A new openness is replacing the traditional, closed system. Birth parents are choosing the families who will raise their children.
Adoptive parents have answers for their children's tough questions about relinquishment.
Children are growing up knowing they are loved by birth and adoptive parents. As social work became a profession and agencies became the intermediaries in accepting and placing children, the feeling was that it would be better for everyone if records were sealed. Everyone had something to hide. The young, pregnant mother was seen as a sinner. The adoptive parents often had the stigma of infertility.