Open Adoption of Newborns

Open adoption became accepted more than 25 years ago. Open adoption came to replace the traditional closed adoption system, which was hard on everyone involved.

• Birth mothers knew little if anything about the family that adopted their children, and did not get to choose the adoptive parents.
• Adoptive parents were left with questions about the child's birth parents.
• Adopted children grew up wondering who their birth parents were and why they were given up for adoption.

Open Adoption A Good Choice for Everyone Involved

While some still advocate for traditional, closed adoptions, the attorneys at the Adoption Law Offices of Adams & Romer in San Francisco and Sonoma County firmly believe that open adoption is a sound and humane choice for everyone involved.

"While we provide a full range of adoption services, most of the 50 or so adoptions we finalize each year are open, newborn adoptions. We prepare the adoptive parents and the expectant mother for the hospital experience and for termination of birth father rights to ensure a safe adoption, ending with finalization of the adoption in court."
— Attorney Susan Romer

She Picks You

Compared to a traditional adoption, one of the benefits of open adoption is that the birth mother chooses you. Some studies suggest that open adoption enhances the adoptive parents' feeling of entitlement and connection to the child when they have been specifically selected by the birth mother to raise the child.

Our attorneys and staff will help you compose a letter to a potential birth mother, describing yourself, your life and your hopes to adopt a child. We help you design and execute your outreach plans as well as do our own outreach on behalf of all our clients. We bring together expectant parents with families who are seeking to adopt children. Our firm provides a safe process in which the parties involved can cultivate a relationship. This includes phone calls and visits and meetings with or set up by the professionals in our office.

Open Adoption is Not Co-Parenting

Once an adoption is final, there is never any question that the adoptive parents are the child's true and legal parents. We will help you negotiate a plan for future contact with the birth parents that both you and the birth parents feel is appropriate for your specific circumstances.

We are committed to being there for individuals and couples who wish to adopt a child. We understand that adoptive parents may have suffered previous setbacks in their attempts to build a family. We promise to give you a straightforward assessment of the adoption process, its risks and rewards, and discuss your specific concerns, fears and interests.

Contact Us to Get the Information You Need

If you are considering adoption, we invite you to learn more about the process and how our adoption lawyers can help. Call us toll free at 1-800-U-ADOPT-US (1-800-823-6788) or e-mail adamsromer@aol.com. We have been building loving families through adoption for more than 70 years.