The move to open records lead to an increase in open adoptions in which information is shared from the beginning. Open adoptions may be completely open, as is the case when the birth parents (usually the mother) and adoptive parents meet beforehand and agree to maintain
contact while the child is growing up. The child then has full knowledge of both sets of parents.
Other open adoptions may include less contact, or periodic letters sent to an intermediary agency, or continued contact with some family members but not others. It can be a complex issue. In the case of an older child who is removed from the family by protective services because of abuse or neglect, the child clearly knows his birth parents as well as any other siblings.
If these siblings are also removed and placed in different adoptive homes, it may be decided that periodic visits between the the children—once every few months, perhaps—should be maintained, but that contact with the abusive parents should be terminated until the child reaches adulthood and may choose to search.
Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland