ADOPTION READING LIST

Books marked with a red asterisk(*) are currently available in the CUB Library. Send email to the CUB Librarian to request that a specific book be brought to the next meeting.
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GENERAL

The books listed below represent a general selection for those interested in adoption, search, reunion, and reform. Betty Jean Lifton's books make an important contribution to understanding adoption in general, and the adoptee in particular. Her books are highly recommended for all members of the triad.

JOURNEY OF THE ADOPTED SELF: A Quest for Wholeness, B.J. Lifton (Basic Books, 1994)

B.J. Lifton, an adoptee herself, traces the adopted child's lifelong struggle to form an authentic sense of self. She shows how both the symbolic and the literal search for roots becomes a crucial part of the journey toward wholeness. She discusses the issue of secrecy in the adoption system, and how it has affected the adoptees' sense of identity, as well as their attachment to the adoptive parents. The book includes many stories of adopted men and women.

* LOST AND FOUND: The Adoption Experience, B.J. Lifton (Harper and Row, 1988)

In this book, the author explores all aspects of adoption. Included are real life experiences of all members of the adoption triad: adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents. The book is divided into three sections: Lost, Found, and Roots and Wings. It starts with a discussion of the emotional needs of the adoptee, and how being adopted affects the process of growing up. It proceeds to the search for the birth family, and talks about feelings throughout the search. It discusses both birthparents and adoptive parents, and makes a strong case for the rights of all adoptees to find their origins.

TWICE BORN: Memoirs of an Adopted Daughter, B.J. Lifton (St Martins Griffin, 1998)

This autobiography is a reprint of the original version, written in 1975. B.J. Lifton is one of the earliest adoptees who conceived the idea of finding her birth family. This book not only shares her story of childhood through her search, but gives the reader incredible insight into the experiences of an adoptee in the 70's.

A BRIDGE LESS TRAVELED, TWICE VISITED, Robert Andersen and Rhonda Tucker (Badger Hill Press, 2000)

This book was written by adoptees and for adoptees. Robert Andersen is a psychiatrist who started life as a black market baby. Rhonda Tucker is a teacher who was adopted as an infant at the age of three months. The authors discuss their lives, highlight difficulties in the adoptive experience, and suggest avenues for resolution.

ADOPTION HEALING... a pathway to recovery, Joe Soll (Litergical Press, 2000)

The author, also a teacher and therapist, has produced a comprehensive and thought provoking book. He offers positive ways for all members of the adoption triad to heal their lifelong pain. He exposes the myths about adoption, and reveals the facts that everyone involved needs to know. The book is written with tenderness and simplicity, and it offers an easy to understand step by step process for healing.

ADOPTION NATION: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming America, Adam Pertman (Basic Books, 2000)

The author, an award winning journalist and adoptive father, reports on the changing face of adoption in America. He sees it as a transition from a secretive and shameful process to an integral part of diversity in family life. The book provides valuable insight into the pleasures and perils of adoption, and makes suggestions for ways in which policymakers can improve the process, thus removing obstacles that keep children who most need permanent homes from getting them.

BIRTHBOND, Judith S. Gediman and Linda P. Brown (New Horizon Press, 1989)

This is an excellent book for those who want to become aware of what happens when birthparents and adult adoptees reconnect. The authors conducted intensive interviews with thirty birthmothers after their reunions, as well as adoptees and other members of birth families and adoptive parents. If you are planning to search, or about to reunite, this is an important book to read.

* BIRTHRIGHT: The Guide to Search and Reunion for Adoptees, Birthparents, and Adoptive Parents, Jean A.S. Strauss (Penguin Books, 1994)

Jean Strauss, an adoptee, began a search for her birthmother in 1983. She shares her experience in this book. The book has important reference sources and many true-life stories. It could help in making the decision to search, dealing with the reunion, and the impact of the search on the adoptive parents.

IN THEIR OWN VOICES, Rita J. Simon and Rhonda Roorda (Columbia University Press, 2000)

Transracial adoption is a very controversial issue, the subject of an ongoing and extremely complex debate. This book, a compilation of interviews, is a well written, powerful, and enlightening look at the lives of black and biracial individuals who were adopted into white families. It should be required reading for anyone who is adopted or raising a minority child in a white home.

* ITHAKA: A Daughter's Memoir of Being Found, Sarah Saffian (Perseus Books, Basic Books, 1998)

This is a well written book that traces the author's experience from her birthmother's first unexpected phone call to their meeting several years later. Sarah Saffian is a fine and elegant writer, who grew up with money and comfort, and was found by the "perfect" birthparents who had married and gone on to have other children.

* MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, Lynn C. Franklin with Elizabeth Ferber (Harmony Books, 1998)

This is an intimate journey into the heart of adoption. Franklin, a birthmother, tells the story behind her relinquishment and the reunion with her son, Andrew, 27 years later. She talks about all aspects of adoption from the point of view of all parties involved, comparing and contrasting her story with that of other triad members.

