Adoptive Parents' Attitudes toward Open Birth Records

Recently, adoptive parents have been faced with the possibility that laws regarding sealed adoption records may be revised to allow adult adoptees access to their records. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of several variables on adoptive parents' attitudes toward what has generally been called the open birth record issue. Parental fear of loss and rejection, sex of the parent, age of adopted children, and presence of biological children within the adoptive family were the independent variables studied. A mail survey was conducted which collected data from 42 adoptive fathers and mothers. Multiple regression analysis indicated that parental fear was the most important variable associated with adoptive parents' attitude on open birth records. A majority of adoptive parents supported a measure allowing adult adoptees access to birth records, provided such access was agreeable to birth and adoptive parents.