You’re looking to adopt a child, and you’re sure you’d like to find an adoption agency that has birth mothers who would like an open adoption plan. Who will you talk to at open adoption agencies? What are the best adoption agencies? When is it an excellent time to consider adopting a child? Where can you find an agency that focuses on open adoption? Why are open adoptions the most popular choice in adoption? How do you know if you’ve found a reputable adoption agency? All these questions and more will be answered in this article, and you’ll even read open adoption stories from adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth parents. 

Open Adoption

Open adoption is one of many options that birth parents can choose from when placing their child for adoption. Open adoption allows contact with the birth parents and lets you provide adoption updates and visitations for the birth parents to see your child. Child updates can include photos, letters, emails, social media messages, and phone calls. Open adoption is a proven beneficial option for everyone involved in the adoption triad. 

Where Can You Find An Adoption Agency That Focuses on Open Adoption? 

You can either ask people you know who have adopted a child or placed a child for adoption about what agency they’ve chosen, or you can look online to find the best adoption agencies near you. Once you’ve researched some open adoption agencies, you can call to set up a visit to discuss how the agency works with open adoption plans. Always do your research to avoid adoption fraud. 

What Are The Best Adoption Agencies? 

There are many great adoption agencies, but for this article, I’ll mention one great one in particular and what exactly makes this agency one of the best. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, this agency made a significant impact in 2020 for everyone in the adoption triad. 

The Gladney Center for Adoption has impacted the lives of 267 children, and its mission is to create bright futures through adoption. Gladney is dedicated to making the most satisfactory adoption experience possible, and they believe that every child deserves a loving family. On Gladney’s website, you can see what kind of adoption is right for you by answering a questionnaire. 

In addition, Gladney’s parent support groups work year-round to educate the public about the merits of adoption, support one another through the adoption process, and raise funds to sustain Gladney’s programs. Their adoption services are supportive, educational, and always keep up to date with their research. While Gladney works with parents throughout the United States, they have offices in Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida, and New York. If you like what you see with Gladney, start your adoption journey today. 

How Do You Know If You’ve Found A Reputable Adoption Agency?

When you’ve found some agencies you’d like, think of some questions to ask an adoption agency. First, of course, you’d want to be sure you’re working with a legitimate agency, and it doesn’t hurt to ask for some information about the agency. Some great questions to ask are: 

  • How many successful placements does this agency have?
  • Is this agency licensed in the state?
  • What are the agency fees?
  • What are the agency’s communication methods?
  • Is the agency supportive of all adoptive options?
  • How does the agency help with open adoption plans?
  • What are the agency’s screening procedures?
  • Does the agency facilitate between the birth parents and adoptive parents?
  • What are the agency’s eligibility requirements?
  • Does this agency only process open adoptions?

Asking these essential questions will give you peace of mind when choosing the right agency. There are adoption agencies that will take advantage of you, so be inquisitive. 

Who Will You Speak To When You Visit  Open Adoption Agencies?

When you go to the agency you choose, you’ll talk with an adoption professional. The adoption professional’s job is to help both expectant/birth parents place their children for adoption and to assist you with adopting a child. The adoption professional will also provide the application, paperwork, background checks, home study, educational parent training, and counseling services. Remember, it’s a great idea to list any questions you’d like to ask the adoption professional. 

When Is It an Excellent Time to Consider Adopting a Child?

There are things you should consider before adopting a child. For example, you should think about your motives for wanting to adopt a child. If you’re looking to adopt a child to save your relationship or just to use a child as an accessory, those are the wrong motives. On the other hand, if you’re looking to adopt a child to love and care for them genuinely, that’s an excellent motive. Some other things to consider are the age ranges of the child, if you’d like to adopt a child with special needs, if you’d like an open or closed adoption, if you’d like to do an international adoption, whether you have enough room in your home for a child, and where to start when considering adoption. 

Why is Open Adoption the Most Popular Adoption Choice?

The majority of adoptions have some degree of openness, and there are many reasons why openness in adoption is essential. The benefits are great for all in the adoption triad, and most of all, the adoptee will never have to wonder where they came from constantly. More reasons why open adoption has become so popular are because: 

  • Your child will always have their medical history.
  • It leads to more compassion, love, and understanding. 
  • Birth parents will have peace of mind knowing they’ve chosen the right family. 
  • Your child will have high self-esteem. 
  • There’s a chance of having a stable relationship with the birth parents. 
  • Adoptees will have a better understanding of being placed for adoption. 
  • Birth parents have the opportunity to see their children grow up happy and show their children how much they love them. 

