The Idiot's Complete Guide to Adoption defines adoption as the transfer of parental rights and obligations from one family to another. Adoptive parents assume all responsibilities of raising the child legally and financially, thus severing all ties with the biological parents. The difference between a closed adoption and an open adoption is that the birth parents and adoptive parents know nothing about each other. Documents are usually sealed until the child becomes an adult and chooses to open them. An open adoption occurs when the birth parents and adoptive parents meet and reach a legal agreement regarding the exchange of photos and letters, and sometimes visits are allowed. This is where the conflict comes in. Once the biological parent makes the decision to place their child for adoption, there should be no further need for contact between the biological parent and the child. The open adoption movement began around the 1960s. More and more adopted children wanted to know their genealogy. Since those documents were sealed, obtaining information was nearly impossible. In the article Open Adoption: “What Does the Average Person” “Think” by Elizabeth Lewis Romfp, Adoptees state “that knowledge of one's biological history constitutes an innate human need.” “The denial of this need leads to emotional problems often linked to identity formation. As adults, adoptees are rarely able to lead normal lives, starting their own families without knowing who they really are. Yet other adoptees have few or no physiological problems and grow up to lead normal lives. This brings us back to the question of open and closed relationships with biological parents. Who's to say they had those...... half of paper ......tion: Implications for adoption agencies." Child Welfare 85.6 (2006): 1011-1039.Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web November 3, 2009.McKelvey, Carole A. and Dr. JoEllen Stevens Adoption Crisis: The Truth Behind Adoption and Foster Care. Golden: Fulcrum, 1994. Print.Rompf, Elizabeth Lewis “Open Adoption: What Does media." Person "Think?" Child Welfare 72.3 (1993): 219-230. EBSCO Behavioral and Psychological Sciences Collection. November 5, 2009. Siegel, Deborah H. "Open Infant Adoption: Adoptive Parents' Perceptions of Advantages and Disadvantages . . (cover story)." Social Work 38.1 (1993): 15-23. Psychological and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web. November 4. 2009.