Openness in adoption allows adoptive parents to gain knowledge about their child’s medical and mental health histories, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and reasons for adoption. They may also feel more secure in their parental role because adoptive parents feel that birth parents have given them explicit consent to parent the child.  However, adoptive parents in direct contact with birth mothers express some concerns about the maturity of birth mothers and the amount of time and energy that contact with them may demand.

Open adoption helps to mitigate birth mothers’ feelings of pain and loss, resulting in less destructive behavior and greater emotional well-being. They are more likely to feel assured of the child’s welfare because the contact they have with the adoptive parents typically fosters trust that their child is in a safe and caring home. Without this contact, birth mothers often feel isolated, have unresolved feeling of guilt and self-blame, and feel uncertain of the well-being of the child. Greater certainty of the child’s well-being may alleviate the birth mother’s grief, and contribute to her sense of pride regarding the decision.

Adopted children need space and time to connect and bond with their adoptive parents.  Additionally, they often need information and some contact with biological parents. Determining the timing and extent of information sharing and communications is a challenging responsibility, primarily for the adoptive parents, but one that can be supported by the biological parents.