Why it’s Okay to Choose to Closed Adoption: Facts about Closed Adoption for Birth Mothers
This is a question that we see a lot when covering all of the options you have for an adoption. While your primary focus may be on you and your child, you need to give some thought to the other essential parties of an adoption as well — the adoptive family. Deciding where your child will go once you decide to go forward with adoption is an important step in the adoption process. At Adoption Choices of Arizona, we are dedicated to making sure you have access to everything you need.
There are types of adoption for birth mothers who wish to specify the relationship they have with their child’s adoptive parents, one of those being a closed adoption. We offer this route to you, the same as we do an open adoption or a semi-open adoption. You may have some questions, though, like what a closed adoption actually entails, and why it’s okay to choose closed adoption for you. This is where our adoption agency comes in. Our job is to provide you with all the information you need to make a positive, informed decision about your adoption journey and the future of your child.
What is a Closed Adoption?
When discussing the type of adoption you’ll have in terms of openness or closed-ness, you need to understand that this refers to the level of communication you will have with your child’s adoptive family. A closed adoption is one in which the birth mother chooses not to have any communication with the adoptive family. This obviously limits the amount of information shared between the birth mother and the adoptive family, to such a point that they will not know anything about one another.
In Arizona, adoption records will be sealed, and a judge will have to open them down the line if the adoptee wishes to know more about their birth mother or birth family. There are plenty of reasons why a birth mother would choose this type of adoption that we’ll get into later, but for now, know that it is one of your adoption type options concerning the control you have over your personal adoption process. At Adoption Choices of Arizona, one of our many focuses is on giving you as much control over your adoption process as possible. This includes letting you decide how much contact you wish with the adoptive parents of your child.
Why would I Have a Closed Adoption?
There are many valid reasons why a birth mother would opt for a closed adoption over either an open or semi-open adoption when making an adoption plan. One common reason why relates to emotional security. A closed adoption can bring a sense of closure to an extremely difficult period in the birth mother’s life, which some women need. Restricting your own access to a child as a birth mother might also be a way of protecting them from a difficult situation that you are personally going through. Other birth mothers may do this for fear of stigma and confrontation associated with being an active birth mother maintaining a relationship with their child and adoptive family.
Why it’s Okay to Choose Closed Adoption
Whatever your reason for choosing to have a closed adoption, you should know that choosing one is completely and okay to do. Closed adoptions can sometimes be to the benefit of your child, while also saving you a headache down the road if your relationship with the adoptive family isn’t that great. Your emotional struggles are entirely valid. In fact, Adoption Choices of Arizona makes a point of valuing your input in the process all along the way. The adoption is as much about you as it is about your child, and if you believe it would be better to keep these two worlds separate, then that is your call to make. You have every right to want closure and security in your life, and you have no obligation to tie your child to an unhealthy lifestyle or situation.
Hopefully this resource has helped you understand why it’s okay to choose closed adoption if you feel that’s a better fit for you and your child. The choice remains yours to make. Our adoption agency will work with you to ensure that you feel confident about your decision, and that you have the most positive adoption journey possible.
For adoption resources or to begin your adoption journey, birth parents can visit us at Adoption Choices of Arizona or call or text us at 1-480-900-5520. If you are an prospective adoptive family hoping to adopt a baby, please instead, visit us here!
Meet the Author: Josh Drogemuller is a Senior at Grand Valley State University and has interests in writing and digital studies. A relative newcomer to the field of professional writing, Josh has spent the last eight years of his educational career honing his skills on the page. Josh is currently working towards a Bachelor of Science in Writing.
Living in the Midwest, Josh looks forward to long baseball games and longer sentences.
