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A passionate love affair between high school sweethearts creates an accidental pregnancy during a sultry night on the shore of Lake Michigan. Rebecca's unforgiving parents banish her to an unwed mother's home where she secretly gives birth to a baby girl. Her daughter Judy is placed in the loving care of foster parents before being callously given to Mario and Rosella Romano for adoption on her first birthday. Reoccurring visions and fantasies of her birthmother plague Judy's consciousness for three decades until a life-changing passage into adulthood causes her to question why she was abandoned. What begins as a simple investigation into her medical and ancestral history slowly evolves into a passionate quest to discover her roots. Through good timing, perseverance, and a few small miracles, Judy eventually solves the mystery of her origins. But will the woman she has been seeking welcome Judy back into her life? About the Authors Judith and Martin Land live in Colorado and Arizona. They told the entire story of Judith Land's adoption, from her birth through adulthood, to provide the reader with unique insights into the mind of an adoptee at various stages of her life.
“A compelling story of an adopted woman’s search for her truth and a mother lost, found, and lost again. The Search is a poignant memoir of the reality of an adoptee’s life. I couldn’t put it down.” JOE SOLL, LCSW, PSYCHOTHERAPIST, AUTHOR OF ADOPTION HEALING...A PATH TO RECOVERY _ Titia Ellis remembers the exact moment her life changed forever. Her mother, still in her dressing gown, sat in the chair opposite five-year-old Titia and her older sister, twisting a handkerchief between her hands, while her father paced the floor behind her. Titia’s stomach rolled over as her mother announced, “Daddy and I want to tell you something important about when you were born.” As soon as she learns the story of her birth parents’ untimely deaths and her subsequent adoption, Titia realizes that her adoption is to be kept a secret—never to be discussed again out of fear of upsetting her mother. Wanting to be loved and to fit in, she obeys her parents’ wishes—until a mid-life crisis shatters her illusion of being the perfect daughter, wife, and mother. As Titia chronicles her poignant journey to find her birth mother, she details how she jeopardizes her relationship with her adoptive parents and threatens the privacy of unsuspecting strangers—all without any guarantee of a happy outcome. When Titia embarks on her quest to find her birth family, she immerses herself deep into her past, not knowing that what she discovers in the end will transform her entire life.
Adoption Memoirs tells inside stories of adoption that popular media miss. Marianne Novy shows how adoption memoirs and films recount not only happy moments, but also the lasting pain of relinquishing a child, the racism and trauma that adoptees such as Jackie Kay and Jane Jeong Trenka experienced, and the unexpected complexities of child-rearing adoptive parents Emily Prager and Jesse Green encountered. Novy considers 45 memoirs, mostly from the twenty-first century, by birthmothers, adoptees, and adoptive parents, about same-race and transracial adoption. These adoptees, she recounts, wanted to learn about their ancestry and appreciated adoptive parents who helped. Birthmother Amy Seek shows why open adoption is not simple, and many other memoirs tell stories that continue past reunion. Adoption Memoirs will enlighten readers who lack experience with adoption and help those looking for a shared experience to also understand adoption from a different standpoint.
Theresa Reid chronicles the long, often excruciating, and ultimately joyous journey that led her to adopt two little girls from Russia and Ukraine, in an unforgettable true story of fragile hopes and steadfast love. In Chicago, Theresa Reid and her husband had lucrative professional careers and a beautiful home. What was missing from their lives was children. But they knew that in Eastern Europe there were children who were missing parents—and they set out to find their family. There were self-doubts and gut-wrenching fears; mountains of paperwork and nerve-wracking interviews; agonizing choices and false starts. There was the painful awareness of thousands of children languishing in poorly funded orphanages, waiting with little hope for someone to embrace them and bring them home. And there were byzantine bureaucracies and poverty-stricken conditions in the former Soviet Republic—where, beyond the borders they crossed and the obstacles they navigated with fierce determination, two little girls waited. This is Theresa Reid’s emotionally candid, vividly detailed account of how Natalie and Lana came to be her daughters—a journey into the deepest parts of a mother’s heart.
