Ms Christine Hennessy:

Mothers need to have a right to know how their child is getting on. It is as simple as that. They need to know. The research done in the United States, in particular, on the outcomes of open adoption, where the mother becomes part of the child's life as an ongoing contact, is very promising. I did a small amount of research in this area and found that such children were doing very well. In general, there is nothing to fear from open exchange of information. In fact, it is healthy for everybody and can be very good for children because there is not a sudden requirement on the child, when he or she reaches adulthood, to get to know a person who is a complete stranger. We know the outcomes of reunion are sometimes good but, as I said earlier, they are also often complicated as two strangers, in effect, seek to get to know one another.