This essay by Karen Sotiropoulos (Radical History Review 2008(101):179-190) offers a rumination on the history and implications of open adoption, with a particular focus on the ways the practice grew out of the women's rights movement of the 1970s and on the ways racial inequities impacted a child aoption before and after the rise of openness movements.  It draws on a surge of recent scholarly work on child adoption to explofe connections between race, child welfare, women's righs, and transnationalism.  It also raises the question of child adoption as a human rights issue by considering together activist trends in domestic and international adoption.  Finally, it suggests that paired with the political movement for more openness in adoption, the developing field of "adoption studies" may help pave the way for making adoption a more ethical practice.

This publication, released in November 2007 for National Adoption Awareness month, represents the most comprehensive examination to date of one of the most controversial, emotional issues in the modern adoption world: whether adopted people, once they become adults, should have access to their original birth information. This report suggests that all states change their laws so that the answer is "yes."

This policy paper is the result of the broadest, most extensive examination to date of the various issues related to state laws governing adult adopted persons' access to their original birth certificates and/or adoption records. The information and recommendations in this paper are drawn from a review and analysis of past and current state laws; legislative history in states across the country; decades of experience on relevant issues; and the body of research relating to sealed and open records on the affected parties.

From the linked webpage there is access to an executive summary and the full report.

Created by Brenda Romanchik, a first mother and social worker, this site offers articles, information and products specific to triad members living with and exploring open adoption.