Open Adoption: Over the Long Run
Presented by Ruth G. McRoy, Ph.D.
mcroy@mail.utexas.edu

NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
17th Annual Statewide Adoption Training Conference
Adoption 2006: There's No Place like Home
May 12-13, 2006 • Albany New York

Legal Background

• In 1851, first U.S. law--Mass--severing relationship with birthparents;
• By 1917, Minnesota passed law barring inspection of adoption records
• By 1950 most states had sealed record laws

Rationale for closed adoptions

• Facilitates grieving process for birthmother
• Desire for anonymity of parties involved
• Need to completely sever adoptee’s ties to birthparents (Clean Break Theory)
• Stigma of illegitimacy

Movement toward Openness in Adoption

• Movement toward openness started in private agency placements
• Contributors to changing practices
• Reliable contraception  & abortion
• Decreased stigma associated with parenting outside marriage
• Result: fewer babies to place

Changing practices (cont’d)

• Demand for adoption continues to be high
• Birth parent awareness of possibility for contact after adoption
• Awareness of importance of genetic links
• Evolving view that contact may be in the  “best interests of the child”
• Result: movement toward open adoptions

Principal Investigators

• Ruth G. McRoy, MSW, Ph.D. - University of Texas at Austin
• Harold D. Grotevant, Ph.D. - University of Minnesota
• With Gretchen M. Wrobel, Ph.D. - Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota and Susan Ayers-Lopez, Research Associate

Description of Research

• families recruited through 35 agencies
  • one child between 4 and 12 at time of interview; adopted as infant; average age 4 weeks, no tra, intercountry or special needs, both parents married
  • sought BP’s who placed with these families
  • only nationwide study of its kind

Participants: Wave 1 (1987–1992)

• 190 adoptive couples: mostly White, middle to upper middle class; mean age 40 yrs
• 171 adopted children: ages 4-12 (M= 7.8 yrs); 81 females
• 169 birthmothers: 93% White, ages 14-36 at placement (M=19.3 yrs), wanted a better future for her child (voluntary placements)

Types of Adoption

• Confidential Adoptions
• Time Limited Mediated
• Ongoing Mediated
• Fully Disclosed

Theories guiding investigation

• Grief and loss
• Family systems
• AOD
• Role theory
• Boundary ambiguity
• Child and adolescent development
• Adoptee identity

Adoptive Families

• Mostly White, middle and upper class; adopting because of infertility
• college educated; over 50,000; 1.9 children in home

Birthmothers--two thirds were adolescents at delivery

• age range 14-36
• 21-43 at time of study
• 20-29,000 income
• 1/2 currently married, parenting 1-5 children

Openness

• two third’s of the FD adoptions did not start out that way:
•  51% began as mediated adoptions and 15%  began as confidential.
•  In many cases, trust and mutual respect between parties led to change.

Wave 1: Selected Findings

• Birthmothers in confidential/time-limited mediated adoptions were significantly more likely to have lower grief resolution scores than birthmothers in ongoing mediated and fully disclosed adoptions.

Self-esteem

• Average level of self-esteem in the positive range
• No differences by level of openness
• (Wave 1 data, children over 7.5 yrs of age)

Wave 1: Selected Findings

• Adoptive parents in fully disclosed adoptions demonstrate higher degrees of empathy about adoption, and are less fearful than are parents in confidential adoptions.
• Young children can benefit from contact with their birthparents

Wave 1-Children in Mediated Adoptions

• Almost half the children in mediated adoptions were excluded form contact their adoptive parents were having with their birthmother, but most of these children were not aware of their being excluded.
• Most of the children in fully disclosed adoptions were included in meetings with birthparents and were award of the arrangements.

Fully Disclosed Adoptions Require

• Flexibility
• Communication
• Commitment to the process
• Respect for parties involved
• Commitment to meeting child’s needs

Key Conclusions

• Fears appear unfounded
• Lack of confusion about roles and relationships
• Children in Open Placements no different from others
• Self Esteem
• Curiosity about Backgrounds
• Findings: Published in
• Openness in Adoption:  Exploring Family Connections (1998)
• Numerous articles
• Forthcoming book (expected 2007)

Participants: Wave 2 (1996 – 2000)

• 8 years after Wave 1
• At least one member in 177 of 190 original families – seen in their homes
• 173 adoptive mothers & 163 fathers
• 156 adopted adolescents
•                         (ages 11-20, average 15.6)
• 127 birthmothers

Variations in: 

• Intensity of contact (frequency, personal nature of contact)
• Type of contact (letter, picture, gift, phone call, e-mail, visit
• Person’s involved in contact
• Participant’s satisfaction with contact

BMO Satisfaction with Openness-  WII  Has birthmother ever regretted the decision to place?   (12-20 yrs post pl.)

• NO - 45%
• Yes/Wondered - 36%
• Yes/Pervasive - 16%

Regrets

• Proportions of birthmothers w/ no regrets, some regrets, & pervasive regrets do not differ by openness level
• Even those with ‘regrets’ still feel it was the right decision for the child

Adolescents satisfied with having contact (45.5%) said:

• The relationship provides additional support for them.
• Contact helped them better understand who they are.
• Contact made them interested in having meeting other birth relatives, such as siblings.

Adoptive Parent Outcomes -

• In comparison to those in confidential adoptions, parents in fully disclosed adoptions showed…
  • Greater empathy about adoption toward the birthmother and the child
  • Higher levels of acknowledgment of the adoption
  • Greater communication about adoption with the child
  • Greater comfort with contact
  • Less fear of reclaiming

Many initial fears about openness appear unfounded

• Children in open adoptions are not confused
• Children do not have lower self esteem or poorer adjustment
• Adoptive parents in open adoptions are less fearful of reclaiming and feel more in control
• Birthmothers in open adoptions show less unresolved grief

Level of openness should be decided on case-by-case basis

• No single arrangement is best for everyone
• Each arrangement presents distinctive challenges & opportunities
• For adults who WANT an open arrangement, it can work well
• Open adoption makes family relationships more complex and increases need for communication & flexibility 

Practice Implications

• Need for pre-adoption education about options
• Need for post-adoption counseling & assistance if problems arise
• Challenges of indirect contact
• Develop better understanding of  concept of “collaboration”

For more information on the findings of this research and for a list of additional publications, go to the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project MTARP Website:  http://fsos.che.umn.edu/projects/mtarp.html

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NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
410 East Upland Road • Ithaca, NY 14850
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office@nysccc.org
06/14/06