Are there any legal protections to ensure I can see my baby after the adoption?
A concern of many birthparents considering adoption is whether the adoptive parents will really live up to their promises of openness. Are there legal protections to guarantee this? In California, there is a document called an Adopt 310 that Birthparents and Adoptive Parents sign. It is filed when the adoption is finalized and makes the contact agreement legally binding. This means that if the couple was not living up to the level of contact agreed to in the contract, the birthparents could actually take them to court to have it enforced. The only way that the adoptive parents could deny the contact would be if they felt it was harmful to the child and they would have to prove this in court. But even then, once the birthparents are in a better place in their life and are able to have healthy communications with the child, the contact would continue.
It is also good to remember that even if the adoption is in a state that does not make contact legally binding, an Open Adoption Agreement will still be completed to outline the kind of contact that all parties feel most comfortable with. Couples who choose to pursue an Open Adoption do so because they feel it is in the best interest of their child and they will honor the contact that everyone agrees to even if it’s not backed up by the law.
