Adoption Options

If you’re thinking about adoption, you’ll have the chance to decide how it works. Whether you choose to work through an agency or pursue an independent adoption, you’ll be able to select the adoptive parents.

• OPEN ADOPTION: In an open adoption, you decide how much contact you’d like with your child and the adoptive family. That could mean photo and email updates, occasional phone calls or visits, or something more, less, or in between. Every adoption plan is unique—you and the adoptive family set the level of openness that feels right.
• CLOSED ADOPTION: Some birth parents prefer not to have ongoing contact. With a closed adoption, you’ll still choose the family, but you won’t receive updates as your child grows. It’s important to know that with modern DNA testing and online tools like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, contact could still occur in the future.

Both options have advantages and challenges. An adoption professional can help you think through which path feels right for you.