For many years, if you put a child up for adoption, it was understood that the child would not know you and you would not have any more contact with the child. These days, it is rare for this type of arrangement to be made. Instead, it is much more common to have some level of open adoption, meaning that the birth parents continue to have some amount of contact with their child even after the adoption takes place. Why has open adoption become so popular, and why are other birth parents encouraged to take this more open approach? Keep reading to find out!

Open adoption is better for the birth parents' mental health

Many birth parents struggle with mental health after putting a baby up for adoption. It is a big decision, and it is easy to start questioning that decision in the weeks and months following birth. This worry is worse when the birth parents cannot know about the child and how they are doing. With an open adoption, there can be periodic reassurances that the baby is okay and thriving, which will help the birth parent feel more comfortable with their decision and more mentally healthy.

Open adoption allows the adoptive parents to know more about the baby's medical history

When an open adoption takes place and the birth parents continue to communicate with the adoptive parents, it is easy to keep the adoptive parents updated on any relevant medical problems or concerns. For instance, if the birth mother is diagnosed with heart disease, they can let the adoptive parents know so that they can take actions to prevent the same issue with the baby. With a closed adoption, this information is not generally passed on, so adoptive parents have to do more guessing about the baby's health.

Open adoption allows the baby to have a clearer identity

With closed adoptions, there was always the question of when and how to tell the child he or she was adopted. Finding this out could be traumatic, and not telling the child could be equally as traumatic. With an open adoption, there's no question of when to tell the child since they grow up knowing the birth parents. They grow stable in this identity and just grow up knowing what happened after their birth, which is better for their mental health.

Open adoptions are becoming more common by the day, and for good reason. This approach is simply better for everyone involved. Talk to an open adoption service to learn more about the process.