Communication in Open Adoption

I will never regret choosing for our adoption to be open (at least I don't see why I would) but that is not to say that it is easy. Having an open adoption is like gaining a whole new set of in-laws, it's an eternal commitment to expand your family and your heart. When you are considering marrying someone you generally decide on doing so because you love that person and want to spend the rest of forever with them. You may or may not love their family immediately, some relationships come more naturally than others. When you decide to adopt it is because you love the child and want them with you for the rest of forever. You may or may not love their birth family immediately. It's not hard to love the birth family (at least it hasn't been for me), but the emotions that go along with placing a child for adoption and those that go along with adopting are very tender. And there's no manual for the right way to do an open adoption. It is a learning process, and it is hard. But because you love the child, and because you love each other, you are committed to making it work. Luckily for us, Abby's birth family is great smile emoticon. But here's a fantastic article about communication in open adoption. http://adoption.com/effective-communication