https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 13:38:19 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-703542 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:26:26 +0000 Mrs. Train 703542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for sharing. I haven't had time to read the whole thing but I am going to book mark it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-695658 Sat, 06 Apr 2013 04:29:29 +0000 immabeetoo 695658@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for sharing this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-695551 Fri, 05 Apr 2013 22:03:55 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 695551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Silva: Thanks for weighing in. Circumstances sometimes change and I understand that it's sometimes necessary to close a previously open adoption, but I wish that people would do everything they can to honor the agreement that they've put in place.</p> <p>It really gives adoptive parents a bad name when they change the agreement once the baby is in their care. It makes it look like they got what they wanted and all the birth family was good for was making "their" baby. And that's not good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-690151 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 06:18:21 +0000 Silva 690151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In the state I live in there is no legally protected "open adoption." The agency I work for has an adoption department that handles all of the private adoptions in the state, and they work with adoptive and birth parents to develop non-legally binding letters/contracts about contact.<br /> I wish that these contracts could be enforced, but basically once you relinquish your parental rights you relinquish all rights and expectations, and its up to the adoptive parents to maintain the contact.</p> <p>Whats nice is that the contract/letter is determined individually by each family, so it can range from "we'll give them life books and your letters when they turn a certain age" to "you can come visit at holidays and occasional weekends."</p> <p>Obviously this all gets very complicated when DCF is involved. Generally when one of my clients contemplates adoption DCF is already involved, and then they don't really get a say, which makes the process of choosing alternative parenting options pretty difficult. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-690020 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:35:14 +0000 Honeybee 690020@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What an interesting read! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-689995 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:39:15 +0000 anonysquire 689995@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You know, I really didn't think open adoption was so common. Good to know! It was sad to read the response where the adoptive parents hid letters and said the presents were from them instead of the birth parents. I really like the idea of open adoption and like how people on here have said it: how they are not the birth mom but they are his mom. Or however it was said. </p> <p>That being said I can't imagine how hard it would be to give up my baby and then have a closed adoption. I guess it would feel like a slap. But maybe that's easier for them. </p> <p>Anyways thanks for that read! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/i-thought-id-share-this-study-on-open-adoption#post-689902 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:24:10 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 689902@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is a very interesting recent study on open adoption. Here's the abstract:<br /> "<br /> Very few studies have captured the voices of large groups of adult adoptees, particularly of those who are not an active part of the adoption community. A total of 281 adult adoptees were surveyed about open adoption. The majority of respondents came from non-adoption specific avenues such as Craigslist and Backpage. Participants' responses show that there are many different definitions of open adoption as well as different levels of desire for contact with birth family members. Potential benefits are weighed in terms of importance and some assumed benefits, such as impact on identity, are shown not to be widely held as very important by participants. Similarly, some assumed challenges were seen as not as challenging as one might assume, although others such as a sense of loss were reported by many to be challenging. Finally, the majority of adult adoptees surveyed state that they do not think that open adoption is for everyone and provide examples of situations that they believe might make openness impossible or inappropriate. "</p> <p><a href="http://www.heartofthematterseminars.com/images/stories/pdf_files/adult-adoptees.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.heartofthematterseminars.com/images/stories/pdf_files/adult-adoptees.pdf</a> </p>