Advantages to Semi-Open Adoption

Advantages will differ from individual to individual and even from adoption to adoption. Read through the most common advantages, and try to decide which ones you feel will benefit you and your child and which ones won't really impact you as you decide.

You will have total control over the selection of a family for your child, including reviewing paperwork and interviewing the potential parents as you decide. This can be very empowering and gives you a sense of control over the situation.

Every birthparent wants to be sure that their child is safe in his or her new home. With semi-open adoption, you are able to stay in touch with your child through letters and phonecalls, and this can make you feel less unsure of your decision to place and less worried about your child's safety.

Being able to use an adoption agency or adoption attorney as the mediator between you and the adoptive parents can give you a sense of privacy

There can be continued interaction through the adoption agency/attorney with the family that you choose, and this can ease concerns that you might have regarding the happiness and well-being of your child.

You will be able to communicate with your child and the adoptive family. This can help you work through some of the negative emotions (loss, sadness, grief, etc.) that can follow an adoption placement.

You will be able to provide medical information and a family history to the adoption agency/attorney on an as-needed basis should a health concern come up in your child's life.

It can be easier to establish the roles of you as a birthparent and those of the adoptive parents when a semi-open adoption is chosen because there isn't any confusion about who the parental figures are.

Your child will be able to benefit from a sense of identity. Through the adoption agency/attorny, he or she will be able to know a little about the family tree, the racial heritage, and the ethnic culture that belongs to him or her. As a child grows older, these things often are important to a child's self-confidence and self-esteem.

Being able to share with your child the reasons for placing him/her for adoption as he or she grows older through letters and/or phonecalls will help him or her know that this decision was made out of love - not rejection, as many children have a tendancy to feel.

There will be no need to do a reunion search, on the part of you or your child, and this can save you both an emotionally stressful time later, should either want to make contact.