Adoption: what books would you recommend?

Question

Hello all,

My hubby and I have been considering adopting for a few years now. We would welcome a child into our home regardless of gender or race (etc..etc..etc..)

However we want to make sure we are up to date on the issues at hand

Can you recommend some books we should read?

Thanks all

Answer 1

If you are considering infant (private) adoption, an excellent book that I read is "The Open Adoption Experience" by Lois Ruskai Melina and Sharon Kaplan Roszia.

If you are thinking of adopting a toddler, an good book that I read is "Toddler Adoption" by Mary Hopkins-Best.  Some reviews I read on this book criticized it as a book that may potentially could scare people off from adoption because it doesn't sugar coat anything, but I really liked this book and I would rather know honestly what to expect and then have it turn out better than I expected.

My husband and I started out pursuing private adoption (for an infant) and ended up going the route of foster care adoption through child services.  We are so close to be finished the process, are are almost approved (oh, the waiting!!), so we've been to all sorts of seminars on adoption, both routes, so if you have any questions about it all, please don't hesitate to ask.

Answer 2

Hi Sarah,

I completely agree with Gaia and Phil.  If you end up adopting transracially then i suggest "In Their Own Voices".

"The Girls Who Went Away" is a must read for adoptive parents.  Here are a few more that will explain the mother's pov.....

"Without a map" by: M. Hall

"Adoption and recovery"  by: M. Hall

"The Same Smile"  by: S. Mello Souza

Thank you for taking the time to become informed before you adopt.

Answer 3

Twenty things adopted kids wish their adoptive parents knew

Journey of the adopted self

Helping children cope with separation and loss

Toddler adoption: the weaver's craft

The primal wound

The girls who went away

Answer 4

* "Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self" by Brodzinsky, Schecter, and Henig

* "Journey of the Adopted Self" by Betty Jean Lifton

* "The Primal Wound" by Nancy Verrier