Listen to Birth Mom Chelsea talk about Open Adoption Agreements.
Post-adoption contact agreements (also called “open adoption agreements”) are agreements between birth parents and adoptive parents that specify how and when contact and/or communication will happen after an adoption. These adoption rules affect what will happen after an adoption.
Adoption rules change based on the state you are in. Approximately 25 states (plus the District of Columbia) have laws that make contact agreements between birth parents and adoptive parents enforceable as long as the court agrees that the agreement is in the child’s best interest.
Approximately seven states have laws making open adoption agreements enforceable, but only in certain circumstances (such as where the child is being adopted by a step parent, if the child is over the age of 2, if the child is adopted from foster care, or if the child lived with the birth relative before the adoption).
Approximately six states have laws that specifically make open adoption agreements unenforceable.
Approximately 20 states still don’t have any laws about open adoption agreements.
