FAQ--Why do we choose to have an open adoption?

Many people have asked us about our choice to do an open adoption. The idea of an open adoption is relatively new, and we are glad that we have been able to approach adoption with the understanding that an open adoption brings. Some of the key key things unique to an open adoption are:

1--Our children will know from the very beginning that they are adopted and who his/her birth mother is. We will keep a relationship with the birth mother that will allow us to communicate with her, send her pictures, and she will be aware of how our family is growing and progressing.
2--This openness will allow us to teach our children about Heavenly Father's plan for him. We believe that God creates families. And he has created ours by sending each to our family through a birth mother. We hope that this knowledge will help our children to learn more about all the people that love them, as well as a knowledge that heaven knows each of our names and helped us to build our family in this unique way.
3--The openness has also allowed us to get to know our birth mother. We spoke to her on a weekly basis since she made the decision to place her baby with us until the birth, then we have maintained an open communication (mainly through email and skype) since David's birth. All of this communication has helped us to have a basis for our love for her. We would have still felt love for any birth mother that blessed our family with a child, but coming to know her heart has made that love sweeter.
4--Through the openness of this adoption, we have also been able to meet many people that love our birth mother and the life she has brought into the world. We spent a lot of time with her family during the first week of David's life. We have also been able to meet friends from her home town, and they have showered David with rememberances of more people that love him. We truly feel blessed to have all of these people interested in the well-being of our son.
6--Last, but certainly not least, our open adoption has allowed us to develop a level of trust that has surprised us. We came to trust our birth mother that she was going to carry through with the decision to place her baby in our family. We also came to trust her that she was making a huge effort to give our baby a healthy start to life in the way she took care of herself during the pregnancy. And now she is trusting us that we will keep her in touch with our family and share with her the joy David brings to our life.