Birth Mothers’ Experiences of Privacy Turbulence in Relation to Closed Adoption Information

ABSTRACT Adoption information, including original birth certificates (OBCs) and (non)identifying information, is kept secret from birth mothers who place their children in closed adoptions. Through the lens of communication privacy management theory (CPM), the present student explores how birth mothers who participated in closed adoptions experienced turbulence related to wanting to still be included in the privacy boundary of their children in a range of ways that were inconsistent with the legal parameters of a closed adoption. Participants (n = 31) responded to an online questionnaire asking about privacy issues and expectations related to their adoption information, specifically their experiences of turbulence. Emergent themes included inaccurate notions about perceived shared co-ownership rights, regret about the limited primary control of adoption information, and a desire for turbulence, allowing further expansion of co-ownership and control. Results of this study show how birth mothers who have engaged in closed adoptions may come to regret signing over control of their children (and consequently all privacy management decisions) to adoption agencies. These women appreciate the cultural and legal shifts that have created turbulence, opening up adoption records in some states, enabling them to potentially co-own more information about their children. Implications of these findings demonstrate birth mothers’ privacy rules evolve over time.