If you are considering going through the process of adopting a child, you need to decide if you would like to have an open adoption. Open adoptions have become increasingly popular in recent years. Here are two ways an open adoption can give your child a better sense of themselves.
Your Child Will Grow Up Will A Full Sense Of Their Adoption Story
If you choose to have an open adoption, your child will know both sides of their adoption story their entire lives. You can tell your child how you choose them because you loved them and how you wished and prayed for them to come into your lives. You can read your child stories about what it means to be adopted that explain how much your adopted parents love you.
One the flip side, your child’s birth parents can also tell them their side of
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Your child will grow up knowing their love story, and will be able to ask questions about their adoption directly from the source.
Your Child Will Grow Up Known Who Created Them
If you choose an open adoption, your child will grow up knowing what the people who created him or her look like. They will be able to look at pictures of them when they are younger, and see what they look like as adults. This will allow your child to get a sense of what they will look like now and in the future. They will not have to spend time wondering and daydreaming about what their birth parents looked like.
Your child will also be able to see the traits that they were born with and the traits that you gave them more clearly.
For example, if your child’s birth parents were both extremely athletic, your child will know that is where their athletic ability came from. However, if your child has a love of birds because your family likes to go bird watching together, your child will know that is a trait they get from their adoptive
Some people believe, though, that open adoptions are the better way to go because they allow adoptive families, who may have no other way of having
Open Adoption or closed adoption; what would you choose for the child's benefit? Open Adoptions has many benefits; "95% of adoptions have been open adoptions in the United States" stated by Kinship Center (Open Adoption Study). When the birth parent decides to have an open adoption the child learns to deal with their emotions better, it's easier for the child to understand the situation rather than with a closed adoption. In an open adoption the birth parents can be involved in the child's life. This will help them maintain a good psychological health and the adoptive parent may know the child's health history.
There is a wealth of children’s books designed to help children understand the adoption process. Many of these books are aimed at children who are adopted, but they can work just as well at explaining the process to non-adopted children. Read these books with your child and answer any questions that they have. Incorporate books about adoption into your daily reading time. This will help familiarize your child with adoption and will normalize the process.
Not many children who are put in closed adoptions get to know who they are and their family history. Closed adoption children do not get to know any of their historical background, and this sometimes gives children self-esteem issues (“Adoption Emotional Issues”). They can also deal with loss and grief issues at times because they do not have their biological parents around to help raise them. It is not until the age of eighteen for the child to legally find their biological parents on their
This article will inform the reader on the psychological and emotional effects that giving their child up through open adoption has had on the biological parents. This will allow the reader to see both perspectives of the adopted child’s life that an open adoption allows for.
One of the most important reasons why open adoption is a better choice than closed adoption is that the adoptive child will already know the truth. The child will know why he or she was put up for adoption. They will also know who their real parents are. Lastly the adoptive child wouldn’t really feel the need to wonder the truth. One of the reasons open adoption is about it’s openness and honesty.
While welcoming a child into your life is a very emotional experience, the adoption process itself is complicate and sometimes arduous. It is in your best interest to consult with a number of resources in order to become fully educated and therefore, fully prepared. Know what will be expected of you, the steps required
When a couple cannot conceive children naturally, they may look to adoption to start a family. In the past, adoption was shrouded in mystery. Closed adoptions were the norm, and many children grew up not knowing they were adopted. Recently though, open adoptions have gained popularity. Adoptive families and birth families maintain contact in any way that they feel comfortable. I feel open adoption is a better choice than closed adoption because children may have the opportunity to meet their birth parents, the transition is easier for the birth family, and the benefits outweigh possible complications.
