The Trend Toward Openness in Adoption

There's an excellent article about open adoption in The Oregonian. The article, entitled "Open Hearts," (October 24, 2004), explains how the nature of adoption is changing and why openness in adoption is steadily increasing. The story walks readers through a real-life experience from both the perspective of a birth mother and the couple who adopts her baby.

Some interesting points from the article:

• The first open adoptions are believed to have started in California in the early 1980s.
• As many as 1 million families hope to adopt, and as many as two-thirds of them are willing to pursue openness in adoption.
• There is little data to determine how openness affects children.
• Open adoption is much more popular in the West, where the definition of 'family' is less traditional than in other parts of the United States.