The Dear Birthmother letter is the letter written to the the prospective birthmother or birthparents from the prospective adopting family. It's usually a one to four page mini biography of the prospective adoptive families life, hopes, dreams, hobbies, how they feel about each other, contact information and why they would like to become parents through open adoption.

Along with the Letter are photos, usually of the prospective adopting family, their extended family, friends, pets, and activities.

There are many ways that a prospective adopting family distributes their letters, but the most common way is through the adoption specialist that they have signed up with. They sends these letters out to birthmothers or social service agencies when ever there is a call for a family or families that fit the needs of the birthmother and what she is looking for in a family to adopt her baby.

Many families go to the effort to do as much as their own outreach as possible. Sending their dear birthmother letters to hospital social workers and various other groups or individuals that may have contact with birthmothers and birthfathers seeking to place through open adoption.

Now with the popularity of the Internet and it's help in researching so many topics, sometimes birthmothers and prospective adoptive families will go online to research information about adoption.

You can find a mass of information about open adoption in the U.S. on the Internet, and all of the resources and support groups and organizations that surround it.

Birthparents and adoptive families are both susceptible to fraud so it is very important for all involved to have professional support through reputable open adoption agencies, facilitators or adoption lawyers as you go through the open adoption process.

Though both Birthparents and adoptive families are susceptible the birthparents are in a more vulnerable situation that the adoptive family once the adoption is finalized. They rely more heavily on the promise of open adoption rather than the legal aspects of it since there are no laws in place that support visitation rights for the birthparents.

This is why it is so important for birthparents to find families who truly believe it is in the best interest of the child to know their first parents.