Somebody's Child by Bruce Gillespie,Lynne Van Luven Pdf
Our quest for origin and, by extension, identity is universal to the human experience. For the twenty-five contributors to Somebody’s Child, the topic of adoption is not—and perhaps never can be—a neutral issue. With unique courage, each of them discusses their experience of the adoption process. Some share stories of heartbreak; others have discovered joy; some have searched for closure. Somebody’s Child captures the many unforgettable faces and voices of adoption. The third book in a series of anthologies about the twenty-first-century family, Somebody’s Child follows Nobody’s Mother and Nobody’s Father, two essay collections from childless adults on parenthood, family and choices. Together, these three books challenge readers to reexamine traditional definitions of the concept of “family.”
Young Love: An Adoptee’s Memoir describes the author’s lifelong, innate curiosity about her adoption. She was born in Catherine Booth Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and relinquished into foster care by her birth mother at six weeks. Adopted and raised in a family with love and support, she nevertheless became frustrated not knowing anything about her biological family and her heritage—and further frustrated when she learned what it means to have a “closed” adoption. As a young mother, she finally decided to ask for answers and began a 35 year search for her birth parents. The story unfolds with non-identifying information, library research, internet research, and DNA! Adoption search angels provide invaluable assistance and encouragement. Bonnie Parsons’ style is open and fresh. She shares her love for both her adoptive and biological families. This memoir will inform and inspire adoptees who are searching. The answers are out there. Never give up!
This gripping memoir details an ordinary American woman’s quest to adopt a baby girl from Guatemala in the face of overwhelming adversity. At only 32 years old, Jessica O’Dwyer experiences early menopause, seemingly ending her chances of becoming a mother. Years later, married but childless, she comes across a photo of a two-month-old girl on a Guatemalan adoption website — and feels an instant connection. From the get-go, Jessica and her husband face numerous and maddening obstacles. After a year of tireless efforts, Jessica finds herself abandoned by her adoption agency; undaunted, she quits her job and moves to Antigua so she can bring her little girl to live with her and wrap up the adoption, no matter what the cost. Eventually, after months of disappointments, she finesses her way through the thorny adoption process and is finally able to bring her new daughter home. Mamalita is as much a story about the bond between a mother and child as it is about the lengths adoptive parents go to in their quest to bring their children home. At turns harrowing, heartbreaking, and inspiring, this is a classic story of the triumph of a mother’s love over almost insurmountable odds.
Annotation After years as a drifting college instructor with no real home--her family and longtime friends scattered--Nancy McCabe yearned to settle down, establish a place she could call home, and rear a child there. A tough academic job market led her to accept a position at a church-connected college in the deep South, a move that felt like an uneasy return to the conservative environment of her childhood that she thought she had left behind. McCabe had many reservations about rearing a child alone in this climate, but the desire to become a mother would not go away. Meeting Sophie tells the story of McCabe adopting a Chinese daughter and the many obstacles she faced during the adoption and adjustment process. Especially poignant is her struggle to bond with a sick, grieving baby while in a foreign country during political unrest. Next she sought to renegotiate a role within her family and fought the difficulties she faced in her job as she learned to be a single mother. A series of crises tested her resolve--her father's sudden death, the subsequent deterioration of her mother's health, and the loss of her job. Before McCabe adopted her daughter, friends had told her that single parenthood would be difficult, but they offered few specifics. To cope with the process, she sought out other books about single parenthood; McCabe found some works that offered much-needed stories about other kinds of alternative families, but few that focused on the process of parenting alone. McCabe tells a story of people and identities and the aspects of human nature that bring us together and push us apart. Her memoir is both funny and touching, sharing experiences that are universal to anyone who has ever nurtured, or tried to nurture, a child.
Claudia Chapman has some big questions. Questions like: were all my friends this obnoxious before they had kids? Will the social worker notice if I only vacuum the middle of the rooms? Does God really hate me, or does it just feel that way? And, most importantly, will anybody find out that sometimes, I pretend my cat is a baby? Claudia doesn't want to have these questions. Claudia and her husband Jay want children, but they find out fast that it isn't going to happen the fun way. Confronted with the choices of a medically risky pregnancy, remaining childless or adopting, they decide to adopt internationally. After all, thinks Claudia, how hard can it be? Ha. From England to Ethiopia and back again, this memoir is the story of what happens next. It's a story about doing something different from what everybody else is doing. It's a story about getting the house really, really clean. It's a story about paperwork, pregnancy announcements, wrestling with God, falling down, getting up, coming to terms, and - eventually - it's a story about becoming a mother.
