WHAT IS OPEN ADOPTION?
OPEN ADOPTION is an adoption in which the identities of all parties (natural mother, natural father, adoptive mother, and adoptive father) are disclosed. This is opposed to a CLOSED ADOPTION where identifying information is not disclosed. In recent years, open adoption has come to mean some form of contact between mother and child after an adoption takes place.
Here is a sample from an Ontario Adoption Agency website:
“In an open adoption a woman who is considering adoption can choose the family she wants to raise her child from our list of approved families. She may wish to meet with the family and perhaps arrange for ongoing contact with them. Open adoption also means that there will be a complete exchange of identifying information.”
This type of statement is misleading to young, vulnerable, pregnant women.
YOU SHOULD KNOW…
ONCE AN ADOPTION HAS BEEN FINALIZED, ADOPTIVE PARENTS HAVE LEGAL CUSTODY, CONTROL AND PARENTAL RIGHTS TO YOUR CHILD. YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS ARE TERMINATED FOREVER.
ANY PROMISES OR VERBAL OR WRITTEN AGREEMENTS WITH RESPECT TO “VISITS, PICTURES, OR OTHER ARRANGEMENTS FOR ONGOING CONTACT WITH YOUR CHILD ARE NOT LEGALLY BINDING IN CANADA.
CopyrightValerieAndrews2009