This article shares the stories of adoptive families in British Columbia, Canada who have entered into “open adoptions,” meaning the adopted children and their adoptive parents maintain contact with the children’s biological parents. Adoptive parents who spoke to the authors for this article noted the complexity of these situations, but ultimately agreed that it was worth struggling through at times “for the knowledge it brought to the kids.” “(Open adoptions) are a way to show your kids that you’re not stealing their life, but you’re giving them a bigger family,” one of the adoptive parents said.
According to the article, an advocate for children and youth in Ontario, Irwin Elman, described the situation of open adoption as being more about the adoptive parents joining the child’s family, rather than the other way around. “That’s what permanency is — not losing something, but gaining something,” said Elman. Research on outcomes for adopted children also indicates that open adoptions benefit children as children are able to maintain cultural ties and have fewer feelings of abandonment. Open adoptions also benefit birth parents who can remain a part of their children’s lives. Open adoptions are especially important for native families, particularly considering that more than half of the children awaiting permanent homes in British Columbia are aboriginal. Open adoptions allow aboriginal children to stay connected to their communities and culture and they help to assure that native families and communities will not lose their children forever.