What is Cooperative Adoption?
Cooperative adoption means that a birth parent can give consent to an adoption and still have some court-sanctioned visitation or continuing contact after the adoption occurs. A cooperative adoption can happen only when birth parents and adoptive parents can agree on specific visitation times and places or on reports and communication at specific times. That agreement will become part of the court record. Breaking the agreement can result in contempt of court charges but will not affect the adoption itself. Legislation in 1997 provided that post-adoption promises can be made part of the court proceeding in regard to sibling contact as well as birth parent/child contact. It is hoped in this way that sibling groups which are split for purposes of adoption will be able to maintain bonds throughout childhood.
