Does Dr. Dobson favor open or closed adoptions?
Answer Dr. Dobson recognizes that there are advantages and disadvantages to both closed and open adoptions, though, all things being equal, he leans toward closed adoption as the arrangement of choice. Moreover, he finds himself unable to support any legislation that would require open records in all adoption cases. His primary concern is that there is great potential for emotional damage to a child who establishes one parental relationship only to learn in “mid-stream” that there is another “mother” on the scene. Adoptive parents may also find open adoptions to be emotionally difficult due, in part, to worries that the relationship with their child will change for the worse. Sometimes adopted children will desire some form of open adoption because they want to learn about their family of origin for emotional or medical reasons. This may be beneficial if the child is older and his or her relationship with the adoptive parents is strong. It’s best that any concerns and feelings are addr
