Adoptive moms and dads share how their open adoptions have changed over time — whether they became more or less open, and why.
The Four Agreements in Open Adoption
Lois Melina offers personal reflections on making relationships between birth parents and adoptive families healthier—for the sake of our children, using the principles of The Four Agreements.
Teens Speak Out About Open Adoption
Three adolescents share their experiences with open adoption, and how they feel about their relationships with their birth family.
“Take It from Us!”: Open Adoption
Real-life advice from the Adoptive Families community on understanding openness, navigating visits and contact, explaining birth siblings, and more.
Ask AF: Child Wishes She Had an Open Adoption
"My daughter, who was adopted internationally, has been saying she wishes she got to see her birth mother, like her close friend who has a very open adoption. What can I say to her?"
[Book Review] The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption
This is a beautifully honest, thoughtful, and enlightened guide.
Ask AF: Kids’ Books About Open Adoption
Can you recommend picture books about open adoption?
Setting Boundaries in Open Adoption
In an open adoption, your child's birth parents become part of your extended family. Here are some common questions when it comes to managing those relationships.
Teens and Open Adoption
As teens seek independence, they rethink their relationships with all the adults in their lives — including birth parents.
The First Year of an Open Adoption: Four Families Share
Families with different levels of contact offer glimpses into their relationships with birth parents during their first year home.
Is Open Adoption Right for Your Family?
A legal guide to open adoptions and open-adoption agreements.
“Pulling Back in Open Adoption”
After a bump in the relationship with our daughter's birth mother, we're learning lessons about love, patience, and acceptance.
Adoptees on Open Adoption: “I Have All My Pieces”
Teen and young adult adoptees who grew up in fully open adoptions talk about their relationships with their birth parents and adoptive parents and the many benefits openness has brought them.
Understanding Open Adoption
Among experts who study it and families who practice it, open adoption varies widely. Here's a look at open adoption today.
“Moving Past a Miscommunication in Our Open Adoption”
14 years into our open adoption, we've learned that conflicts can occur, as in any family. Here's how we moved past one sticky situation when our son's birth mother sent him a check in the mail.
Open Adoption from the Other Side
How does your child’s birth mother feel about being called a “birth mother,” about the frequency and format of contact, her voice in the relationship, and more? We asked five birth mothers in open adoptions these questions. Here are their answers.
Families Share: Our Open Adoption Experience
"The best part about being a birth mother in an open adoption is that I am at peace. Colin and I are still a part of each other’s lives, yet he is so happy and deeply rooted in his family that sometimes I forget that he’s not their flesh and blood. Knowing he has the life I wanted for him allows me to move forward in mine." —Jen
The Basics of Open Adoption
What is "open adoption" — and what might it mean for your family?
Ask AF: How Do You Explain International Adoption vs. Open Adoption?
Answers to your parenting questions.
Open Adoption: A Reference Guide for Families
Openness brings great benefits to all involved, as well as some unique dilemmas. Addressing them requires flexibility, sensitivity to the birth family, and confidence in yourself as parents. Here’s how to make it work for your family.