08/29/2026
A story more than a decade in the making.
The “O” family’s story with FAC began in January 2014, when she stepped into her first adoption journey with FAC by her side. Later that year, she matched and became a mama.
But the story we’re sharing today is about what happened after adoption.
Her relationship with her daughter’s first mom didn’t become what it is today overnight. In fact, it took about 18 months to really begin developing. It started with short visits in public places and, over time, grew into spending time together in one another’s homes.
She left the door open. And a relationship had room to grow.
Then that circle grew, too.
When her daughter was 15 months old, she connected with the adoptive family raising her biological brother. Those families chose to stay connected—visiting one another, staying in one another’s homes, and creating space for these siblings to grow up knowing one another.
And a few years later, when their first mom was expecting again, she called this mama and asked if she would parent another daughter.
In 2018, their family grew again.
Today, their openness includes a first mom, biological siblings, adoptive siblings, and another adoptive family—all woven into a relationship that has grown and changed over more than a decade.
This isn’t what every open adoption will look like. That’s actually the point.
Openness isn’t a formula. Relationships grow differently. They change with seasons. Sometimes they’re close, sometimes they’re quiet, and sometimes they become something you never could have pictured at the beginning.
That’s why we talk so much about leaving the door open.
You can’t force someone else to walk through it. You can’t control what the relationship will look like years from now.
But you can choose to keep making room for a relationship.
And the “O” family’s story is a pretty beautiful picture of what can grow when you do.
If you’re living open adoption, what has your relationship grown into that you never could have pictured at the beginning? We’d love to hear your story.