  • April 18, 2012: Birth Mother Panel: What First Moms Want Adoptive Parents to Know (Listen Now)

  • July 13, 2011: Open Adoption in Difficult Birth Parent Situations

  • March 30, 2011: Birth Mother Panel Answers Questions from Adoptive Parents (Listen Now)

  • May 19, 2010: Open Adoption (Listen Now)

  • November 12, 2008: Open Adoption: How Open is Open? (Listen Now)

• Other Creating a Family Resources:
  • Top Ten Essential Topics Every Prospective Adoptive Parent and Birth Mother Should Discuss Prior to the Adoption
  • Video on Open Adoption (10 minutes)
  • Blog titled Why Open Adoption?
  • Blog titled Who are Birth Mothers? - one woman’s story of placing her child in an open adoption.
    

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Research on Openness in Adoption:

• "Bridging the Divide: Openness in Adoption and Post-adoption Psychosocial Adjustment among Birth and Adoptive Parents" from the Journal of Family Psychology, 2008
  

• The Minnesota / Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP)

• "The Jury Is In Regarding Adoption Openness" By Thomas C. Atwood. Before you decide that an open adoption in not for you, read this well researched article by the CEO of the National Council for Adoption.

• "Openness in Adoption: Outcomes for Adolescents within Their Adoptive Kinship Networks" By Harold D. Grotevant, Yvette V. Perry, and Ruth G. McRoy. Great longitudinal research by some of the greats in this field on the successes of open adoption.

• "Open Adoption of Infants: Adoptive Parents' Feelings Seven Years Later" - How parents feel about the openness in their child's adoption in retrospect. Social Work, 2003
• Openness in Adoption and Post-Adoption Contact Agreements: A Review of the Empirical Research and Current State Law: Prepared by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. This is a 1999 report and is a bit dated, but the basic information is still good. It cover the research to date on the benefits of openess in adoption and covers the state laws on openess.

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General Information and Resources on Open Adoption:

• Ask The Adoption Expert - Openness in Challenging Situations - Post Adoption Counselor Nina Friedman, LCSW answers the question How do you successfully maintain a relationship if a birthparent is exhibiting unhealthy habits or way of life? You might also check out the July 13, 2011 Creating a Family show we did on this very topic - Open Adoption in Difficult Birth Parent Situations

• Openness is Adoption is a bulletin put out by the Child Welfare Information Gateway. It provides an excellent overview of open adoption and related issues.
  

• Open Adoption Support: Fantastic resource with info, support groups, discussions, etc.

• The Open Adoption Experience - A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families by Lois Ruskai Melina is an authoritative and reassuring guide to the issues and concerns of adoptive and birth families through all stages of the open adoption relationship.

• State Laws on Adoption: Summary of State laws addressing “Post adoption Contact Agreements Between Birth and Adoptive Families" at Child Welfare Information Gateway.

• Open adoption is not just an option for domestic adoption. It is possible to have an open adoption with international adoption as well. Here are a few resources to help you open your international adoption and give you food for thought as to the complexities:

• A Yahoo forum for families that have adopted from Guatemala and have ongoing relationships with birth families.

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Great Blogs on Open Adoption:

Our Adoption Blogs page lists many blogs that deal with open adoption:

• Adoptive Parent blogs
• Birth Mother blogs
• Birth Father blogs

And here are some wonderful individual blog posts that deal with open adoption:

• A Moment in Adoption Parenting - Great post!

• The Randolph Family Blog - This is the only entry that I saw that specifically talks about being a first mom, but oh my, what an entry it is.

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Support for Open Adoption:

• American Adoption Congress' homepage has a list of local adoption support groups in the US, and internationally.

• BirthMom Buds is an organization and website that provides peer counseling, support, encouragement, and friendship for birthmothers.
• Ohio Birthparent Group is an organization devoted to supporting first parents. Members from the group led a panel about what first moms want adoptive parents to know on our April 18, 2012 radio show.

• Open Adoption Support - a list of support groups for families and individuals who support openness in adoption

• Birth Mother/ First Mother Forum - Written by a fascinating insightful woman.

• Domestic Adoption support group on Facebook

• On Your Feet Foundation is dedicated to assisting birth mothers in achieving the personal and financial independence they need to take care of themselves and their families after placing a baby for adoption. They provide peer support and networking, vocational counseling and mentoring and educational grants. There are two locations: one located in Northern California open to birth mothers living in Northern California or who placed a child with a Northern California family, and one located outside of Chicago open to birthmothers living in Illinois and Indiana.

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