The Pros and Cons of Open Adoption in Missouri

Making the decision to have an open adoption is an important step in every birth mother’s adoption process. You have a few choices when you make your decision on the type of adoption you want, from open to closed and semi-open. An open adoption will provide you with a lot of benefits, like choosing your adoptive family and overall emotional support. Despite this, it can come with disadvantages, like a need to set up boundaries and a lack of closure. When discussing the pros and cons of open adoption in Missouri, it is important to keep in mind what you want out of your adoption process, because it can be different for everyone. Adoption Choices of Missouri understands that. We want to help you however we can. Here are just some of the pros and cons of open adoption you should consider when choosing to have an open adoption in the state of Missouri.

The Pros of Open Adoption

Generally, it seems that the positives of an open adoption often outweigh the negatives. But this can certainly change from birth mother to birth mother, depending on your personal and individual circumstances. In terms of benefits, open adoption can offer you:

Emotional comfort and security. One of the major benefits of open adoption relates to your own emotional well-being. Open adoption grants you a lot of opportunity when it comes to your child’s future, giving you the ability to choose. These options give birth mothers more of a hand in how their adoption process goes, which creates an important level of emotional security for any birth mother worried about their child’s future.
Control over your child’s future. Though it isn’t the case for all birth mothers, many find themselves wanting to exercise some level of control over their adoption process. At Adoption Choices of Missouri, we believe every birth mother deserves a personalized adoption experience. In an open adoption, you are allowed to choose your child’s adoptive family based on a number of factors, and you will also have the opportunity to talk with them about how much you would like to communicate.
A connection with your child. In addition to granting you control, choosing an open adoption also allows you to remain a central figure in your child’s life after the adoption is finalized. While you do not have any direct role in parenting your child, you will be able to communicate with them and keep in touch with them as they grow alongside their adoptive family.
Lasting open relationships with your adoptive family. Building a lasting relationship with your child’s adoptive parents will also allow you to have a closer connection with your child. This is an important relationship that you’ll form with the people who share a common bond with your child.

All of these options combine to give you and your child a brighter future where both of you can still be a part of each others’ lives, even in difficult circumstances. These are just a few of the many benefits that open adoption offers you as a birth mother.

The Cons of Open Adoption

While these are all fantastic reasons to consider an open adoption, they aren’t necessarily for everyone. The negatives may also outweigh the positives, in which case you should consider another type of adoption. Some of the drawbacks of an open adoption include:

Setting up difficult emotional boundaries. Working with another family to set up an open adoption might seem intimidating. If setting up difficult boundaries for communication and visitation doesn’t sound like something you’re capable of, that’s perfectly valid.
Drawing out a potentially stressful process. Some birth mothers turn to adoption as a way to provide emotional closure on an unplanned pregnancy. For someone going through a very stressful and uncertain period of their life, building a lasting relationship with an adoptive family and their child may not be in their best interest.

At Adoption Choices of Missouri, we understand that every adoption is different and that you might not be coming from the same perspective. If you decide after weighing the pros and cons of open adoption in Missouri that it might not be what you need, that’s perfectly fine, and something that our adoption agency is more than happy to accommodate.

What Are Your Thoughts about Open Adoption in Missouri?

These are certainly not an exhaustive resource, but Adoption Choices of Missouri wants you to know at least some of the pros and cons of open adoption in Missouri before you make any decision about your future. We believe the adoption process should be available for anyone who needs it, regardless of whether or not you feel an open adoption is best for you and your child.

Adoption Choices of Missouri serves birth parents statewide and beyond, please call us or text us to learn more! Call us toll-free at 877-903-4488 or, in Missouri call or text us at 1-816-527-9800

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.

If you find yourself debating what kind of adoption is best for you, or would just like to learn more about open adoption for yourself, don’t hesitate to talk to us. We’d be happy to help.