Report: Most Adoptions Today 'Open'

March 30, 2012

A new survey of adoption agencies shows 95 percent of all domestic adoptions are now "open" or "semi-open" -- the birth parents and adoptive parents having at least some level of contact, Baptist Press reports. It is a reversal from the secrecy that was once common; according to the report, a number of factors forced adoptions into the open, such as adoptive children searching for information about their past, birth parents wanting updates on their child, adoptive families requesting biological medical history and the stigma of illegitimacy decreasing. Kris Faasse, adoption services director for Bethany Christian Services, says open and semi-open adoptions can be beneficial for all parties involved. Youth in open adoptions have a "better understanding of the meaning of adoption," the report said.