What is an adoption plan?

The birth mother (and father, if still involved) chooses who will raise their child. The various plans are based on the amount of contact she wants and how much private information she’s willing to share.

Each state has different laws regarding when and how an adoption is completed. The adoption specialists at A Gift of Hope Adoptions will make sure you completely understand the adoption process before you sign any paperwork.

Types of Adoption Plans

She can choose from three plans: open, closed, and semi-open adoption. As a potential adoptive couple, you will need to decide which plans you’re comfortable with. Obviously, being open to any of the three could potentially decrease your wait time.

Open adoption

The most popular plan today is open adoption. This is an agreement between you and the birth mother to have ongoing contact with one another and your child. You must be willing to share personal contact information such as full names, addresses, phone numbers, and email.

Together, you and the birth mother decide how often to communicate and by what method. Once again, we encourage you to take your cue from the birth mother.  Although it might cause fear and uncertainty for both parties at first, you’ll hopefully grow to love and appreciate one another as time goes on.

Closed adoption

If a birth mother prefers to remain anonymous, she chooses a closed adoption plan. With this plan, the two of you would have no direct contact. No identifying information is exchanged.

Although not as popular, closed adoptions are still done today for various reasons. If the birth mother is in a volatile relationship, it might be best to choose a closed adoption for the safety of everyone. Some women prefer not to have contact to move on with their lives.

Semi-open adoption

In this plan, contact between the birth family and the adoptive family is handled through a third party, for instance, A Gift of Hope Adoptions. Correspondence could include cards, letters, and emails sent first to the agency and then forwarded to the adoptive couple. It would even be possible to arrange a phone call or face-to-face visit, but everything would go through the agency first.

Usually, in a semi-open adoption, the adoptive couple and the birth family only know one another by their first names, but no other identifying information is exchanged. It offers some privacy while still leaving room for contact.

Contact Us

Contact us with any questions or to learn more about adoption plans.