Recollections and private memoirs of Washington by his adopted son George Washington with a memoir of the author by his daughter; and illustrative and explanatory notes by Benson J. Loosing by George Washington Pdf
Before Madonna and Angelina Jolie made international adoption fashionable, Aaron Eske grew up in rural Nebraska with four siblings his parents adopted from around the globe. Each one arrived with severe health issues: Meredith was born without toes and was never supposed to walk; Jamie weighed two pounds and had cerebral palsy; and Jordan had his first heart catheter when he was five. His sister Michelle had suffered abuse in India and experienced trauma as a teenager. As an adult, trying to make sense of how his global family came to be, Eske bought a round-the-world plane ticket and journeyed in search of his siblings' origins. He visited the orphanages where they had lived, met the people who had cared for them, and immersed himself in the the world of international adoption with visits to a slum school in India, the landmine-loaded North Korean border, and a tribal prom in an Ethiopian rainforest. The result is a harrowing, complex, and ultimately triumphant story of international adoption that highlights the issues surrounding this increasingly popular parenting option.
The Glass Half-Full Adoption Memoirs series has won multiple awards, including North American Book Awards and Idaho Author Awards three consecutive years. Everybody knows what adoption is, but adoption has changed dramatically over recent decades. "Open adoptions" used to be unheard of, but have quickly become the norm over recent years. Open adoptions create an opportunity for biological parents to remain connected with the child even after the adoption takes place. Emotionally, this is still largely uncharted territory for everybody involved and relationships can be difficult to navigate. Although these connections can be stressful and challenging, they are also beautiful and inspiring. Whether you are simply someone interested in an amazing and touching story, or whether you are hoping to be educated on what it might be like to walk a mile in the shoes of an adoptive parent, Russell Elkins holds nothing back as he takes you along for the ride. Told from the point of view of an adoptive father, the journey Russell and his wife took is such a roller coaster ride you would think this true story was fiction. Book 1: Open Adoption, Open Heart Russell and Jammie have struggled with infertility issues for years before deciding that adoption is right way to build their family. They quickly find out that adoption is not as simple as filling out some paperwork and waiting for the right child to join them at home. Sometimes adoptions fall through. People change their mind. Hearts are often broken during the process. The actual adoption does not take place at the end of the book because it is by no means the end of the story-it's the midpoint of the journey as adoption relationships have only just begun. Book 2: Open Adoption, Open Arms Russell and Jammie thought their second adoption would be a bit easier since they had already gone through the process once before and knew better what to expect. They were wrong. A new situation and new relationships came with unique trials. This new situation stirred up emotions from Russell's past-from before he even met his wife, Jammie-making it possible for him to relate to the biological parents on a level he had never experienced before. Book 3: Open Adoption, Open MindRussell and Jammie's journey did not end with the details of the last page of book two. Not by a long shot. Some relationships blossom while others find hard times. Russell and Jammie even begin to develop a relationship with a birthfather who previously wanted nothing to do with them-a relationship that proves to be unpredictable and difficult. Most importantly, the journey takes new twists and turns as the children become old enough to think for themselves (and they do not process their story the same way as each other).