MOMMIE DEAREST, 20th Anniversary Edition, Christina Crawford (Seven Springs Press, 1997)

This tell-all autobiography is a reissue of the original version, published in 1978. It includes over 100 new pages dealing with the author's adult relationship with her mother, as well as eyewitness accounts from people who came forward after the original book was published. Christina Crawford's book was one of the first to discuss family violence, bringing it to the forefront as a national issue. She is currently an advocate for adoption reform, as well as the rights of women and children.

SECOND CHOICE: Growing Up Adopted, Robert Andersen (Badger Hill Press, 1993)

The author, a psychiatrist, looks at his own black market adoption. His book is compelling, thought provoking, and well worth reading. His black humor has a way of striking home with those who have experienced the losses relating to adoption. He discusses low self esteem, lack of self confidence, the feeling of incompleteness, and a sense of not belonging.

SHADOW TRAIN: A Journey Between Relinquishment and Reunion, Patricia E. Taylor (Paperback 1995)

This book describes the author's story as she moved through her life after relinquishing her first child. Not only was she continuously affected by her loss, but her entire family had to deal with it's effects. Shadow Train goes on to describe the courageous journey to reunion with her daughter. The book outlines the emotional experience of rebuilding a relationship after years of separation, and the depth of pain which had to be overcome.

SOUL CONNECTION: Memoir of A Birthmother's Healing Journey, Ann H. Hughes (Paperback 1999)

Soul Connection is the story of a 1960's birthmother. It details her healing journey and her miraculous search for her daughter twenty-four years later. Using a spiritual process, she co-creates an unforgettable and challenging search. Through a series of events, she learns that she is courageous, after all, and can count on herself to act with integrity and to love her daughter unconditionally-all things she'd discounted when she surrendered her child. An inspiring memoir of inner and outer discovery.

SYNCHRONICITY AND REUNION: The Genetic Connection of Adoptees and Birthparents, LaVonne H. Stiffler (FEA Publishing, 1992)

A fascinating exploration of surprising coincidences in the union/loss/reunion stories of families separated by adoption.

THE ADOPTION LIFE CYCLE, The Children and Their Families Throughout the Years, Elinor Rosenberg (Free Press, 1992)

The author, a Professor of Psychiatry at University of Michigan, looks at what adoption means to all members of the adoption triad - adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents - at every stage of life. She uses case examples to look at the way triad members' lives affect each other in the course of their lifetimes, and she gives practical advice on handling issues and conflicts that often arise.

* THE ADOPTION TRIANGLE: Sealed or Open Records, Arthur D. Sorosky, M.D., Annette Baran, M.S.W. and Reuben Panor, M.S.W. (Corona Publishing Co. 1989)

This book is a bible on the effects of the sealed record on adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents. It was originally written in 1978 by three visionary professionals who have done so much for opening the eyes of those connected to adoption. Dr. Sorosky is a professor of Child Psychiatry at UCLA; Annette Baran and Reuben Pannor are social workers in private practice and advocates of the child's right to know. They speak out strongly and publicly on issues to which they have devoted their lives.

THE FAMILY OF ADOPTION, Joyce Maguire Pavao (Beacon Press, 1998)

Dr. Pavao is the founder of the Center for Family Connects, and PACT, the Pre/Post Adoption Counseling Team. This, her first book, helps the reader to understand the meaning of being adopted, grieving over a missed life in a biological family, and trying to figure out identity when genealogical and hereditary history are unknown. She demonstrates the often predictable and understandable developmental stages and challenges for all adopted children by laying them out by age level using real-life stories. She talks about her own legacies as an adult adoptee.

THE GIRLS WHO WENT AWAY, Ann Fessler (Penguin Press, 2006)

Ann Fessler began interviewing women who surrendered children for adoption for an audio and video installation project. This book which is subtitled: The Hidden History of Women who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, grew out of that project. The voices of these women, as well as the spirit of those times, are brilliantly brought to life. The author is an adoptee herself, and she begins and ends the book with her own successful quest to find her mother.

* THE KID: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant: An Adoption Story, Dan Savage (Dutton, 1999)

THE OPEN ADOPTION EXPERIENCE: A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families--From Making the Decision Through the Child's Growing Years, Lois Melina and Sharon Roszia (Harperperennial Library, 1993)

"The Open Adoption Experience" covers all aspects of an adoption in which both birth and adoptive parents seek to establish and maintain a meaningful ongoing relationship for the mutual benefit of the child. Two leading experts present an authoritative and reassuring guide which covers all stages of the open adoption relationship, from initial decision making through the child's growing years. It removes much of the stress and fear from the open adoption experience, and serves as a reference guide when new issues and experiences surface. Overall, this is a wonderful book for all parties involved in open (and semi-open) adoptions.

THE OTHER MOTHER, Carol Schaefer (Soho Press, 1991)

This book is a MUST for all members of the triad. It's an excellent first book for the birthmother who is just beginning to think about searching, and is dealing with the issues of being a birthmother. In 1965, Ms. Schaefer gave birth to her first son. Plagued by doubts, she succumbed to pressure to place him for adoption "for the good of the child." When he was 18, she began her search. This is her story which carries her through pregnancy and relinquishment to search and reunion.

