What exactly is adoption? It refers to surrendering the custody of the baby to a married couple or an individual who are actually not the biological parents of the child. Thus, when you are adopting a baby, you are taking over 100% custodial rights of the baby from his/her birth parents and you are responsible for the baby’s well-being.

Adopting a baby is a lifetime commitment and it will permanently deny the biological parents of any further responsibility of that child forever. In fact, in the eyes of the law, there is totally no difference between the adoptive parents and the biological parents.

Before you decide on adopting a baby, you should first consider the type of adoption you want. It is important to first find out the different types of adoption you can do. Do you want an open adoption, a semi-open adoption or a closed adoption for your process in adopting a baby? Find out what is each type of adoption and then decide on which is most suitable for you.

If the adoptive parents decide on an open adoption as the mean to adopting a baby, they are given custodial rights of the baby but the biological parents are allowed to correspond with the child via letters, visits or any other forms of contact they might want to have. Usually the adoptive parents will get to know the biological mother even before she gives birth to the child as she is usually given the choice of deciding on the adoptive parents she wants for her baby. The kinds of contact arrangements allowed after the adoptive parents have completed the process in adopting a baby will depend largely on the individual situation.

In a semi-open adoption, the biological parents are given the chance to meet the potential adoptive parents a few times before they carry out the actual process in adopting a baby. This allows them the chance to choose whether they want an open or a closed adoption ultimately. Although the biological parents know the adoptive parents, they usually do not stay in contact with the child concerned after the adoption is finalized.

Unlike the first two types of adoptions, in a closed adoption the adoptive parents are only given medical records after completing the process in adopting a baby. They will not get to know who the biological parents are or much about them. This can be because the government wants to protect the child who has been taken from an unhealthy environment or who has previously been abused. It can also be that the baby has been abandoned in an orphanage and thus nothing much is known about the baby. Another reason is that the biological parents cannot afford to keep the baby and thus decide to hand over the baby to an agency which will then help to look for suitable adoptive parents who are looking into adopting a baby.

There are many reasons why a child is put up for adoption and what the types of adoption you can have when you are making your decision on adopting a baby. As such, it is vital that you first find out what are the different kinds of adoptions available before deciding on the one that is most suitable for you.