Types of Post-Adoption Treatment

Types of Post-Adoption Treatment

More of this Feature • Introduction • Opening Remarks • Open Records • Adoptee Access to Records • Opposition to Access • Practive vs Theory • Post-Adoption Contact • Types of Adoption • Enforceable Agreements • Values About Openness • Lobbying 101 • My Final Take • Biographical Info

There are basically four types of post-adoption treatment:

• confidential adoptions (no exchange of information between birth and adoptive families post-placement),
• time-limited mediated adoptions (information exchanged by an agency caseworker or third party for a specific period following the adoption at the end of which, information exchanges stop),
• ongoing mediated adoptions (information exchanges are mediated by an agency or third party on an ongoing basis), and
• fully disclosed adoptions (direct sharing of information between adoptive and birth family member(s), usually accompanied by face-to-face meetings).

For both infant and older child adoptions

There was general consensus that openness in adoption is very much here to stay, and that post-adoption contact can be appropriate for both infant and older child adoptions. Shay Bilchik presented the CWLA's definition of adoption which recognizes the social, psychological, and emotional importance of birth family connections, and greatly expands on previous definitions which described adoption simply as the legal process of creating a new parent-child relationship where one did not previously exist. This new policy statement on the part of the CWLA gives much greater weight to the current move toward post-adoption contact, not only with respect to infant adoptions but also in the public welfare sector.

Resistance exists

Professor Allen noted that open adoption may not be the best choice for every situation. She also mentioned two common points of resistance to open adoption heard from adopting parents: the desire to have a "family of one's own," and a lack of education and resources (time) to devote to nurturing extended family relationships.

The Need for More Education

A common theme echoed throughout the two-day event was the need for education and training - for social workers, agency personnel, adopting parents, birth parents, and lawyers and judges. Especially with regard to open adoptions, the need for education both pre- and post-placement was stressed so that informed choices could be made. Agency professionals noted that in their practice experience, openness was generally more readily understood, accepted, and maintained when clients were well-educated about the meaning and mechanics, and were offered post-adoption support. It was suggested that together with a mandatory homestudy, pre-placement education (not only about open adoption) could also be required for prospective adoptive parents.

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