Growing trend towards 'Open Adoptions'
"Open adoption" in Illinois is permitted but not enforceable in a court of law. Still, it is a growing trend.
In an open adoption, the birth parents maintain contact with the adoptive parents and the child in any number of ways including personal visits, phone calls, emails and letters. If the adoptive parents choose to stop the contact, however, it is their legal right to do so.
According to the Illinois Adoption Act, "The natural parents of a child sought to be adopted shall be relieved of all parental responsibilities for such child and shall be deprived of all legal rights as respects the child."
The act also states that adoption records must be kept confidential. This means that the birth parents may not know the whereabouts of the child after the adoption is final.
A number of experts believe that varying degrees of openness between the adoptive parents, birth parents and the child is truly in the child's best interests. The birth parents want the chance to help select a family that will do the best job raising the child, and the adoptive parents believe that the child will benefit from ongoing contact with the birth parents.
However, both sets of parents must have a clear agreement and understanding for the process to work successfully. Often, both sets of parents go through counseling to determine the best arrangement.
A few states have passed laws allowing open adoption agreements to be enforced by their courts. But in Illinois, the state legislature would have to change the law for open adoptions to be enforced by Illinois courts.
Note: This information was prepared as a public service by the Illinois State Bar Association and is a joint project with the Illinois Press Association. Its purpose is to inform citizens of their legal rights and obligations.
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