If you intend to adopt a child, you will need to decide whether you prefer a closed or open adoption. It is important to know the differences between these two methods, and how they affect your legal rights with your child.

In a closed adoption, a child's birth parents and adoptive parents communicate anonymously. Though the two sets of parents may converse, no personal information is shared. This ensures that the birth parents cannot seek custody of their child after finalizing the adoption, and adoptive parents cannot seek to return the child to his or her original parents. Both parties may not share their last names, social security numbers, addresses, or any other traceable information. Closed adoptions rarely allow birth parents to contact their child. In some cases, this closed method can pose the danger of "fantasy adoption." Fantasy adoption occurs when a child is not given any substantial information about his or her birth parents. Later on in life, this can result in a host of unanswered questions and confusions. Some parents choose closed adoption so that they will not need to tell their children that they are adopted. This may cause unnecessary trauma when a child is informed of his or her heritage as a teen or adult.

In an open adoption, also known as a cooperative adoption or an adoption with contact, the child's birth parents and adoptive family openly share information. This makes it easier for the child to keep in contact with his or her biological parents. Parents can trade updates, visit, send cards and gifts, or conduct phone calls with their birth child, depending on the circumstances agreed on in an open adoption contract. Open adoption minimizes the child's loss of relationships and allows the child to grow up familiar with his or her former parents. It is especially helpful to a child who has had a longstanding relationship with his or her birth parents prior to adoption. More and more adoptions in the United States involve older children. In these circumstances, it may be hurtful to cut off a relationship between your child and his or her biological parents.

To make an open adoption work, it requires flexibility and commitment. You will need to maintain the parent-to-parent relationship regardless of conflict. In an adoption with contact, the adoptive parents are allowed to determine the frequency of visits from a child's birth parents, as well as the degree of contact they are allowed to have. This can be once a year, once a month, once a week, or any decision that both parties agree on. A mediated open adoption guarantees a court-appointed mediator who will help to regulate relations between both families. Adoptive parents can outline the extent of information which they will share with the child's adoptive parents in their contract.

Some states only allow one type of agreement, and specific adoption agencies will only work with one option. In26 states, an open or closed adoption is confirmed by a contract agreement. Other times, families use an informal agreement to determine the openness of an adoption. While informal agreements are possible, they are not practical in the event of conflict. With a contract, you can receive court intervention if things go awry. The court that confirms the adoption must also approve this contract in order to make the agreement legal. All parties must agree in writing to the terms prior to adoption finalization. In Arizona and Louisiana, the court will take into account the child's wishes if he or she is over 12 year old. In six states, a child must write a written consent in order to enact the open adoption.

The Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has created a list of suggestions that should be put in every contract agreement. Most importantly, the contract should state the adoption is irrevocable. This ensures that if a birth parent grows an attachment to her biological child, she cannot reverse the adoption to get him or her back. The bureau also suggest that the court should be allowed to order compliance, modify contracts, or void agreements if circumstances have changed and the action is in the best interest of the child. If you have any further questions about this topic, speak to a family law attorney for more detailed information.