| Abstract: | SUMMARY: The placement for adoption of older children and those with special needs brings into focus the practice of open adoption whereby there is some form of continuing contact, including face to face contact, between birth and adoptive families. This in turn raises issues about the support needed to maintain such links. The paper discusses the progress made in New Zealand towards open adoption. The views of social workers, birth and adoptive families on face to face contact are reported and arguments for and against post-adoption support for open adoption are examined. |
