What is Semi-Open Adoption?
Life is all about choices. An unplanned pregnancy may have you feeling a loss of control, and you want to regain the ability to make choices. Adoption allows you to reclaim your life and make decisions that will benefit not just you but your baby and their adoptive parents. If you’re considering adoption and unsure what the best option for you is, that’s okay. You don’t have to do this alone.
Adoption Choices of Kansas is a Kansas adoption agency that provides help for pregnant women from all walks of life. Our main goal is to educate, provide resources, and ultimately give needed support to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Adoption is never a journey you should or have to go on alone. We’re here for you.
Adoption is what we do, but it’s not for everyone, and we’ll never pressure you. Part of the support we provide is making sure you know all of your options. Understanding each adoption type and how they work is important. You should always be able to make informed decisions that you are confident in, and we’re here to help. That said, let’s explore the answer to this question together: what is a semi-open adoption?
What is a Semi-Open Adoption?
A semi-open adoption is a type of adoption that allows privacy while still keeping communication readily available. In simple terms, it is indirect contact between the birth mother and adoptive parents. Identifying information is not released to each other, and everyone gets to maintain their privacy. Things such as full names, phone numbers, addresses, and additional personal information are not disclosed — unless otherwise agreed upon.
Typically, the birth mother and adoptive family will mediate between a lawyer or adoption agency. It may seem like it’s limited, but depending on what you want, letters, photos, and even video calls are available communication types.
How does Semi-Open Adoption Work?
The adoption process, at its core, is similar for everyone. We’ll help you make an adoption plan, find a doctor, get the resources you need, and create a birth plan. There are a few caveats to the similarity of all adoption types to keep in mind. For instance, in a semi-open adoption, things like choosing the family and communication will vary.
Choosing an Adoptive Family in a Semi-Open Adoption
If you’ve chosen a semi-open adoption, you have the option of picking out the adoptive family that your baby will go to. However, if you don’t want to choose, one of our adoption experts will happily select one for you. All of the adoptive parents in our network go through rigorous background screenings and have to meet very strict requirements. Even if you choose not to pick them yourself, you can rest easy that your baby is going to the safest place possible.
Communication between the Birth Mother and Adoptive Family Post Placement
In a semi-open adoption, identifying information doesn’t have to be shared. An adoption agency or lawyer mediates communication between the birth mother and the adoptive parents. You can ultimately decide what communication and how much you want. Generally, letters, cards, and photos of the child are exchanged regularly. It all depends on what you and the adoptive family agree on.
Through our adoption agency, those in a semi-open adoption will also use a portal called ChildConnect. It’s a way to share and save memories safely and confidently online. Communication can also change as time moves on. Often, birth mothers and adoptive families find themselves wanting more and more frequent contact.
Post Placement Counseling
In any type of adoption, seeking counseling is an essential step in the adoption process. Each type of adoption comes with its own complications in the grieving process, and semi-open adoption is no exception. Like an open adoption, it can be tough to mourn properly and move forward when the person you’re mourning over is still alive.
Mental health is extremely important, which is why we place so much importance on continuing to provide counseling and support even post placement.
Is Semi-Open Adoption Right for Me?
A semi-open adoption is just the latest and greatest adjustment to adoption in the modern age that considers what’s best for the child, not just what the adults want. Yet, it’s important to note that what works for one person most likely will not work for another. Your adoption journey is as unique as you are, and you deserve the options to customize your adoption.
Adoption is a difficult decision to make, and it might be tempting to default to the well-known two options: closed and open adoptions. Adoption has changed so much in recent years and will only continue to evolve and grow. If neither open nor closed adoption feels like a perfect fit, you may want to consider semi-open adoption. It’s an ideal middle-ground for those of us that see the world in more than just black and white.
Adoption Choices of Kansas serves birth parents statewide and beyond, please call us or text us to learn more!
Call Us 877-903-4488 or Text Us 316-209-2071
Meet the Author: Michelle Brugioni is a practiced, well-versed college-educated writer and avid coffee drinker. She has ten years’ experience as a freelance writer, and has written for an alarmingly wide range of clients and publications. She has written on topics like: life science, biopharmaceutical company acquisitions, dealing with anxiety, and creative drinking games.
As a fearless writer and masterful researcher, each time Michelle is approached with the question, “Can you write this?” she responds confidently with, “When do you need it?”
