What is Semi-Open Adoption?

There are several good options when it comes to adoption. If you are not comfortable with either a closed or an open adoption, you may consider choosing a semi-open adoption. Semi-open adoptions allow birthparents to maintain contact with their child through a mediator, thus maintaining the privacy of both the birthparents and the adoptive family. This relationship allows for the exchange of information, letters, and pictures between birth and adoptive parents but does not include direct contact between the two.

Semi-open adoption may be a good choice for birthparents who do not want the complete separation a closed adoption would bring but are also not prepared for an open adoption. Birthparents are able to maintain a sense of privacy by communicating through a third party while still having limited contact with the child and adoptive family. This limited relationship can ease the mourning process and reduce any guilt but can also lead to grief about not having direct access to their child’s life. As with an open adoption, birthparents also have the satisfaction of choosing the adoptive family, but this can sometimes make it difficult for birthparents to change their minds about adoption if they know the adoptive parents are already emotionally and financially invested in their child.

Adoptive parents considering a semi-open adoption may prefer this option to open and closed adoptions. As with open adoptions, adoptive parents are able to have increased access to medical information through the third party. The third party can be useful for adoptive parents because it helps clearly define their roles as parents; however, working through a third party can also lead to delays in communication with the birth family.

For adopted children, a semi-open adoption can be confusing. They may develop the idea that direct communication with their birth family is wrong, which can lead to postponed or avoided reunions with members of their birth family. At the same time, these children may have an increased sense of identity resulting from their communication with their birth family. This communication can also help reduce a child’s feeling of abandonment or eliminate his or her need to search for his or her birthparents.

Potential Advantages:

Birthparents	Adopted Children	Adoptive Parents
Privacy through limited interactions Reduced guilt as a result of updates and limited contact with adoptive family Improved mourning the loss of a child because of updates and contact	Reduced chance of feeling abandoned Increased sense of identity Elimination of the desire to search for birthparents	Increased medical information through a mediator   Clearly defined role as parents

Source: http://americanpregnancy.org/adoption/semi-open-advantages/

 

Potential Disadvantages:

Birthparents	Adopted Children	Adoptive Parents
Loss of direct relationship with child Grief from not directly observing their child’s life Pressure from adoptive parents to place child for adoption	Developing ideas that it is wrong to contact birth family Postponed or avoided meetings with birth family as a result of misconceptions Preoccupation with their adoption Identity confusion due to lack of communication with birth family	Limited relationship with the birth family Limited access to birth family’s health history and other information Delayed communication with birth family

Source: http://americanpregnancy.org/adoption/semi-open-adoption-disadvantages/

For a list of additional adoption resources, click here.