Open Adoption Characteristics

A true open adoption has four main characteristics:

• The birth parents select the adoptive family.
  
• The birth and adoptive families are in face-to-face personal contact.
  
• Both families exchange full identifying information.
  
• Both families establish and maintain an ongoing relationship.

Adoptive and birth families have much in common. This commonality is rooted in the grief and loss they both experience. In open adoption, birth and adoptive families come to share several beliefs. These include:

• Every child is a gift from God. The needs of the child must come first.
  
• Honesty, coupled with gentleness, produces the best results.
  
• Pain and loss are always part of adoption. These feelings cannot be ignored.
  
• Adoption is a life-altering experience for everyone involved.

Open adoption eliminates the myths, misconceptions and secrecy present in closed adoption.