Our thoughts on Open Adoption...

Dear Birth Parents,

We welcome you into our life. We look forward to including you as we walk beside our child with life's mysteries unfolding and dreams coming true. Please understand, the words "our child" includes you. Our child will always be apart of you and you will forever be apart of our family.

The words above have been extracted from a book we are creating for our potential birth parents. It is our hope to have birth parents that are willing to be openly engaged in our child’s future.

We believe that birth parents can play a vital role in the life of an adopted child. This can be a healthy relationship that allows a child to explore his or her biological and culture history. Birth parents can also give a child unconditional love and support. We believe in the theory that it takes a village to raise a child. In our view, birth parents are part of the village. The goal of adoption is to provide a child with a loving home and resources for future success. Birth parents are an additional resource that should be relied upon.

Birth parents are chief health information officers. Their updated biological health information can provide great in site into developmental issues and illnesses throughout life. In some cases, birth parents are the only resource for life saving therapies requiring donors.

Every adoption is different and each can have many facets. All parties must be responsible and willing to honor original agreements and adoption plans. Most importantly, insecurities and fear should be set aside for the benefit of the child. When a adoptive child has unanswerable questions about their heritage and beginning original agreements are of little consequence.

The world of adoption is very different from that of many years ago. It is different from the adoptive world I (Brandon) grew up in. More choices are available to all parties involved in the process. Jose' and I are proud to be participating in the growing change that is Open Adoption.