Open Adoption Can Be Positive for Your Child Down the Road

 Posted on November 13, 2013 in Adoption

Adding a child to your family is a very exciting prospect, but it is also a process that can feel confusing and emotionally overwhelming if it is your first time. One way to ease your anxiety is to work with a family lawyer experienced in adoption. This will give you more information about what to expect and how to structure the adoption in a way that is best for you and the child.

The Minnesota/Texas Adoption research project explored two waves of children who were adopted. In their first wave of research, the project creators found no relationship between adoption openness and self-esteem, but those results changed as time went on, possibly reflecting a greater trend about the desire for open adoption.

The first wave of research worked with adopted children between the ages of 4 and 12, and the second wave worked with children between 11 and 21 years old. For older adopted children, there is a positive aspect of having an open adoption: those teens who had birth mother contact were the most satisfied of all research groups with their level of birth parent contact overall. Most of the adolescents wanted more contract with their birth parents in the future, too.

For those teens who were satisfied with their birth mother contact, they reported that the communication contributed positively to identity formation and led to a greater desire to meet other birth relatives. Those who did not have contact with birth mothers expressed interest in opening the lines of communication as well as respect for the birth mother's decision regarding adoption.

As an adoptive parent, it is hard to structure a relationship with birth parents. Working directly with an experienced Texas family lawyer can tell you more about open adoptions and what agreements can be put in place to allow your family to grow while leaving some opportunity for birth parent connection down the road. Reach out today for more information.