There are two types of adoption. The first is a closed adoption which is when no identifying information is given to each side and no contact is permitted. There are some advantages to this type of adoption. Some birthmothers may feel a sense of closure and can move on with their life, also this is a way that you won't have to explain to others their decision. There are also advantages for the adoptive family like not having the birth family involved and keeping them
Plenty of information about adoption is misunderstood or not known at all. Numerous individuals do not know the difference between a closed adoption and an open adoption and the pros/cons that accompany these different types of adoption. “Confidential (closed) adoption is where the birthparents often do not know the identity of the adoptive parents and could not maintain any contact with the child or adoptive family after placement.” (9-NP) The problems in a closed adoption are more than just a lack of information. (5-31) One situation that most people take for granted is knowing his or her family history. This is something that adopted children in closed adoption don’t get. (5-30)Nearly all the time, files are physically sealed in a closed adoption. (3-NP) Up until the late 1980’s closed adoptions were considered a regular occurrence. (3-NP) Harold Grotevent, a University of Minnesota professor, has been working with 35 adoption agencies for the last 2 decades and has said there’s been a clean-cut swing from closed to open adoption. (6-NP) “Open adoption refers to the sharing of information and/or contact between the adoptive and biological parents of an adopted child, before and/or after the placement of the child.” (9-NP) Open adoption has become a considerable alterative to abortion or single
Some assert that an adoption is not open unless there is direct person-to-person contact among the birth parents, adoptive parents, and the child who was adopted, with full disclosure of last names and addresses (Melina and Rosiza, 1993).” (Siegel) For many, open adoption is a very loose term. This is because almost any amount of direct contact makes an adoption open. This can be by phone, mail (email or paper), or face-to-face contact. “The open communication, sometimes begins before placement and can continue through the adoptees lifetime.” (adoption.com) Open adoption is a term that is supposed to apply to many different arrangements that people may set up. All of these arrangements still involve the birth parents in one way or another in the child's life. The ideas that surround open adoptions are generally good or have good intentions. This is because the openness does not just extend to the birth mother. Some open adoption arrangements give other members of the birth mother's family opportunities too. So, for example, if the birth mother were to not want contact with the child this would allow other members of the family such as grandparents. The get the opportunity to meet the child. “The nurturing culture of a healthy open adoption system brings out the honor in people.” (Gritter) When big events happen that people cannot always understand people rects the best that they can. People have to make vital decisions that drastically affect others lives. At that moment people will inevitably show who they really are. For birth parents this is especially
Open adoption allows birth parents to stay in touch with their child. Birth parents are able to build relationship with the child. They have also given a chance to ease the adoption process and to allow the child a smooth transition to the adoption. They are available to resolve unresolved conflicts and answer puzzled questions.
Birth Parents should choose open adoption because open adoption keeps them involved in their biological child’s life. In Adoption the Answer Book, Brette McWhorter Sember defines “Kinship agreement as an agreement outlining contact that Birth Parents … will have with a child who has been adopted “(180) and the agreement can also be called “Post- Adoption Agreement” (181). In the agreement, Birth parents, Adoptive parents and Adoptees can set up phone calls to the adoptive parents or child (when old enough), can exchange photos, gifts, letters, e-mails and other mementos of the child’s biological family (Beauvais- Godwin). The agreement helps the birth parents not over step bound and step on the toes of Adoptive parents. Receiving the pictures give a sense of affirmation, they made the right choice and that the adoptee is doing well. Others believe that open adoption is a way to get that benefits of parenting without the expense of parenting.
In the last four decades, the concept of the American family has undergone a radical transformation, reflecting society¡¯s growing openness. Among all segments of society, there is a greater acceptance of a variety of family structures ¨C from single parenting to blended families to same sex parenting of children. The introduction of openness into the process of adoption offers new opportunities for children in need of a parent or parents and prospective parents wishing to create or expand their families. Meeting the requirements to become eligible to adopt no longer means being constrained by the conventions of an earlier generation.
In conclusion, adopting is absolutely something to consider. The most important thing to remember is that every child needs a safe and loving home. Any family who believes that they can provide security, love and safety to a child in need should consider taking this role. It is an unforgettable, life changing experience not only for the parent but for the child as well. Parents have the opportunity to provide that child a normal life which would otherwise be missing. Some researchers say that adopted children who were once in a foster care tend to misbehave or act a certain way in order to create a feeling of rejection, anger, pain and abandonment in their parents. This testing behavior may actually indicate that the child feels comfortable enough with the parent to communicate his or her own true feelings. (Welf Info Gateway 2012). This is a positive reaction which only solidifies the strong bond that parents will be able to attain with the new member of the family. The benefits of adopting are endless, and will only gain love in a child’s heart. Parents will absolutely bring tremendous joy to that child’s life. One thing is true, and this is that no one will ever know unless they experience this.