While open adoption is a relatively new phenomenon in the west, it has been a traditional practice in many Asian societies, especially in South Asia, for many centuries.
Adoptions became closed when social pressures mandated that families preserve the myth that they were formed biologically.
[citation needed] As of 2013, roughly half of US states consider them legally binding,[6] however contact in open adoption is not always maintained.
[7] In a mother-driven society after WWII, infertile couples were also seen as deficient due to their inability to bear children.
The social experiment of taking children from "unmarried mothers" and "giving" them to adoptive parents became the norm during the Baby Scoop Era.
[14] When the birth mother has narrowed down her prospective adoptive parents to one or a few families, normally they arrange to meet in person.
The birth mother may feel that future contact with the adoptive parents, or the child, would be emotionally difficult for her.
In an increasing number of US states, courts will find these agreements legally enforceable, as long as they serve the best interests of the child.
Non-identifying information includes the date and place of the adoptee's birth; age, race, ethnicity, religion, medical history, physical description, education, occupation of the biological parents; reason for placing the child for adoption; and the existence of biological siblings.
Identifying information is any data that may lead to the positive identification of an adoptee, biological parents, or other relatives.
Many states ask biological parents to specify at the time of consent or surrender whether they are willing to have their identity disclosed to the adoptee when he or she is age 18 or 21.
A person seeking a court order must be able to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that there is a compelling reason for disclosure that outweighs maintaining the confidentiality of a party to an adoption.
[23] In Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, New Hampshire, and Oregon, there is no requirement to document good cause in order to access their birth certificates.
[24][25][26][27] Some groups, such as Bastard Nation, One Voice,[28] and Origins USA,[29] campaign for adoptees' automatic access to birth certificates in other US states.