A legal process where the biological and adoptive families have no identifying information about each other and no contact before or after the adoption is finalized. The records pertaining to the adoption are sealed, and generally inaccessible to the involved parties without a court order. For instance, the birth parents will not know the adoptive parents’ names, address, or any details about their lives, and vice versa. Similarly, the adopted child will not have access to the birth parents’ identifying information.
This type of adoption provides a sense of privacy and closure for both the birth parents and the adoptive parents. Historically, it was the most common form of adoption, driven by societal norms and legal frameworks that emphasized confidentiality. It offered birth parents the chance to move forward without ongoing reminders of the adoption, while providing adoptive parents the security of raising the child without potential interference. The benefits were perceived as creating a clean break and minimizing potential emotional complexities for all involved.
