Hi, I joined to just clear a few things up about adoption. I adopted my kids, both years ago and just recently.
So, it's very unusual to have open adoption in the uk. It can happen though and we now know that adopted children benefit from meaningful contact with their birth family, IF safe to do so, so more creative methods of contact are being encouraged.
So potential options for contact are
- letterbox once or twice a year where birth and adoptive parents write to each other just to keep the link there. This is most common.
Sometimes adoptive parents will agree to once a year direct contact, in person. At first this is likely to be at a contact centre and as time goes on, it can be more meaningful in the community and adopters stay with their child at all times.
Sometimes adoptive parents will agree to more than once a year direct contact. Maybe a few times a year. All of these contacts will initially be supported by a social or family worker until they know direct contact is appropriate. Again the adopters stay. As the years go by, this will change to community, without workers if appropriate.
Contact can be at the birth parents house, IF it's safe and the birth parents are appropriate. In Lou's situation, I would eat my hat if this was the case, as Lou continues to demonstrate she has no sound understanding why she isn't safe to parent, what adoption means or acceptance that the child has a new mother. Not someone who just looks after her kid, but a new mother. She would also have to have a safe, clean home without any threat. So there is no way it would be appropriate with the risk of drug dealers, Ste's history etc of her home being threat free.
If any contact at all is happening it will be at a centre. Highly supervised. As an adopter who is very open minded, I can't see any adopter agreeing to contact with Lou. There is too much risk to the child, to them as his new parents with Ste especially and the drugs. Too little understanding on Lou's part to respect that the baby has a new family. Acceptance is a huge part of a more open adoption.
Last thing - the adopters might not have event given Lou the right name to keep themselves safe. This is likely again with Ste's past and their drug habits. And they absolutely won't be 'best friends'. This is likely how Lou has perceived their 'relationship' as someone like Lou often misreads and misunderstands relationships, and takes niceties for best friends. I missed the details of the farm that supposedly the adopters live on. But it's typical in this situation with violent histories, that children are moved out of area. Depending on the level of risk. Lou would not know their address or even town so she's likely chatting BS if she's given specifics.