The internet is a great way for friends and family to share pictures back and forth without the hassle of postage and money for gas on the way to the Post Office. The immediate gratification of uploading and posting a picture has people, world wide, sharing things that would otherwise take a lot of time or simply not be possible. Of course, there are those who want to abuse the fact that people are willing to upload and post pictures. This presents a unique dilemma for birth parents.

Perhaps you are a birth parent involved in an open adoption. Perhaps you are a birth parent recently reunited with the child you relinquished for adoption years ago. Either way, chance are that you have some pictures now in your possession and you want to share them. Now! I encourage you to share them with those that you love. But first, I encourage you to take the proper precautions for sharing photos online.

1. Realize that the internet doesn't screen users for you. You, therefore, have to screen what content you want made available to the internet.

2. If you're interested in sharing pictures solely with friends and family, consider making an account at flickr and making all of your photos friends and family only. You can then invite those that you know and trust to see your pictures.

3. If you have a MySpace or Facebook, make the albums containing pictures of your child locked to contacts only.

4. If you are a public blogger, occasionally go back through your posts and remove the photos from those posts if they contain pictures of your child. Consider installing scripts on your site that make it impossible for people to right click and "save as" but realize that people can simply "print screen" and crop your photo.

5. Discuss what is and is not permissible to share with either your child or your child's family.

6. Keep taking pictures! You can never have too many.

Don't forget to let your child's family or your child know how you feel about pictures of your family being shared online as well. You are allowed to set your own boundaries and expect others to respect your wishes. Don't be afraid to say no.



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