Types of Adoption

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.

Semi Open Adoption
Semi-open adoption is the practice in which information, generally non-identifying information, is shared between adopting parents and birthmothers. Usually semi-open adoption consists of the exchange of letters, photos and possibly emails, either directly or through an agency or third party. Unlike closed adoption, it is more common for placing parents to choose the adopting family for their child prior to birth. It is also not unheard of to have some pre-birth face-to-face meetings or for the placing and adopting families to spend time together at the hospital during and after the birth.

Semi-open adoption doesn't usually involve any post-placement face-to-face visitation. The children involved don't normally have any direct communication with their biological parents. Like closed adoption, once a child reaches the age of majority in their state, they have the option of searching for or being searched for by their biological family. However, unlike closed adoption, those involved in a semi-open adoption usually have access to some basic information which can assist in the search process.

Closed Adoption
Closed adoption, not to be confused with sealed records, is an adoption in which the adopting parents and the birthmother never meet and know nothing or very little about one another. With the advent of open adoption, closed adoptions have become the exception in domestic adoption rather than the rule. Although things have started to change over the course of the last few years, children adopted from the foster care system are generally involved in closed adoptions.

The term closed adoption is most often used in relation to post-adoption contact, whereas the term sealed records is related to the access of legal documentation surrounding the birth and placement of the adopted child once the adoption has become final. It is entirely possible to have a closed adoption and unsealed records or an open adoption with sealed records. The two practices are not mutually exclusive.

In closed adoption, the adoption professionals involved will usually choose the adopting parents for the child. It is important to remember that having a closed adoption does not guarantee that once a child reaches the age of majority in your state he or she will not seek out and reunite with their biological families or that the biological family will not seek and reunite with the child that was placed. The closed or open adoption agreements made between the parties of an adoption at the time of the child's birth only stay in force until the child reaches the legal age in which he or she can make decisions for his or her own self.