This article takes a close look at the openings of 12 different Dutch adoption assessment sessions. In
the first of a series of 4 adoption assessment sessions, social workers perform different actions that are
analyzed in detail. The overall focus is on how contact and relationships are established in the openings,
and how the social workers work toward the first topic. We found that adoption assessment is a
non-self-evident occasion, and this is due to the potential risk of a negative assessment being made—it