What is open adoption?

Open adoption is an adoption that allows for an ongoing relationship among the birth family, adoptive family, and adoptee. Fully open adoptions can often include extended family members such as birth grandparents and siblings.

There are several degrees of openness, and often, these are erroneously referred to as "open" adoption; however, they are actually less than fully open and range from an exchange of names between placing and adopting parents, to regular exchanges of letters and photos, either directly or through a third party.

In every adoption with any degree of openness, it is important that placing and adopting parents and family have the same understanding of what “open” means and that they remain committed to meeting the needs of the child throughout the child's life.

For more information, please visit OpenAdoptions.com.