Open adoption — adoptions in which the adoptive parents have information about birth parents and birth parents have some continued contact with the child — have never been illegal. Historically, however, there have been times when closed adoptions were more common. The history of open adoption is long, surprising, and sometimes shocking. Having the information can help us understand why open adoption is the norm today.

Before laws about adoption were developed, adoption was often a casual process. Grandparents or aunts and uncles might bring up a child born to a young single woman, or a neighbor might take in an orphan. There were some legal cases, but adoptions were usually a private matter within a family. Other family members might have the details, but otherwise it was often considered a personal decision. The circumstances might change over time or an adoption could be permanent and well known in the community. An adoption, in those days, could be open or closed, but there were no official requirements or even definitions.

Baby farms

Before the 20th century, unmarried mothers faced severe stigma. Records were often kept of these cases in churches at the time, and these records often detail the rebukes these women received, the demands for the name of the father, and the efforts to make the biological parents get married. As time went on, unwed expectant mothers might go for a visit to a relative before their pregnancy showed and come home after the baby was born, having left the child with the relative or placed the child in an orphanage. Until the 19th century, unmarried fathers were legally required to support their children, but laws in many countries changed during the 1800s, placing all the responsibility on the women.

In the 19th century, there were orphanages as well as homes for unwed mothers, called “lying-in homes” or “maternity homes.” With less pressure on men to support their illegitimate children and fewer forced marriages, orphanages and maternity homes became profitable businesses. They took fees from the mothers and then sold the babies to adoptive parents. But some orphanages would not accept children born out of wedlock, and  it was not uncommon for families to turn young women out if they became pregnant, leaving them unable to pay for their care. Employers might also fire them. Few choices remained for these girls. “Baby farms” sprang up as an alternative for desperate mothers.

These were no regulations for baby farms. An individual would place ads in newspapers offering to care for children at a settled price by the month or the year. Their mothers may have thought they would be able to work while someone else cared for their child — but the children did not survive long. “Farming out” a child so the mother could work, according to historians, was soon understood to doom the children to neglect.

The 20th century

By the end of the 19th century, Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children were formed and laws protecting children developed.  The Children’s Bureau was established and standards for adoption became law. But there was still plenty of stigma for unmarried mothers and their children.

Adoptions were arranged discreetly. Children were matched with adoptive parents who looked similar enough to them that people would not jump to the conclusion that they were adopted. This approach, people felt, gave the new family the best chance of seamless bonding.

Many kids were never told that they were adopted. In other cases, parents waited until their adopted child’s own marriage, their eighteenth birthday, or some other special milestone to reveal their history. It is not required by law that adoptive parents tell their children that they are adopted. But adoptive parents in those days often had no information about their child’s birth parents, and little knowledge to share beyond their own experiences.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the numbers of adoptions increased significantly. At the same time, social mores changed. There was less condemnation of unmarried parents and greater acceptance of adoption. Adopted children often wanted to know about their birth parents and even to meet them. Children from closed adoptions sued for access to their records and advocated for greater transparency. Gradually, open adoptions became the norm. At first, this meant that the adoption professionals would mediate communication between the adoptive family and the birth parents, but that practice developed into the current open adoption system.

Modern times

Now, some 90% of adoptions in the United States are open adoptions. Birth mothers choose families for their babies. Adoptive parents meet the birth parents and sometimes welcome them into their extended families. Open adoptions are very personal arrangements, with great variation in the details of the agreement. Children are usually told from the beginning that they have been adopted. Children’s picture books and regular contact with their birth families help small children grasp the concept and adoption is recognized as the brave and beautiful; choice it truly is.

Heimer Law can help you understand the process and details of adoption, whether you are an expectant mom or a would-be adoptive parent.

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