The current status of post-adoption contact

Abstract

Providing for face-to-face contact after adoption is a complex and fiercely contested area. What is called indirect or ‘letterbox’ contact is now provided for the great majority of adopted children but direct, or face-to-face, contact is still selective depending on the child’s circumstances, the adoption agency’s policy and the attitude of the courts. The consensus of the majority of the available studies is that children benefit. Contact appears to promote genealogical identity, self-esteem and a general sense of well-being, and the majority of adoptive parents and birth relatives are reported to find it helpful too. It is also recognised that there are still many unknowns including the long-term outcome of arrangements, the kind of children who can benefit and in what specific ways, how contact impacts on children who had been severely maltreated by birth relatives and who now have contact, and the effect on children whose birth relatives cease to visit. For these, and other reasons, face-to-face contact is not for every child and a case-by-case approach is required.