Will I be allowed to maintain contact with my child after the adoption?

If you want to have contact with your child after the adoption, FCCA will help you negotiate a post-adoption contact agreement with the adoptive family. This is permitted under California law, and can become a legally-enforceable agreement once it is signed by all parties and filed with the court in the adoption file.

The majority of infant adoptions through FCCA provide for some level of openness. Most commonly, the adoptive family agrees to send pictures and letters to you several times per year, until the child is eighteen. Sometimes families communicate directly with the child’s birth mother, and even have in-person visits once or twice a year. Other times, letters and pictures are exchanged through FCCA because everyone wants a little more space. Of course, if you do not want any contact after the adoption, you are free to choose this option, as well.

In the best of all worlds, you will have some idea of the amount and type of contact you want before you are matched with a potential adoptive family, so that everyone goes into the match with similar expectations. However, we understand that your feelings about this issue can evolve over time, and we will always discuss your requests with the family and do our best to help you come to a solid written agreement with them.