I came across a very important post-slash-request over at Open Adoption Support. I feel the need to pass it on to you and hope that you will continue to pass it on. In short: some research is being done on adult adoptees who lived through open adoptions. Their opinions and experiences are requested via a survey.

And now, of course, the long and wordy version!

After reading the post, I contacted Christy Sherman to get some more information about the survey, the purpose and the person behind it all. She happily provided me with some answers and I feel confident that her intention is good and that those responding will be in good hands.

The specifics: the survey is for adult adoptees who have lived through open adoption. She is seeking ages 18-25 but also acknowledges that there are older open adoption adoptees. She let me know that those above the age range are welcome to respond.

What kind of questions can you expect? Well, I can't tell you from personal experience. I didn't want to click through the survey just to investigate the questions and, as such, skew the results. However, Christy let me know about some of the questions and why they exist. In order to pinpoint the different definitions and realities of open adoption contact, there are questions about the frequency and type of contact with the birth family. There are also questions about the communication within the adoptive family as well as questions about the comfort level in relationships. You know, all typical adoption survey "stuff" that we've seen in surveys from children and teens but now we're talking to adults who have lived through this open adoption experience.

She needs 80 respondents if she is to get a good set of results. And that's going to be difficult as open adoptions don't always make it to adulthood, not all open adoption adoptees read these particular sites and a whole plethora of varied reasons. (So, pass this news on!)

If you're wondering about the woman behind the survey, she is a therapist interested in specializing in adoption issues. Because she's an adoptee herself from a closed adoption. While researching, she realized the lack of information available to professionals helping those touched by adoption and decided to do something about it. In fact, she said, and I quote, "I still meet professionals with some pretty outdated beliefs about all member of the adoption triad or adoption kinship network. My interest, in part, is to better educate my colleagues on adoption related issues." Don't you want to hug Christy? I sure do. Educating those who are helping all of us seems like a great way to foster change and reform. Kudos indeed!

And so, back to the point: if you are an adult adoptee who lived through an open adoption, please take this survey. If you know of an adult who lived through an open adoption, please pass this on. Pass it on to people who might know someone who knows someone. Remember: this is an attempt to help educate those who are trying to help us!



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