As I shared in my last post, Using an Alias in a Semi-Open Adoption, because of my very unusual first name ("Faith" is a pen name), my husband and I chose to use an alias when I met my son's then-expecting mother. I believed this was the only way to protect our privacy, and that is definitely true if my son's birthmother wanted to track us down. However, I regret having made this decision, and it has resulted in some complications.

Before you decide to do the same... more

The adoption agency through which we adopted our son mostly handles semi-open adoptions for domestic adoptions. For a number of reasons, the agency believes that semi-open adoption is the best option for all members of the adoption triad.

As part of a semi-open adoption, the agency encourages the expecting mother to meet the hopeful adoptive parents before the baby is born. If all parties want to see each other again, such as after the baby is born, then the agency will... more

In a semi-open adoption, the adoptive family and birthfamily learn information about each other, but no identifying information is disclosed. The parties might meet face to face. The birthmother chooses the adoptive parents. The parties might agree to limited contact after the adoption, such as through sending pictures, letter, cards, and/or presents. The contact might be one-way (adoptive parents sending information) or both ways.

Pros

Storkmom, a member of the adoption.com forums, generously gave me permission to repost something she wrote a couple of weeks ago about her family's semi-open adoption experience. Part 1 of her story is here.

I think it's important to show all perspectives of adoption. What "open" means to one family is not the same as what "open" means to another. In this family's case, the adoption is semi-open, chosen by Storkmom's son's birthmother. I find it interesting that... more

Storkmom, a member of the adoption.com forums, generously gave me permission to repost something she wrote a couple of weeks ago about her family's semi-open adoption experience.

I think it's important to show all perspectives of adoption. What "open" means to one family is not the same as what "open" means to another. In this family's case, the adoption is semi-open, chosen by Storkmom's son's birthmother. Here's her story:

>We were married about 10 years before we were able to finally pursue adoption. All our friends/family who have... more