Nowadays, about 90% of adoptions are open adoptions: the birth parents and adoptive parents know each other’s identities and agree on some level of continued contact after the adoption. But there are still reasons that someone might choose a closed adoption, in which all information is confidential and no contact is expected. Legally, though, can you still have a closed adoption in Arkansas?
Closed adoptions are legal in Arkansas
A birth mom may choose to have a closed adoption, in which her identity is completely protected. The records for the adoption will be sealed and the adoptive parents will not know the name of the birth mother. Nor will she know the identity of the adoptive family.
This decision is primarily in the hands of the birth mother in Arkansas. She always has control over whether she wants an open or a closed adoption. She can choose a family and stipulate that she wants a closed adoption. The family will have the option of saying no to that stipulation, but they can’t insist that she change her decision.
A prospective adoptive family may say that they only want to be involved in a closed adoption. In that case, they will need to wait for an expectant mom who has chosen that path.
How closed are closed adoptions?
In the past, closed adoptions were more common. Some people felt that adoptions should be secret, and sometimes adoptive parents chose not to tell even the children that they had been adopted. Stigma around unmarried moms made it more likely that women with an unplanned pregnancy would want to hide the fact. Times have changed, but closed adoptions are still available.
However, they are not quite as closed as they used to be. For one thing, DNA testing and public databases make it easier for adopted people to find relatives and identify families members. A service like Ancestry.com can show people who share patterns of DNA with adopted people. The information includes the percentage of shared DNA, allowing a searcher to identify siblings, half-siblings, and even parents if they happen to be included in the database.
Also, in Arkansas, an adopted child can request the sealed adoption records when he or she reaches the age of 21. At that point, they can look at their original birth certificate, which will have at least the name of the birth mother. The sealed adoption records will also have a record of the birth mother’s decision about contact. If she says she wants no contact, the records clerk will not provide any contact information. If she said at the time of the adoption that she was willing to hear from the child when he or she grew up, the office will contact her for permission to share the information.
Because of these changes, it is more difficult to keep an adoption entirely secret.
Do you need a lawyer?
Absolutely, you need a qualified adoption lawyer to complete a closed adoption in Arkansas. Adoptions are complicated legal processes, and a closed adoption requires extra levels of security. Heimer Law is an adoption law firm in Arkansas. We can help.
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