The Open Adoption Experience

I hope you have visited the “Experts Opinion” column and read Sharon Roszia’s posts.  She co-wrote with Lois Ruskai Melina, a book called, The Open Adoption Experience.  Many of Adoption Voices Magazine contributors are writing about their viewing point on open adoption, and I know there is great general interest in the topic.

I read The Open Adoption Experience some time ago, then pulled it off my shelf a few months ago when members of my family were considering an open adoption.  I knew that this book would give them the insights and information they would need to make the decision to pursue an open adoption, and then continue to help them every step of the way.

The authors of this book are talented and seasoned professionals who write about both their professional and personal experiences in a warm and thoughtful way.

• Lois Ruskai Melina has listened to the concerns of hundreds of families in open adoptions, as she has traveled and lectured throughout the country.  She is also the mother of two children by adoption.

• Sharon Roszia was among the first professionals to advocate for open adoption and has counseled over 1,000 families in open adoption arrangements.   She is the mother of children by birth, adoption, and long-term foster care.  She has a great deal of experience with her own family members who have active connections with their birth relatives.

The idea of open adoption is so often misunderstood, and this makes people fearful.  It is important to understand, as the authors point out, that open adoption is a “relationship,” and not an institution.  There are advantages to an open adoption for all involved:



• The children can see that they are valued by their birth family, and that their adoption was not a rejection.
• Birth parents do not have to lose touch with their children, and can be readily assured they’ve made a good choice as they watch their children grow and thrive.
• Adoptive parents can feel more secure in their role when they receive direct permission and support from the birth parents to be their child’s active parent.

The open adoption experience helps eliminate the mystery, secrecy, and shame that have been so often associated with the adoption experience.

About the Author

Jane Ballback

Jane is executive editor of Adoption Voices Magazine and an adoptive parent of three.