The Advantages of Closed Adoption Over Open Adoption

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“I want to be like my adoptive mother, but my birth mother says I’m like her. I don’t know what to do or who I am. My whole life is messed up. It’s not my fault. It can’t be fixed,” said a girl adopted into an open adoption (Byrd). An open adoption is a process in which the birth parents and the adoptive parents know each other and are involved in the adopted child’s life. A closed adoption is when there is no contact at all and no identifying information is given between birth and adoptive parents (Byrd). While both are common to today’s society, closed adoptions allow opportunities for the adoptive parents to raise their kids without the interference of birth parents (Bender).

Studies have shown that in an open adoption, the adopted child may have a hard time bonding with their adoptive parents because of the involvement of the birth parents (Byrd). The interference of the birth parents causes the adoptive parents have a constant reminder that they are not the biological parents and therefore are kind of “afraid” to get too close to their children because of the fear of losing them. This may cause the child to be confused and this failure to bond may cause them to have a hard time making and keeping social relationships (Bender) (Byrd).

Closed adoptions can provide a better life for a child. The birth parents of the child may have a bad background, unsteady income, substance abuse, emotional or intellectual problems, or some other issue that may cause them to be unable to provide proper care for the child. A closed adoption would give the child a more stable family and life without any hassle from the unsteady birth parents (“Open”).

Different families may have different beliefs and values. A child involved in an o...

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