Making the decision to place your baby for adoption in Florida is a difficult choice. Even when you know it’s the best option for you and your baby, it’s still an emotional decision to make.

There is still a way for you to have a lasting relationship with your child and the adoptive family long after placement, and that is through open adoption in Florida.

Open adoption in Florida allows for open and continued communication, visits, and more between the members of the adoption triad (adoptive parents, birth parents, and the adoptee).

While it is completely up to you, as the birth mother, to decide what type of post-placement contact you want to have with your child, know that open adoption is a helpful option for healing and processing through post-placement and beyond.

What is Open Adoption in Florida?

Essentially, open adoption is when a birth mother has a direct relationship with her child through the child’s adoptive parents. How this relationship carries out can look different for every adoption situation – annual visits, phone calls throughout the year, or other forms of contact and levels of frequency while the adoptee is growing up.

Birth mothers who place their baby for adoption in Florida will work with adoption professionals to determine what kind of post-placement contact they want to have, as well as how frequent they want the contact. Overall, open adoption relationships are whatever you want them to be. As the birth mother, you are in charge every step of the way, meaning your adoption specialist and the adoptive family will respect your wishes. Your open adoption can be modified at any time and to any level you wish, including more or less communication with the adoptive family and your child.

What is Closed Adoption in Florida?

In Florida, closed adoption is when the birth mother chooses adoption for her child, but does not want to have any communication with her child or the adoptive parents throughout the child’s upbringing.

Experts have found that open adoption is highly beneficial to the adoption triad, but closed adoptions are still chosen by some prospective birth parents. They are for birth mothers who may, for any number of reasons, choose to not want any communication or relationship with their child or the adoptive parents. As the choice is solely the birth mother’s, it must be respected. There is nothing wrong with choosing a closed adoption if you need privacy, space, and a clean slate.

If the birth mother chooses a closed adoption, the state will keep the adoption records. Once the child turns 18, they can access their adoption records and look up their birth parents, if they so choose.

What is Semi-Open Adoption in Florida?

Some birth mothers may find they want their post-placement relationship to fall somewhere in between open and closed. In these cases, a semi-open adoption relationship may be the best choice for the birth mother.

Semi-open adoption relationships are facilitated and mediated by an adoption professional, to help ensure no boundaries within the relationship are pushed or taken advantage of

In a semi-open adoption in Florida, the birth mother has more ability to keep her personal information private, but she can still receive updates on how her child is doing as they grow up. Semi-open adoptions can include information like:

• The first names of birth and adoptive parents
• Both birth parents’ medical history
• Mediated communication through your adoption agency
• And more

The Benefits of Open Adoption in Florida

There are many benefits to choosing an open adoption in Florida for you and your baby. If you choose an open adoption as a birth mother, you’ll have the joy of getting to know and watch your child grow up in a loving and caring environment. It also allows you the opportunity to build a healthy relationship with the adoptive family, and even help them with answering any questions your child might have about the adoption.

Open adoption is also a healthy and positive way for birth mothers to nurture successful relationships with their children. As your child grows up, they will start to have questions about why you placed them for adoption. Being in their life through an open adoption relationship allows you both the time you need to discuss everything and help them understand it wasn’t an easy decision and that you did so to provide the child with the best possible future.

Open adoptions show the child love from both their adoptive family and their birth family, which can truly help them have more open-minded and caring perspectives for others in their life.

Learn More about Open Adoption in Florida

Before deciding what type of post-placement adoption relationship you want to have with your child and the adoptive family, make sure you do your research and understand the pros and cons of each option. Whatever type of adoption you choose to have, the choice is entirely yours to make.

You can have the benefits of open adoption, have the privacy through a semi-open adoption, or have the option of a closed adoption. Just know that there are resources out there to help you better understand what each option includes long-term so that when it comes time to decide, you can make the best possible decision for your adoption triad.

If you’d like to speak with an adoption professional about open adoption in Florida, you can contact us today. We’ll connect you with a helpful adoption specialist.