Social worker Vicki Koehler became a midwife to adoptive mothers and fathers nearly 25 years ago. Now an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she keeps abreast of the changing nature of adoption by doing private and agency adoption studies. First of all, it is no longer the judgmental worker and the supplicant adoptive parents. Now you and the adoptive parents are a team looking for the best fit between their home and an available child. There was a time when adoption was a clandestine process guarded from anyone other than the immediate family.
People even send out notices, much the same way they do birth announcements.
Another significant change is the frequency with which birth parents and relatives remain involved with the child after an adoption. Some cultures have always been quite open about kids being adopted. Of course, the continuum of involvement depends on the needs of the child and the comfort level of the adoptive parent. But it can go anywhere from yearly pictures sent to the birth mother, to outings that include the biological parent. The biggest change that Koehler see is the increasing number of special needs children being placed.