As the name suggests, “open” adoptions offer up the possibility of contact between the birth parents and adopted child, although how much contact, and how and when that communication takes place may differ on a case by case basis. In a semi-open adoption, for example, a lawyer, caseworker, or other individual may act as a mediator and messenger between the individuals involved.
However, usually an “open” adoption will allow for the communication between the child and their birth parents via letters, phone calls, emails, or brief in person visits. At the end of the day, though, it is still the adoptive parents who will have “the permanent legal rights and responsibilities for parenting and raising the child.”
Alternatively, in the case of a “closed” or “confidential” adoption, no contact between the birth parents, the child, or the adoptive parents will take place. Additionally, no identifying information about the birth parents will be provided to the child or their adoptive parents.