Open Adoption: A Step in the Right Direction for Women Experiencing an Unlanned Pregnancy

"An open adoption is like getting married -- if you don't want to do it, you shouldn't," says Shari Levine, director of Open Adoption and Family Services in Portland, Oregon.

I had a chance to chat with Shari last week so I asked her a few questions I'd been chewing on. First, I asked whether domestic adoptions are decreasing. Not at OA&FS, says Shari. Because the agency specializes in open adoptions (that is, the kind in which a legally-enforceable contract specifies the terms of ongoing contact between the birth and adoptive family), many women who experience an unplanned pregnancy contact them.

"Do you coerce pregnant women into making an adoption plan?" I asked (okay, I didn't put it quite that bluntly, but that was the gist of the question).

"Certainly not," replied Shari. She explained that when a pregnant woman contacts them, their counselors spend a great deal of time reviewing the long-term implications of the woman's choice to parent her child or make an adoption plan. If the woman expresses an interest in adoption and "it seems doable," she and her counselor begin to develop an adoption plan.

I like the fact that OA&FS offers "lifetime counseling" for both birth mothers and adoptive families, because many times, unexpected issues arise months, or even years after the adoption.

Although I believe that some adoption agencies still coerce women into relinquishing their babies, my guess is that the baby's father and the pregnant woman's family are the driving force behind most coerced relinquishments. And in past years, women commonly were coerced into giving up their babies.

At Open Adoption and Family Services, they offer many types of support groups, workshops and counseling, during which they take a close look at the past system of closed adoption vs. modern-day open adoption. "We learn from the mistakes of the past," says Shari.

Comments

[Ashley Bowers]

I agree this is the first and right step in teh direction for adoption. Lifetime counseling is a great idea for alot of first time adopters!