Open Adoption Stories

Many people believe that adoptions still happen the way they did decades ago when closed adoption was the norm.

Back then, the birth mother wasn’t involved in the adoption process. Adoption agencies decided which adoptive parents should adopt which baby, and the birth mother had no idea where her baby went. In addition, the adoptive parents did not receive any information about their child’s medical history.

However, adoption has evolved over the years, and now most private or independent adoptions are open adoptions. In fact, only 5% of infant adoptions are closed, according to a survey of 100 private adoption agencies.

What does this mean for you as hopeful adoptive parents? You will likely have an open adoption with your child’s birth mother. In open adoption, the birth parents and adoptive family get to know each other and stay in contact after placement. Most birth mothers today desire an open adoption because they need to know how their child is doing. In addition, keeping in touch with the adoptive family can provide reassurance that the birth mother made the right decision in choosing to place her baby for adoption.

“For me, open adoption means I’m not spending the rest of my life wondering if my child is safe and whether I made the right choice. Open adoption gave us both a chance to explore our dreams and take control of our futures,” shares Jessica, a birth mother.

Whether you’re thinking about adoption for your baby or child, taking that first step can be hard. Every year, Lifetime Adoption provides confidential help to hundreds of women from all backgrounds and situations. Call or text Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784 whenever you’re ready to learn more about adoption.

What Does Open Adoption Look Like?

No two open adoption stories are alike; there are varying degrees of contact in an open adoption arrangement. Open adoption can look like emails sent through your adoption professional to the birth parents, or it may look like in-person visits once a year. The amount and method of contact in an open adoption is a personal decision made together by the adoptive family and the birth parents. Lifetime is there to support and help these open adoption stories along the way.

Some are wary of open adoption because they believe it means co-parenting or the birth mother can show up anytime to reclaim her child. Lifetime recommends researching open adoption and watching videos of open adoption stories so you can find out what it looks like in real life. Share your concerns with your adoption professional, who can answer questions you have and explain the details about open adoption.

Open Adoption Stories

Lifetime has witnessed so many beautiful open adoption stories and birth mother relationships. Open adoption normalizes a child’s adoption. It brings the child together with people who love them most, their birth parents and adoptive parents.

Research has shown that children in open adoptions benefit from a stronger sense of self, enveloped by the love of both their adoptive parents and birth parents. The adoptive parents benefit, too, as they receive crucial genetic information and health history about their child. As one birth mother says, “Knowing my daughter’s family health history could mean the difference between life and death. For example, my daughter will need to know that her dad’s side of the family has a history of high blood pressure.”

Lifetime Adoption has helped create many miracles through the blessing of open adoption. Our staff loves to share these heartwarming open adoption stories with others so that they might also recognize the beauty of this type of adoption.

As adoptive parents Nicholas and Kristin share, “We feel honored to be chosen by the Lord and Gabriel’s birth mother to parent our son…We appreciate all that Lifetime did to support us in our time of waiting, and also for introducing us to the amazing young woman who changed our world forever by choosing us to parent Gabriel.”

We’d love to help you create your own beautiful open adoption story! To learn how to get started on the path to adoption, call Lifetime Adoption at 727-493-0933. If you’re ready today, then fill out our free online application to adopt.