Those are a few of many reasons why open adoption is widespread. However, finding an agency that values the meaning of open adoption is key to having an excellent adoption experience. 

Stories from Those Who Have Chosen Open Adoption Agencies 

Kira is an adult adoptee who remembers visits with her birth parents from when she was a child. Here’s why she loves being in an open adoption. 

“Ever since I was adopted at six years old, I’ve always loved being able to see my birth parents. We’d always have fun visits planned, like going to the aquarium, having a picnic in the park, shopping, and even spending time playing games at home. My birth parents have even come to my high school graduation. I love that I can see the positive relationship my adoptive parents have with my birth parents, and I’m glad that my birth parents have chosen to have a big part in my life still.” -Kira.

Andre is a 17-year-old adoptee who has a great relationship with his birth father. He’s happy to have both his birth father and adoptive parents in his life. 

“Ever since my birth dad had come into my life four years ago, I don’t feel like a big part of me is missing. I love my adoptive parents, and I’m glad they were the ones chosen to raise me. So when my adoptive parents told me my birth dad wanted to meet me, I was nervous but mostly thrilled. We gave each other a big hug and just talked about our lives. On our visits, we play a football game, go to the movies, and go out to eat. I’m happy that my adoptive parents told me that my birth dad wanted to meet me, and I hope to have an even stronger bond with him.” -Andre.

Adoptees aren’t the only ones that benefit from open adoption. Adoptive parents and birth parents can benefit from open adoptions too. For birth parents, you can prepare to visit your birth child by making plans for your visit. For adoptive parents, adoption reunions can be successful and can be a positive lifelong experience. 

Tasha is a birth mother who placed her baby for adoption when her son was a year old. Even though Tasha knew she couldn’t keep parenting her son, she knew that she wanted to keep seeing him grow up in a loving family who could care for his needs. So Tasha chose open adoption and knew that she chose the right family. 

“I knew I couldn’t properly care for my son, so I decided to place him for adoption. The adoption agency staff has helped me find an excellent family for my son, and after meeting them, I knew they were the right parents. I expressed that I’d like the adoption to remain open, and I do get plenty of updates on how my son is doing. He’s now three and is healthy and happy. It makes me happy that the adoptive family isn’t judgemental and is very supportive of my relationship with my birth son. When I see my son, he’s always excited to see me and show me his toys and favorite things. I don’t regret placing my son for adoption because I know he wouldn’t be as happy as today if I chose to parent.” -Tasha. 

Micah and Cathy knew they wanted to place their five years old daughter for adoption because they were going through a rough time in their life. Trying to parent while going through hard times was nearly impossible for the couple, and not wanting to be entirely out of their daughters’ lives, they chose open adoption. 

“We knew that we wanted to place our daughter for adoption because we were in a difficult situation. We decided to find a supportive family of open adoptions and a family that would accept our daughter for who she is. When we spoke to the adoptive parents, we made it clear that we wanted someone who could handle our daughter’s special needs, and we wanted to make sure they were prepared for adopting a child with autism. We were happy when we finally found a more than accepting family prepared to adopt our daughter. With our open adoption arrangement, we get to see our daughter twice a year and receive photos and emails on how she’s doing. She will be finished with kindergarten soon, and we look forward to attending her kindergarten graduation. We love our daughter, and we’re happy to see her loved and adored by her parents.” -Micah and Cathy.

This adoptive family chose to remain anonymous. At first, the open adoption was hard for this adoptive family because the birth mother still wanted to over-parent their parenting during the visits. However, by talking to an adoption counselor, the adoptive parents established boundaries with the birth mother. 

“When we met the birth mother, we were warm and welcoming and answered all the questions she had for us. We were elated when she chose us to raise her twin boys! However, when it came to the adoption visits, the birth mother quickly tried to over-parent us. We tried to talk to her and explained that we were the boys’ legal parents while she was the birth mother. This didn’t go over too quickly, and the birth mother ended her visit early. We talked to the adoption counselor about the situation, and she helped us come up with boundaries to set with the birth mother. We didn’t want the open adoption to change, so we invited the birth mother to talk about our boundaries and feelings. The birth mother felt better about this and apologized for overstepping. We all have a much better open adoption experience now. -Anonymous. 

There are outstanding open adoption agencies out there, and the key is finding the right one for you. I hope that this article has helped you along with your search for open adoption agencies, and I wish you the best with your adoption journey. 

Are you ready to pursue adoption? Visit Adoption.org or call 1-800-ADOPT-98 to connect with compassionate, nonjudgmental adoption specialists who can help you get started on the journey of a lifetime.