* THE PRIMAL WOUND, Nancy Newtron Verrier ( 1993)

Ms. Verrier is an adoptive mother who has an MS in clinical psychology and is a private practitioner in California. She believes that early childhood trauma and deprivation caused by premature separation from the mother have important and lasting effects. Her book discusses prenatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and the effects of separation from the birthmother. For adoptees, it validates "many of their feelings as well as explanations of their behavior."

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOPTION, Ed. David M. Brodzinsky, Ph.D. and Marshall D. Schechter, M.D. (Oxford U. Press, 1990).

Brodzinsky, a psychologist, and Schechter, a psychiatrist, together conducted one of the nation's largest studies of adopted children. In this book they have brought together a group of leading researchers from various disciplines to explore adoption. They look at the empirical work which has shown that adopted children are more vulnerable to a "host of school-related problems compared to their peers, and that the rate of referral of adopted children to mental health facilities is far above what would be expected given their representation in the general population." They conclude that the basis for these problems is still unclear.

THE SAME SMILE, Susan M.("Maz") Souza with Joanne M. Harrington (Gateway Press, 2002)

This is a memoir written by a reunited birthmother with the help of the daughter whom she found in 1999. Susan had the double tragedy of losing a second daughter to lukemia, but she has triumphed over loss and gone on to make her dream of a happy-ever-after reunion come true. This is a compelling story of joy and heartbreak that the reader will find difficult to put down.

THE SPIRIT OF OPEN ADOPTION, James L. Gritter (Child Welfare League of America, 1997)

This is a beautifully written discussion of open adoption. Not only does the author cover the need for openness, but he also includes a realistic discussion of how to make it work for all members of the adoption triad.

TOUCHED BY ADOPTION, Nancy A. Robinson, Editor (Green River Press, 1999)

This is a moving collection of stories, letters, and poems representing all aspects of adoption. It portrays adoption from all sides of the triad, with voices from many cultures. In a powerful and wide-ranging anthology, the editor shows what a varied experience adoption can be.

TWENTY THINGS ADOPTED KIDS WISH THEIR ADOPTIVE PARENTS KNEW, Sherrie Eldridge (Dell Publishing, 1999)

The voices of adopted children tell a familiar story of loss, fear, and hope. This extraordinary book, written by a woman who was adopted herself, gives voice to children's unspoken concerns, and shows adoptive parents how to free their children from feelings of fear, abandonment, and shame. This book is filled with powerful insights from children, parents, and adoption experts, plus practical strategies and case histories that will ring true for every family formed by adoption. It will serve as an invaluable guide to the complex emotions that take up residence within the heart of the adopted child.

* WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe v. Wade, Rickie Solinger (Routledge, 1992)

If you are a birthmother of the 60's and the child you reunited with does not understand what it was like at the time you surrendered - READ THIS BOOK. If you wish to put yourself into the perspective of that period - READ THIS BOOK. It contains surveys, public policies, community attitudes and private responses to (illegitimate) pregnancy, maternity, and children that structured these women's experiences. It demonstrates how female sexuality and fertility and the single mother herself have been used as proving grounds for theories of race, gender, motherhood, and social stability. The book contains an analysis of maternity home programs for unwed mothers from 1945 to 1965 and examination of how nascent cultural and political constructs such as the "population bomb" and the "sexual revolution" reinforced racially-specific public policy initiatives. Such initiatives encouraged white women to relinquish their babies spawning a flourishing adoption market, while black women were subjected to social welfare policies which assumed they would keep their babies and aimed to prevent them from having more.

FICTION

A GHOST AT HEART'S EDGE: Stories and Poems of Adoption, Susan Ito and Tina Cervin, Co-Editors (North Atlantic Books, 1999)

This unique anthology of 52 poems and stories navigates a landscape that stretches from searing loss to profound happiness, from naked pain to reconciliation. The editors have assembled a remarkable collection of voices from all sides of the adoption triad spanning nations and cultures, and dealing with the age old issues of identity, loss, and the true meaning of family.

*THEN SHE FOUND ME, Elinor Lipman (Washington Square Press, 1990)

It's a good idea to read a novel and this one is a favorite. It intersperses a lighter side of dealing with adoption issues and a reality into the lives of those who read it. Ms Lipman tells the story of Bernice G., a tacky talk show host who has surrendered a daughter to adoption. Throughout the years she tracks her daughter's whereabouts, and attempts to make contact when she feels the time is right. This is entertaining and enjoyable reading, and a nice change from the usual seriousness of adoption.

SEARCH HELP

* SEARCH, A Handbook for Adoptees and Birthparents, 2nd Edition, Jayne Askin with Molly Davis (Oryx Press, 1992)

Search guides become outdated quickly because of references to addresses and telephone numbers. However, Askin's book has many good hints and an excellent background for those searching. There is enough timely and good advise to give a searching triad member the structure from which to launch their search.

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