Open adoptions are becoming more common. An adoption is considered open when birth and adoptive families exchange information. This can range from the adoptive family sending the birthparents letters and pictures while the child is young to regular visits over the course of the child’s life. With every adoption comes a unique situation; therefore each situation holds a different level of openness. However, every adoption should hold some degree of openness, as opposed to the secrecy and anonymity of traditional closed adoption. “[Research] suggests that requiring anonymity between birthparents and adoptive parents and sealing all information about the birthparents from the adopted child has damaging effects on all three parties (Baran 119).” Open adoption should be considered the norm for adoption in today’s society due to the negative effects closed adoption, and the positive effects open adoption, has on the child, birth parents, and adoptive parents, otherwise known as the adoption triad. I have always wondered, how could she do it? What was so wrong with me… that she gave me away? Who would I have been if I grew up in that other family? If I knew who my birth mother was, I could have stopped fantasizing and wondering. I could have just asked her those questions, instead of just having them bounce around in my head for all of those years. (16) Even aside from identity problems is the issue of health concerns. Many diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and asthma, run in families. If an adoptee is unaware of his family’s medical background, it could lead to health problems. For example, Leukemia, a cancer of the blood, runs in families. If an adoptee’s biological family member had Leukemia, but the adoptee did not know, he also would not know to make sure his doctors were keeping an eye out for it. Not knowing his family’s health history would become dangerous. Also, when the child becomes an adult and is ready to have their own children, they may be...