Research finds need for legal provision for ‘open adoption’ agreements. Women with a crisis pregnancy consider the availability of “open adoption” agreements to be an important factor in their decision regarding their pregnancy.
Research conducted by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Adoption Board on domestic adoption in 2005 found that legal provisions should be put in place to secure open adoption agreements within adoption orders.
The research was carried out by Drs Valerie Richardson and Hilda Loughran of the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at UCD.
The research involved women who had placed their babies for adoption in 2002, as well as a review of current policy and practices in adoption in Ireland. The report makes 14 key findings, as well as key policy and practice recommendations.
The report found that adoption as a solution to crisis pregnancy is now rarely the choice of single mothers and the number of babies available for traditional non-family adoption has fallen dramatically. In 2002, out of a total of 266 adoption orders made by the Adoption Board, 76 were non-family adoptions of Irish children placed by registered adoption agencies.
The availability of open adoptions where the birth parents have some continuing contact with the child was an important consideration of the birth mothers who participated in the research. The current arrangements in Ireland for open adoption are voluntary and unenforceable.
The study supports calls for legal provisions to be put in place to ensure that where a birth parent wishes to have continued contact with his or her child after the making of an adoption order, such contact should be made a condition of the adoption order and be legally enforceable.
However, the long-term consequences of open adoption arrangements need to be monitored and evaluated. This should include a consideration of what services need to be in place to keep the channels of communication open between the adoptors and the natural parents. The need for ongoing supports for all parties should be assessed and a designated service should be provided.
Olive Braiden, Chair, Crisis Pregnancy Agency said: “A women with a crisis pregnancy undergoes a significant amount of emotional turmoil in coming to a decision regarding her pregnancy. Some women may feel utterly unable to parent her child in her current circumstances, however much she may want to. Open Adoption agreements, where a woman can still have some level of contact with her child can be a real solution for a woman considering adoption. However, without the legal provision for these agreements, the woman is left uncertain as to her entitlements to have contact with her child”.
The Crisis Pregnancy Agency is mandated to prepare strategies to provide for a reduction in the number of women with a crisis pregnancy who opt for abortion by offering services and supports which make other options, such as adoption or parenting the baby, more attractive. A previous study by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency found that 28% of all women who have been pregnant have experienced a crisis pregnancy.
For further information contact Orla McGowan, Programmes and Communications Officer, Crisis Pregnancy Agency. 01-8146292/086-3785366.
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