I really think my opinions about open adoption tend to walk a narrow line between knowing it can be positive, and knowing it can often be not so positive. I have experienced it both ways, and in even our most open ongoing relationship, there is warmth and understanding as well as intense times of disagreement and resentment.

If some people expect me to be always totally positive about open adoption, they will be sadly disappointed. If people wish to hear me consistently spout nothing but negatives about openness, then again, someone is going to be disappointed. IF, however, people want to really hear, the good, the bad, the positives, the negatives, the things I think are worth while, the things that I just down right get irritated about (in other words the reality of openness, from my personal perspective) then I believe they will come away with something from my blog, if not everything they might want to hear.

The thing is I am not here to tell people what to do, but I do feel a strong obligation to share what has worked for me, as well as what has not, and implore people to do some stretching of their own minds. How much stretching you do, and how far it takes you, is your own personal decision.

Someone recently implied that I view open adoption as some sort of “slam dunk” that means it will always be the best option if attempted, but that is hardly what I write about or what I feel. To top it all off I don’t even play basketball, so I would not know a slam dunk from a home run!

I do think people should have open minds, or I believe they can have the potential for missed opportunities. None of us can really write a road map for open adoption, or any other form of adoption that will get anyone else precisely where they need to go. If we have found our own way somehow though, isn’t it our obligation to send the information out, in hopes that it will help someone else find their way too?

Sometimes I truly feel that no matter what I am damned if I do, and damned if I don’t. Damned if I encourage consideration to explore open adoption, and damned if I remind people they can also opt to steer clear if it isn’t working for them.

*Sigh. I don’t make the rules, I just am sharing how they are working, or not working out for me.

When open adoption was working for me...

Love Thursday - A Brother Connection

Love Thursday ~ A Beautiful Smile

Open Adoption Despite The Disapproval

When open adoption was not working for me...

Adoption, Siblings, And Lost Relationships

Open Adoption - Prepare To Be Unprepared

Open Adoption - A Pattern For Disaster?

For information/instructions on how to subscribe FREE to your favorite AdoptionBlogs, please visit this link.