September 28, 1999
Web posted at: 7:43 p.m. EDT (2343 GMT)

In this story: 120,000 kids adopted a year Adoptive mother supports visitation RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Boston Bureau Chief Bill Delaney

BOSTON (CNN) -- A Massachusetts court case has social workers worried that potential adoptive parents will be scared off by rulings that strengthen visitation rights for biological parents.

The court last summer ordered that a formerly cocaine-addicted mother should have access to her 7-year-old son -- whom she gave up for adoption when he was just a month old.

VIDEO CNN's Bill Delaney reports on the effect of a court decision to allow a mother to visit the son she gave up for adoption Windows Media 28K 80K     ALSO

Now questions are being asked about the possible chilling effect of the court's decision on parents thinking about adopting. Social workers fear that anyone looking to take on one of the 120,000 children who are adopted in the United States each year will be worried about visitation rights.

"... We have to tell adoptive parents coming into the process -- we don't know what the shape of this visitation table's going to be, until we walk out of court -- because the department can no longer guarantee the lack of contact," Jeff Locke, the director of Massachusetts social services said.

But proponents of improved access for biological parents say it's important for children to know their roots -- particularly in the 8 percent of adoptions that, like the Massachusetts case, are trans-racial.

The 7-year-old's biological mother is African-American, while the adoptive parents are Hispanic.

Helen Brown, the court-appointed attorney in the case, thinks it's important to give a child access to his or her cultural heritage.

"I think the decision is very pro-child. While he has an identity within the family, (he) also has a culture and a heritage that he brings, just by virtue of having been born a different race," she said.

Adoptive mother Greta Stone is a supporter of strong links between adoptive parents and biological parents. She believes contact between her adopted son Juan and his biological family removes the mystery from the adoption process.

"It's almost as though children can relax. They're not wondering. They're not fantasizing," she said.

The court ruling does not guarantee automatic visitation rights to biological parents. Each case will be decided individually, through mediation.

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