Families interested in adoption may consider parenting a foster child who has a permanency goal of adoption. However, foster parents have no guarantee that they can eventually adopt their foster children. If a foster child has a goal of return to his or her birth family, foster parents must cooperate with visitation unless the goal is changed. In other cases, children who are free for adoption may be placed with relatives or may be moved to another adoptive home to be reunited with siblings. Top of Page Maintaining connections.
Many adoptive children can benefit from maintaining connections with people from their past.
Adoptive parents may formally or informally agree to maintain ties to the child's former foster family or birth family, but the adoptive parents maintain parental authority after an adoption is completed and will make decisions regarding the continuation of contact with birth family members. Issues may also arise regarding future contact between the child and siblings or grandparents. Adoptive parents should recognize that there are times when children, especially older children, will want to have contact with members of their birth family or a former foster family. Respecting the experiences that children have shared with others before adoption helps the adopted child integrate into his or her new family. If the child later decides to search for his or her birth family, the adoptive parents can help by being supportive and by offering advice and guidance.