99 DOs and DON'Ts with Open Adoption by Russell Elkins Pdf
Each installment of this four part series is designed to be easily ingested, usually readable in about half an hour. 10 Open Adoption Essentials: What Children Need Their Adoptive Parents & Birthparents to Know About Open Adoption Relationships After an infant is adopted, why is it so common for relationships to fall apart between adoptive parents and birthparents? One reason is because that relationship is so unique from any other relationship in this world that it is difficult for those involved to foresee what that could go wrong. It does not have to be this way. You owe it to yourself and others in your adoption triad (child, adoptive parents, birthparents) to learn as much as you can in order to sidestep some of the bumps you may experience along your journey. There are many factors that go into a healthy adoption triad, but it is always good to start out understanding the ten most essential ones! How to Create the Ideal Adoption Profile: How to Get Noticed by Potential Birthparents, Writing the Perfect “Dear Birthmother” Letter, Choosing the Right Profile Pictures, and More… Why is it that some couples are forced to wait many years before they are chosen to adopt while others are chosen quickly? One reason is that everyone needs to have a good profile listing with the adoption agency or any potential birthparent will browse right past them to the next couple hoping to adopt. Creating the ideal adoption profile can be hard, but it doesn’t need to be. Using the knowledge gained from his degree in Sociology as well as interviewing countless birthparents about why they chose whom they did to adopt their child, this little book will walk you through the process of choosing the right photographs, writing your profile/introductory letter, and doing what it takes to make sure you get noticed! How Open Should My Adoption Be? Understanding Open vs. Closed Adoption, Preparing for Possible Difficulties, Pros & Cons of Sharing Pictures & Updates, Visiting Birthparents, Social Media, Appropriate Gifts, & More... When planning to adopt an infant, how could you possibly know how open your adoption should be? No two adoptions are alike, so there cannot be a universal correct answer. Even when the same couple is involved in more than one adoption, each situation will require a different answer to that question. And to make a complicated question even more difficult, there are many layers to open adoption that will each require an answer in order to have a healthy adoption triad. How often should you share pictures and updates? What are the pros and cons of connecting with birthparents over social media? What risks are being taken by involving extended family members in your adoption relationships? What about visiting face-to-face? This book may not be able to answer the question for you about how open your adoption should be, but it will give you tools to help you answer it for yourself! 99 DOs and DON’Ts with Open Adoption: What Hopeful Adoptive Parents Need to Know Before Adopting a Baby After adopting an infant, what is the best way to navigate complicated open adoption relationships? You owe it to yourself and the others in your adoption triad to learn as much as you can in order to sidestep some of the bumps you may experience along your journey. This book might not go quite as deeply in depth as the others in this series regarding certain topics, but these are 99 essential things every adoptive couple needs to know regarding open adoption. Each bit of advice will get the wheels turning inside your mind regarding the intricate complexities of open adoption relationships and get you thinking more deeply about all aspects of your adoption triad—before, during and after the adoption takes place. If you read only one book from this series, make sure it is this one!
Through Adopted Hearts explores the world of adoption from the viewpoints of both birth and adoptive parents. In this follow up to Through Adopted Eyes, author and adoptee Elena Hall guides readers through a diverse collection of true stories filled with powerful insight into the rest of the adoption triad. If you are an adoptive parent, birth parent, adoptee, or just curious to learn more, this book provides thoughtful and challenging perspective into how adoption shapes and changes lives. "Filled with messages of hope, awareness, and enduring love...these stories are a road map to acceptance, understanding, and belonging...the very core of adoption." - Adrian Collins / author and advocate for adoption education.
A powerful and honest account based on three decades of true-life experience Award-winning The Branches We Cherish weaves together thought-provoking, joyous, and poignant reflections of four birth parents, birth grandmothers, adoptive parents, and two adopted children. In 1992, Linda and David long to have a child. They decide to adopt a baby and learn they can only do so under an open arrangement where the biological parents and the adoptive family know each other's identities, and choose to remain in contact after the adoption is finalized ... possibly for life! There are no ready answers to their many questions: What happens in the first year? Twenty years later? What does visitation between birth and adoptive families look like? Will it be awkward to raise a child with the birth parents in the picture? How do adopted children feel about this open arrangement? In the early 90's there is little guidance for long-term relationships between adoptive and birth families, so Linda and David have to learn as they go. Diving in with open hearts and open minds, they build relationships based on mutual trust, respect, deep gratitude for one another, and most importantly, unconditional love for a child. They learn just how important having the children's birth parents and families in their lives is for everyone's emotional health—including their own. Discover the challenges of open adoption and the extraordinary gratification available to all members of the adoption constellation when they are willing and able to cultivate and maintain these lifetime relationships.