Court Opinion

ID: 9850715
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:01:53.601824+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:42.276995
License: Public Domain

SABERS, Justice
(dissenting).
I agree with the majority’s statement as follows:
The most compelling argument for open adoption is founded on the psychological needs of the child. A child has an important need to know his ancestral, religious, ethnic and cultural background. Morse, 704 P.2d at 1090. Shrouding a child’s past in secrecy may retard emotional development and self-identity. Id. The adopted *8child may have a strong need or desire to know his natural parents. The natural parents may be unable to raise or care for the child but the best interests of the child may dictate that those parents have a role in the child’s life. Petition of Dep’t of Social Servs., 467 N.E.2d at 864. As one court noted, visitation should be used “as a flexible device to promote the child’s welfare, rather than a natural right derived from parenthood.” Reeves v. Bailey, 53 Cal.App.3d 1019, 126 Cal.Rptr. 51, 56 (Ct.App.1975).
Although interference with the relationship between the adoptive parents and the child is the major disadvantage to open adoption, it need not be because it can be controlled by the court. Obviously, as stated by the majority, the trial court “should consider [and control] how visitation will affect the adoption” and “reconsider open adoption at any time the child’s best interests are jeopardized.” In this case, more could be gained than lost by open adoption and if problems developed, visitation could be suspended indefinitely or otherwise controlled by the court.
In this case, the least restrictive alternative in the child’s best interest would be a limited form of open adoption controlled by the court.